Fullbacks are easy to overlook, but they are becoming increasingly vital in the modern game, especially to elite teams who have possession of the ball and need additional width.
They need that width to both free space for the attackers in the middle and to offer additional venues for chance creation.
Left backs tend to be scarcer than right backs for the simple fact that there are fewer left-footers.
So having a game-breaking left back who can defend well while still creating a high volume of quality chances is the dream of every top team. And some clubs, like Juventus and Real Madrid, have found a proper solution to be difficult.
So here are the best left backs in the world today, with this list subject to updates and changes as performances fluctuate and breakout stars emerge.
10. Neto Borges
Most football fans have no idea who Neto Borges is, but the Clermont Foot left back was actually the best player at the position for the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season. Borges elevated his club to a finish that surprised everyone. Clermont Foot were 8th in the table, finishing higher than even Nice and Lorient. They were just three points away from Lyon, too.
Borges was the best player on the team, recording 3.5 combined tackles and interceptions to lead the way defensively. He also averaged a combined 2.8 dribbles completed and fouls drawn per match.
The 26-year-old Brazilian international isn’t the biggest name or the most exciting player at the position, but he should be honored as one of the best right now after such an industrious and effective season, particularly defensively.
9. Ben Chilwell
Though we are still waiting to see Ben Chilwell at his fittest and at his absolute best level for Chelsea, the former Leicester City man has to be ranked as one of the best left backs in the world right now due to his all-around game and quality when he is at 100 percent.
Chilwell was tremendous in the 2022/23 Champions League, showing the full extent of his quality on the biggest stage with nearly two chances created per match and elite defensive work.
Entering the prime of his career, Chilwell was also a key part of the Chelsea side that won the 2020/21 Champions League.
8. José Gayà
So much credit and praise need to go to José Gayà, the Valencia captain who has never wavered in his commitment to the club. In their moment of need last season, Gayà rose to the occasion to help the Bats avoid going down, performing as one of the best left backs in LaLiga for yet another season running.
A warrior in defense with the passing quality and athleticism to be a key asset in the attack, Gayà is a model of consistency for Valencia and one of the standard-setters at the left back position.
Gayà is easily the best player on the team and has recorded 14 assists in the last three seasons to help back that up.
Last season, Gayà averaged 2.6 tackles and 1.9 key passes per game to entrench himself as one of the best left backs in the world in both the defensive and attacking phases. When it comes to his overall impact on the bottom line, Gayà is never left wanting.
7. Mário Rui
Being able to change games in the attack is so important for a fullback on a top team competing for titles, and Mário Rui proved to be a major key to victory for Napoli in the 2022/23 Serie A and Champions League seasons.
Rui helped unlock the full potential of the Partenopei attack, overlapping for left winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia or underlapping. He even stayed back and played as an auxiliary midfielder, playmaking with crossed and pinged passes from those areas.
Rui’s technical quality paid off big-time for Napoli, as the 32-year-old finished the 2022/23 season as one of Italian football’s most consistent creative influences.
He was directly responsible for six goals via assists, and he also averaged an outstanding 2.1 key passes per game for the Partenopei. That is a great number at any position and world-class for a fullback.
With 1.4 fouls drawn per match, Rui was in the battles both out wide and in the middle of the park. He is far from the best defender on the left side of defense, but his attacking influence and chance creation more than make up for his fairly mediocre defensive work.
6. Oleksandr Zinchenko
Oleksandr Zinchenko was one of a number of game-changing signings made by Arsenal before the 2022/23 season. The former Manchester City man played a key role in the Gunners’ success as the team that pushed Manchester City for the Premier League title, providing plenty of leadership and crucial tactical flexibility.
Due to his intelligent reading of the game and technical quality, Zinchenko could rule the passing game and build-up phases, finding teammates in progressive positions like a world-class midfielder.
That made Zinchenko something of an auxiliary midfielder as well, and that increased the stability of the Arsenal formation in possession.
Zinchenko rarely misplaced a pass and performed his defensive duties well. His consistency could easily cause him to be underrated, but Arsenal fans understand how good he is.
5. Andrew Robertson
Liverpool were a disappointment in the 2022/23 season, and many star players like Andrew Robertson suffered accordingly. However, his reputation has one of the best left backs in the world should remain intact, and with a better season from his team, he should improve individually and return as one of the top three players at the position.
For now, Robertson is still in the top five. His intensity makes him a fiery competitor and someone no winger wants to go up against, especially because they know they will have to do a lot of defending.
Robertson’s technical quality may be overshadowed by the maestro that is Trent Alexander-Arnold at right back, but the Scottish international is also one of the best crossers of the football on the planet.
Robertson has recorded at least seven assists in five different Premier League seasons, and his defensive effort has never been called into question. A bounce-back campaign should be in order in 2023/24.
4. Alphonso Davies
Once the consensus best left back in the world, Alphonso Davies has fallen down the charts a bit for two reasons. Firstly and most importantly, the players ahead of him were just that undeniably incredible in the 2022/23 season.
But secondly, Davies hasn’t made enough progress technically, leaving goals on the table for his team with atrocious finishes and poor crosses.
Despite his flaws, Davies is still a world-class player at the left back position. He is a good defender because of his work rate, and that same intensity enables him to create a high volume of chances despite his relatively subpar final ball.
Davies still averaged nearly two key passes per game and well over two dribbles completed per game last season for Bayern Munich.
While Die Roten may be quietly concerned about some of his defensive inconsistencies and his technical deficiencies, Davies is still a massive asset to Bayern because nobody else in the world is capable of covering as much ground as he is on both ends of the pitch.
Davies is the classic example of how progression is often the most important thing for a fullback.
3. Nuno Mendes
A special prospect for Sporting CP, PSG wisely snapped up Nuno Mendes and created the best attacking wide axis in world football between the Portuguese international and Moroccan superstar Achraf Hakimi on the right-hand side.
Mendes was arguably even more impressive than Hakimi in the 2022/23 season, shining brightly in matches where his teammates were disappointing, such as the battles against Bayern in the Champions League.
In total, Mendes had five assists, averaging a combined 2.7 dribbles completed and fouls drawn per match. Just 21 years old, Mendes shows the consistency and all-around quality of a player in his prime.
He is still learning the ropes at the highest level, and yet he is a decisive player who so often makes the right decisions. Mendes does so much running to help provide the support the attackers need, but he had to cap his own attacking efforts in order to cover defensively for an inadequate group of center backs and midfielders in Paris.
Mendes is a special player on both ends of the pitch. PSG players outside of the main superstars tend to get overlooked – just as Marco Verratti – but Mendes should be on everyone’s radar as a truly world-class talent.
2. Alejandro Baldé
As impressive as Nuno Mendes is at 21, Alejandro Baldé’s breakout season at the age of 19 for LaLiga champions Barcelona was truly one of the biggest stories in Spanish football last season.
The level Baldé showed as a teenager at left back was historically great.
This is such a difficult position to show that kind of all-around quality and composure, and yet Baldé was able to execute advance positional cues and passing techniques by the end of the season.
The rapidly improving fullback showed no major weaknesses for La Blaugrana in 2022/23, even playmaking in the attacking third with through balls behind the defense that would make a playmaker proud.
Baldé finished the 2022/23 LaLiga campaign with a whopping six assists, averaging 1.5 dribbles completed per game as an important progressive option who allowed the left winger to cut inside aggressively as almost a secondary striker to Robert Lewandowski.
Better yet, Baldé made this profound impact on the Barcelona attack while still being very much a part of the best defense in LaLiga. You can count on one hand the number of times he was beaten all season long.
Baldé is an intelligent and disciplined defender beyond his years. His ability to help the attack without sacrificing his defensive efforts is uncanny. You won’t find many young left backs across history who are doing what he is.
1. Theo Hernández
The No. 1 left back in the world right now, Theo Hernández has always been an impressive player and one of the most dynamic attacking threats at the position due to his athleticism and technical quality.
Hernández can score some of the prettiest goals you will see from the position, and his goals have real range. He can strike worldies from distance – scorching the back of the net – or he can run through an entire defense with a slaloming solo goal from deep in his own half.
Hernández took a big step forward in 2022/23 for AC Milan as a leader and defender at left back, and he needed to, given the sudden instability of the defense around him.
The 25-year-old is truly entering the peak of his powers in world football, and he has become a difference-maker on the level of an elite winger.
