In the world football midfielders are known as the backbone and engine room of the team. They dictate the flow and pace of the game with their exquisite line breaking passes and playmaking skills. There are many roles as midfielders such as attacking midfielders, defensive midfielders or central midfielders. A midfielders job is to dominate the whole midfield and help his team in attack as well as in defence. They are the main reason and mastermind behind a strikers massive success.
And So today, we have brought you a list of some of best football midfielders of all time.
10.Marco Verratti (PSG):
Marco Verratti is an Italian international who plays for Ligue-1 club, Paris Saint Germain and the Italian National team. He plays as a Central midfielder is considered as the heart of the PSG midfield. The Italian is known for his line-breaking passes through opponents’ defence and also for his ball-winning ability in the middle. He was also instrumental in Italy’s recent triumph in Euro 2020. He made 30 tackles the most in the whole tournament.
He aslo makes pinpoint passes to other players, he has a sharp vision and he’s awareness of his surroundings is second to none. A complete midfielder, He also can also drive and make forward runs with the ball.
The Italian is considered to be one of the most underrated midfielders in the world football currently. At just 28, he has already made many headlines with his footballing talent.
9.N’Golo Kante (Chelsea):
Kante is a French international who plays for Premier League club Chelsea. He plays as a defensive midfielder and sometimes as a Central midfielder as well. N’Golo Kante is a box-to-box midfielder and is well known for making tackles and making defensive recoveries with his never ending stamina.
On his day, N’Golo Kante can run riots in the midfield and can easily tear up the opponents defence. The Frenchman has been a integral part in Chelsea’s recent success as he has helped the team in winning the UEFA Champions League and a Fa Cup Final in the 2020-21 season. An absolute ball winner, he’s often the driving force behind Chelsea’s fierce counter attacks, he also very adept in taking ball from opponents. He recently became an unbreakable part of Chelsea’s midfield as he’s super reliable at crucial moments. Thomas Tuchel trusts him and makes him do all the dirty work of doing crucial fouls and tackles.
8.Declan Rice (West Ham United):
Declan Rice rose through the ranks of West Ham United and quickly became a fan favourite. The Englishman, worked at a phenomenal rate and being the driving force behind West Ham’s ascension towards the top four.
At a height of 6 feet, Rice is a towering figure in West Ham’s midfield. The midfielder excells in making tackles and a serial ball winner, He aslo helps his team in attacks by making blistering forward runs and excellent passing ability to breaks any opponents defence with ease.
The Englishman has everything needed to succeed in the European football. At just 23 years, he has already won many hearts and has gathered many applauds from all the football lovers around the world.
7.Toni Kross (Real Madrid):
Toni Kroos is a German international who plays as a Central Midfielder for La liga club Real Madrid. He signed for Real Madrid from Bayern Munich and in his first season he helped Los Blancos in winning the UEFA Champions League. A master of the ball, The German Dictator is known for his long range of passing the ball. He flourished more under Zinedine Zidane and played an integral part in Real Madrid’s recent success in winning three consecutive Champions League titles.
The German Maestro playes as a deep lying playmaker and he controls the pace of the game. He’s considered as one of the best Central Midfielders of the decade. The 33 year has achieved everything with his club and national team. He won five UEFA Champions League titles, the La Liga title, club world cup title with Real Madrid. He’s one of the very few players to have won the Champions League title with two different clubs. With the German National team the German has won the 2014 World Cup.
6.Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City):
Kevin de Bruyne is a Belgium international who plays for the Premier League club, Manchester City and Belgium National team. He plays as an attacking midfielder and is considered to be one of the best Attacking Midfielder in the world. The Belgian Magician has the ability to predict the game beforehand and act accordingly, he can make pinpoint passes and has mastery in providing precise crosses from the flanks.
De Bruyne has all the leadership skills and has captained the Manchester City side in many occasions. Kevin de Bruyne is the best playmaker in the world currently. He can easily make line breaking key passes through opponents defence. De Bruyne is also well known for scoring many crucial goals for his side.
The 31 year old is one of the most important players for Pep Guardiola and his side. He was an integral part in Manchester City premier league title triumph as he made 20 assists and scored 21 goals in the 2020-2021 season. He was also very instrumental in Manchester City’s recent Champions League run to the final, however he was very unlucky as they lost to Chelsea 1-0.
5.Luka Modric (Real Madrid):
Next up on the list we have, The Croatian midfielder, Luka Modric who plays for La Liga club Real Madrid and Coratian National team. He plays as a Central midfielder.
The Croatian Midfielder is considered to be one of the complete midfielder to ever play this game. He played an important role in Real Madrid’s success in winning the UEFA Champions League title. The Croatian Maestro was also very important for his national team as he took Croatia to the world cup final in more than over a decade in 2018. He’s a Magician on the ball and can create many chances offensively, his vision and playmaking skills, he’s one of the most technically gifted players in the world. The Croatian can aslo equally adept to his defensive duties also as he helps to track back and make crucial tackles.
His excellent performances in the recent years earned him the 2018 Ballon d’or as he was the first player to break the Messi Ronaldo dominance for over a decade. He was also named the UEFA Best player of the year award.
4.Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona):
He’s one of the best Midfielders in the world football in the last decade.The Spaniard Maestro, Xavi is surely the best Midfielders Football has ever seen. The Barcelona and Spanish legend is one of the most decorated players in the world.
He was instrumental in Barcelona’s success to many titles with his tiki-taka style of play along with his other teammates. He was the engine of the Barcelona’s midfield as he used to dictate the pace of the play with his passes. He was also known for his ball control and dribbling skills, his extraordinary vision and passes which used to break any opponents defence.
He was known as one of the best playmaker of the game, Xavi has won it all with his club and national team. His silverware collection includes a World Cup and Two Euro Cup titles to his name. He was also very important behind Barcelona’s six-tuple and treable winning seasons in 2009, and in 2015.
With all the success to his name, Xavi is surely one of the Greatest Central Midfielders.
3.Andres Iniesta (Barcelona):
Andres Iniesta ia a well known figure in the world football and is one of the best midfielders in the world. Same as his counter-part Xavi Hernandez, Iniesta also played a major role in Barcelona’s and Spain’s success in the previous decade. Iniesta came from the Barcelona youth academy, La masia and quickly rose to the ranks and became one of the most important players for the club. He debuted for the Spanish Giants in October 2002 and quickly became a favorite among all the fans in the Camp Nou.
An excellent dribbler and world class passing skills. He was a magician on the ball and was also very influential in Spain’s Euro and World Cup triumphs in 2008, 2010, and again in 2012.
Andres Iniesta was heart of the Fc Barcelona and Spanish Midfield. He was well known for scoring crucial goals in many big ocassion as he remains the only player to win man of the match award in World Cup final, Euro final, and UCL finals. He was know as an excellent playmaker of the game. He has also won the IFFHS Best Playemaker of the decade award multiple times.
The Spaniard’s style of play was so eye pleasing and eye-catching that even rival fans used to love him for his magical display of football.
2. Michel Platini:
Michel Platini was a French International Player who played for Seria A club, Juventus in the mid 1980s. He quickly established himself and turned into one of the best Midfielders in the world. Platini was well known for his pinpoint passes and his mastery with the dead ball. He was also a highly skilled dribbler of the game and used to wreck opponents defences with his mazing runs through their defence. He was named “Le Roi” means the King.
During his illustrious career Platini won the French League, French Cup while playing in France. While with Juventus the Frenchman won two Serie A titles, the Italian Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup, and the Champions League title. He individual honours includes the Ballon d’or award which he won three times only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi has more Ballon d’ors than Platini. He was included in the FIFA World Cup dream team in 2002, he also won the French footballer of the century award in 1999 and also won the French Player of the Year award for two consecutive times. The Frenchman was considered as one of the best Midfielder of his generation.
1. Zinedine Zidane: Football midfielders Of All Time
A list of best Midfielders is incomplete without the name of Zinedine Zidane. The Frenchman is a well known master of the beautiful game. He has played for the likes of Juventus and Real Madrid. Zidane used to play as an Attacking Midfielder, he ruled the world football with his magical footballing skills and his graceful footwork on the ball.
Zidane In 1996, signed for Italian giants Juventus, where he won several trophies including two Scuedttos. He then moved to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee at the time of 77.5 million in 2001. In Spain, Zidane won several trophies, including a La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League. In the 2002 Champions League final, he scored a left-foot volleyed winner to help his in winning the title.
The bald Maestro was a renowned playmaker and was known for his elegance passing, vision, ball control and technique. He used to exploit the opponents defence with his supreme passing skills like no other. He received many individual honours, including being named as the FIFA player of the year in 1998, 2000 and 2003 , and winning the 1998 Ballon d’or award. Zidane was also won the IFFHS Playmaker of the decade award in 2006.
He also played an integral part in guiding France towards the 1998 world cup. He became a World Wide hero by scoring two headed goals to help France on their way to a historic victory over Brazil in the World Cup finals. Two years later, Zidane also won the Euro 2000 with France.
Zinedine Zidane was undoubtedly was one of the best football Midfielders to ever play the beautiful game.
Get more football news on Sportslibro.com.