A popular manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, once said in an interview, “Attack wins you games, defense wins you titles.”
When a team accomplishes a successful season, attackers tend to earn most of the praise and prestigious awards.
No one remembers the defensive line’s battles in a bid to avoid conceding goals.
Who is world’s best football defender today?
This is a question that football fanatics will debate on basing on the key aspects of the sport.
How many one versus one tackles does the defender makes successfully?
How many clean sheets does he help his team to gain in his career?
In moderns day transfer market, best defenders can be determined by their market values.
The higher the price or value, the better the defenders.
In today’s highlighting, we will take a look on who are the top six best defenders in the world today based on the number of tackles and interceptions made.
According to our research, here is a list of world’s best defenders basing on number of successful tackles and interceptions made per game.
6. Ronald Araujo ( FC Barcelona)
Even though it is too early to predict, the 23-year-old Uruguay international proves to be a very promising center back in the world.
So far, the 2022/23 season campaign has been an impressive season for him and Barcelona as he has managed to establish himself as the new ‘Paulo Maldini’ at the heart of the FC Barcelona defensive line.
Araujo has so far managed to make an average of 1.40 tackles per game and an average of 1.10 pass interceptions per 90 minutes in the field.
Given these figures, Araujo is slowly reviving the FC Barcelona fans’ hearts, that maybe after all, they have found again a new Carlos Puyol!
5. Kalidou Koulibaly ( Chelsea)
The Senegalese arrived at the Stamford Bridge during the summer having big boots to fill that had been left by the departed Antonio Rudiger who signed for the Spanish outfits, Real Madrid.
The 31-year-old has by far lived to the standards expected of him as he is the fifth World’sbest football defender today.
Koulibaly is living in a dream that any other defender would yearn for, as he has so far managed to make an average of 1.92 tackles per game, and intercepting an average of 1.20 tackles per game.
4. Thiago Silva ( Chelsea)
The former AC Milan and PSG defender still keeps surprising football fans all over the world on how he still records good performances at the age of 38.
The Brazilian has anchored Graham Potter’s defensive line this season, saving him a spot in the world’s top five best defenders today.
Silva, has so far managed to record an average of 1.62 tackles per game, and intercepted an average of 1.50 passes per 90 minutes.
3. João Cancelo (Manchester City)
It is absolutely insane, how a full back can make a lot of tackles and interceptions way more than the ‘ big-name’ center-backs in the world.
When you take a look across Europe, prestigious clubs like PSG, Bayern, Barcelona, Manchester City and Real Madrid, have big name center backs that you would not expect a full back to appear in this list ahead of them.
Surprisingly, that’s the case.
João Cancelo has proven to be one of Pep Guardiola’s key players at Manchester City.
The Portuguese has made an average of 1.83 tackles per game at the heart of the Cityzen’s defence, and recorded an average of 1.34 pass interceptions per 90 minutes.
2. Ibrahim Konate (Liverpool)
The 23-year-old France international signed for the Reds from RB Leipzig, marking his arrival at the hear of Liverpool’s defence.
He has proven to be a good partner for Virgil Van Dijk, as he has made an average of 2.10 tackles per game and an average pass interception of 1.40 per 90 minutes.
With Joe Mario’s injury, Konate has become a regular starter for Liverpool’s defence, and given his good performance, he is a promising player for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds.
1.Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
The 24-year-old France’s defender is by far the best defender in the world today.
He joined the Bavarians from RB Leipzig, cementing the heart of Bayern Munich’s defence line.
He has made the highest number of tackles and interceptions more than any other center back in Europe today.
He has made a successful average of 2.70 tackles per game and an average of 1.07 Pass interceptions per 90 minutes.
With these incredible stats, it is fair to say that as at today, Dayot Upamecano remains to be the best defender in the World.