Double, Treble, Quadruple, Sextuple: 7 Trophy Combinations in Football Explained, With the Counting Rules Behind Each and How RubiScore Data Helps
A double, a treble or a sextuple is a set of trophies won by one club within a single season or calendar year, and each label comes with its own unwritten rules about which competitions count. Season-by-season competition records on RubiScore make it possible to check those combinations trophy by trophy rather than relying on the label alone.
This listicle explains seven trophy combinations, from the domestic double to the sextuple, with the counting questions each one raises. Competition winners, finals and season records can be checked at https://rubiscore.com. Because RubiScore lists each competition separately, the same club's season can be read as a set of individual trophies before any label is applied.
Why the Labels Need Rules
Football has no official authority that defines a treble. The terms grew through media use, and they work only because most people agree on which competitions are included. Where that agreement breaks down, the same season can be described as a treble by one source and a quadruple by another. The seven combinations below show where the rules are clear and where they are contested.
1. The Domestic Double
The double is a club's top-flight league title and its main domestic cup in the same season. In England, Preston North End were the first to do it, winning the Football League and the FA Cup in 1888-89, the league's first season.
Counting question: which cup is the "main" one? In most countries the answer is obvious, such as the FA Cup, the Copa del Rey, the DFB-Pokal or the Coppa Italia. Secondary competitions, such as league cups, do not usually count towards a double. On RubiScore, the league and domestic cup records for each season sit under separate competitions, so a double can be confirmed by checking both winners for the same year.
2. The Domestic Treble
A domestic treble adds a secondary national competition, usually a league cup, to the league and the main cup. The first men's club to win one was Shamrock Rovers of Ireland in 1924-25. Celtic have won more men's domestic trebles than any other club, including a record four in a row from 2016-17 to 2019-20. In England, Manchester City's 2018-19 season brought the first men's domestic treble, with the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Counting question: whether a super cup can stand in for a league cup. In general it does not, because a single match is not treated as equivalent to a full knockout competition.
3. The Continental Treble
The continental treble is the best known: the top-flight league, the main domestic cup and the main continental club trophy in one season. Celtic became the first men's club to achieve it in May 1967, followed later that year by Englebert, now TP Mazembe, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In Europe, the clubs that have achieved it include Ajax in 1971-72, PSV in 1987-88, Manchester United in 1998-99, Barcelona in 2008-09 and 2014-15, Inter in 2009-10, Bayern Munich in 2012-13 and 2019-20, Manchester City in 2022-23 and Paris Saint-Germain in 2024-25. Outside Europe, Al Ahly and Auckland City have each won four. No South American club has completed one in the strict sense, because none has won the national league, the national cup and the Copa Libertadores in the same season.
Counting question: whether a second-tier continental trophy, such as the Europa League, counts. It is sometimes described that way, but the label is not widely accepted.
4. The League and Continental Double
Winning the league and the main continental trophy without the domestic cup has no settled name, but it is one of the hardest combinations to achieve because both competitions run across the whole season. Real Madrid, for example, won La Liga and the Champions League together in 2016-17, 2021-22 and 2023-24.
Counting question: whether to call it a double at all. In everyday usage "the double" means league and domestic cup, so this combination is usually described in full rather than given a label.
5. The Quadruple
A quadruple adds a fourth trophy, and here the counting rules become contested. Celtic's 1966-67 season included the league, the Scottish Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup, four major competitions, and the club won every competition it entered that season. Other clubs have reached four trophies by including a super cup or a single-match competition.
Counting question: whether single-match trophies count. Sources usually exclude super cups, the Community Shield and similar one-off matches when listing trebles, but some include them when counting quadruples and beyond. The same season can therefore appear with different totals depending on the source.
6. The Sextuple
A sextuple is six trophies, and only three men's clubs have achieved one: Barcelona in 2009, Bayern Munich in 2020 and Paris Saint-Germain in 2025. PSG's six were the Trophée des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, which they won against Flamengo on penalties in December 2025.
Counting question: season or calendar year? A sextuple usually spans a calendar year rather than a single season, because the super cups and intercontinental competitions are played at different times. It also depends entirely on counting single-match trophies, which is why it is a different kind of achievement from a treble.
7. Trebles and Quadruples in Women's Football
Women's clubs have their own list of trebles, and the numbers are smaller largely because continental competitions for women arrived later. Barcelona's women's team completed a continental treble in 2021, making Barcelona one of only two clubs, with Tokyo Verdy, to have won continental trebles with both men's and women's teams. In 2024 the women's side won a quadruple of Liga F, the Copa de la Reina, the Supercopa and the UEFA Women's Champions League.
Counting question: which domestic cup counts in leagues where the women's competition structure has changed. Comparing women's trebles across eras requires checking which competitions existed in each season.
The Counting Rules in Brief
Across all seven combinations, the same questions decide the label:
- Season or calendar year. Trebles are counted by season; sextuples usually by calendar year.
- Single-match trophies. Usually excluded from trebles, often included in quadruples and sextuples.
- Which cup is main. The primary domestic cup counts for a double; a league cup only for a domestic treble.
- Which continental trophy counts. The top-tier competition is the accepted standard for a continental treble.
- Official records. Revoked or disputed titles change the count, so official records should be the reference.
Reading Trophy Records With Data
Trophy labels are summaries, and summaries can hide inconsistencies. Checking each competition separately avoids most of them. On RubiScore, competition pages list winners by season, which makes it straightforward to confirm whether a club won the league, the cup and a continental trophy in the same year, and whether a fourth or sixth trophy came from a full competition or a single match. The label can then be applied with the counting rules stated, rather than assumed.
A Worked Example
Imagine a club that, in one season, wins its domestic super cup in August, the league title in May and the main domestic cup final a week later, while losing in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Some headlines might call it a treble, because the club lifted three trophies.
Under the usual counting rules, it is a double. The super cup is a single match, so it is not normally treated as part of a treble, and the continental trophy was not won. A more accurate description is "a league and cup double, plus the super cup".
Now imagine the same club also wins the league cup. That season becomes a domestic treble, with the league, the main cup and the league cup, and the super cup remains an extra trophy rather than part of the label. Checking each competition on RubiScore shows exactly which trophies were won and when, which is all that is needed to apply the right name.
The example shows why labels drift. Counting trophies is simple; deciding which trophies belong in the label is where sources disagree.
Why the Combinations Matter
Trophy combinations are the shorthand fans use to rank great seasons, but they are only as reliable as the rules behind them. The double and the continental treble have clear, widely shared definitions. The quadruple and the sextuple depend on counting choices that sources do not always share. Stating which competitions are included, and whether the count is by season or calendar year, turns a debating point into a checkable record.
