World Cup 2018: Top 20 centre-backs in the tournament

10. Kalidou Koulibaly

Kalidou Koulibaly

No defender has seen his stock improve among football pundits over the past season than Koulibaly. The Senegalese defender has gone from a virtual unknown to every footballing hipster’s favorite centre back. For good reason too, Koulibaly had an excellent season for Napoli with a player rating of 7.04 in Serie A. The 26 year old averaged 1.5 tackles and 1.1 interceptions, again decent numbers considering Napoli’s high pressing style of play. The defender won 56.25% of his aerial duels and in fact scored five goals (three with his head) for the Italian side. He also showed excellent discipline as he won 73% of tackles (showing a tendency not to dive in). Surprisingly for a tall strong defender, Koulibaly is an excellent passer as he had a pass success percentage of 91.2%. However, perhaps the best way to understand Koulibaly’s value is by looking at his impact on Napoli last season. Manager Maurizio Sarri played an incredibly attacking style of play which made them one of the most exciting teams in Europe. One would expect them to be a poor defensive team especially considering they play the ageing Raul Albiol in defence, yet Napoli had the third best defence in Serie A. A lot of that can be attributed to Koulibaly’s excellence. While the centre-back has some issues (disciplinary recklessness and occasional poor decision-making), his performances over the past season bode well for Senegal.

9. Jerome Boateng

Jerome Boateng

It seems like a million years ago (it was actually 2010) when Manchester City signed a raw German centre-back named Jerome Boateng. That defender struggled as Roberto Mancini played him out of position at right-back and by 2011, looked like a transfer flop. Little did we know that within the next year, that young defender would be starting in the Champions League final for Bayern Munich. Since then Boateng hasn’t looked back as he has become one of the best centre-backs in the world. Boateng’s defensive excellence has been vital for Bayern Munich’s dominance of the Bundesliga and of course, Germany’s victory in the 2014 World Cup.

Over the past season, Boateng had a player rating of 7.14 which ranked 21st in the Bundesliga. The German is excellent in the air, winning 68% of his aerial duels. The defender also had 1.4 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game, also winning 67% of his tackles. The Bayern Munich defender also provides another dimension to Germany’s pass-heavy attack with 8.6 long balls per game over the past season. Nonetheless, there are concerns surrounding Germany’s defensive rock. 1.4 tackles is rather low for a defensive centre-piece and his performances are not as excellent as they were a couple of years ago. The defender also had a variety of injuries (including a hamstring issue at the end of the year), which may affect his performances in the tournament. In the end though, Boateng is the very definition of a big-game player. He had a player rating of 7.21 in the 2014 World Cup and was arguably their best player in the final. Germany will need those types of performances if they are to win the World Cup again.