The center back position is one of the most difficult to evaluate in football, because much of what makes the best center backs so effective is what they do off the ball.
Paolo Maldini was famous for being able to shut strikers out of the match without even having to make a tackle, famously remarking that this was a sign of a great defender.
Yet at the same time, the best center backs in world football need to show they are capable of making decisive interventions when called upon.
And there are even other central defenders who have the responsibility of pushing higher up the pitch to win the ball, particularly for possession-based, pressing teams like Bayern München.
So here are the 10 best center backs in football today, ranked based on a combination of current play in the 2022/23 season and overall quality.
10. Fabian Schär, Newcastle
Fabian Schär and Sven Botman form one of the best defensive partnerships in world football today, but the Swiss international gets the edge due to his overall body of work over the years.
The 31-year-old has been one of the best center backs in English football over the last several seasons since joining Newcastle in 2018 after a singular breakout season in LaLiga for Deportivo.
Schär produced one of the best statistical defensive seasons in the modern Premier League back in 2018/19 with 2.5 tackles and 2.8 interceptions per game.
But now that he has Botman, Bruno Guimarães (one of the best midfielders in the Premier League), and a better defensive structure around him, Schär can focus more on the art of defending than rather straight-up ball-winning.
As he has matured, he has only gotten better as an all-around center back. He might be one of the most underrated players in the Premier League.
9. Lisandro Martínez, Manchester United
One of the newest Manchester United players, Lisandro Martínez figures to shoot up this list in the near future, and he has firmly established himself as one of the top 10 center backs in world football by helping transform United’s defense in the 2022/23 season.
United are safely the third-best team in the Premier League and the arguable Europa League favorites, having made short work of two great LaLiga sides in leaders Barcelona and top-four contenders Real Betis.
The Red Devils’ new center back has been as good as advertised on the ball, and he has been one of the best center backs in the world at winning possession for his team.
in the tackle and intelligent in tracking strikers off the ball, Martínez has made any concerns about his height as laughable as they should have seemed initially.
8. Ronald Araújo, Barcelona
Ronald Araújo is another candidate to climb up this list. The Barcelona center back has been tremendous in the 2022/23 season, even standing out in comparison to the other two top-class central defenders in Catalunya, new signings Jules Koundé and Andreas Christensen.
The young Uruguayan has impressed from the moment he entered the lineup for La Blaugrana, but the 2022/23 season has been his best yet.
Araújo recently dominated Vinícius Júnior in El Clásico, starting again on the right side of the defense to mark Vini one-on-one as part of the “anti-Vinícius” plan of Xavi.
As Trent Alexander-Arnold and so many others can attest, marking Vini Jr. is no easy task. Yet Araújo does it with aplomb, showing off his incredible reading of the game, defensive courage, technique in the tackle, and elite physical attributes.
7. Matthijs de Ligt, Bayern München
Matthijs de Ligt put on a defensive performance for the ages in Bayern München’s clean sheet victory over PSG in the second leg of the 2022/23 Champions League Round of 16, just as he did in the group stages against former Bayern superstar striker Robert Lewandowski, now of Barcelona.
After building a legacy as a prospect in 2018/19 by captaining Ajax to a fairytale Champions League run, de Ligt quickly became a leader in Turin after a big-money move to Juventus.
Seeing the poor decisions the Bianconeri’s board made and realizing he needed to seek another opportunity, de Ligt joined perennial champions Bayern in the summer 2022 transfer window in the pursuit of Champions League glory.
De Ligt has rebounded from an understandably disappointing 2021/22 campaign with Juve, reestablishing himself as one of the best all-around central defenders in the world.
6. Dayot Upamecano , Bayern München
Yet Dayot Upamecano should be recognized as the best defender in the city of München. Technically, Lucas Hernández is the best of them all, but because of his injury record, he cannot be ranked in this top 10 until he is fully healthy.
Bayern have smartly build an envious group of central defenders so that they can counter any elite attack in European football during the Champions League knockout stages.
Upamecano’s signing paid dividends, in particular, during the second leg of the Round of 16 vs. PSG. Like Matthijs de Ligt, Upeamecano dropped a perfect “10” performance for Die Roten, except the former RB Leipzig man had the even tougher task of coping with Kylian Mbappé. And he marked him better than anyone else has on the big stage.
He may not be the most consistent player and sometimes gets caught out by gambling, but those gambles provide so many “wins” for Bayern and create so many goals.
Upamecano is arguably the most naturally gifted central defender in the world, as his ball-playing abilities and athleticism are simply on another level.
5. Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk is the in the midst of a difficult season for Liverpool, and there have been fewer disappointing defenders in European football this season than the man who was once seen as the best player in the world at the position. Recently, he had a rough time against Real Madrid, as the Reds were once again eliminated by the LaLiga giants.
Yet van Dijk must still be recognized as one of the very best center backs in the world. His intelligence, composure, and quality of passing are among the best of the best.
Sometimes he is lacking in fire and isn’t the greatest ball-winner on this list, but going back to what Maldini said, you can see that van Dijk gets the art of defending.
He may be in a bad moment now, but we cannot disparage how good he has been for Liverpool, regardless of the backlash to exaggerated statements comparing him to Sergio Ramos at the time.
Van Dijk will be back to his best once the club sorts out its massive issues, particularly in midfield.
4. Rúben Dias, Manchester City
Rúben Dias was a revelation from Day 1 for City, joining the Premier League title favorites in 2020 after quietly growing into a defensive phenom for Benfica in his home country of Portugal.
Just 25 years old, Dias has already made the FIFPro World XI and won the Premier League Player of the Season in 2020/21. It is rare for any center back to win that award, much less a U23 player in his first season in the English top flight.
This season, City have lost just one game with Dias in the lineup, and he has the best goal difference of any player in the league when in the XI.
Because he’s been better in the 2022/23 season, he gets the slide edge over rival Virgil van Dijk.
3. Thiago Silva, Chelsea
Though he is currently injured, Thiago Silva is, without a doubt, still one of the best center backs in world football. The recent hype around players like Rúben Dias and Virgil van Dijk led people to forget just how brilliant Silva is, and he is perhaps unfairly remembered by more casual fans for the 2014 World Cup.
Yet Silva is one of the finest center backs of his era, only really surpassed by Sergio Ramos and the glittering gold he won with Real Madrid.
But Silva was tremendous for Milan and PSG, standing out as a pillar of strength for the latter side. Since his departure to Chelsea, PSG hasn’t been the same structurally.
But since joining Chelsea, Silva has been one of the team’s two best players alongside right back Reece James.
His consistency, leadership, intelligent passing, and calculating movements off the ball have made him the best central defender in the Premier League over the past couple of seasons.
He may be 38 years of age, but like Luka Modrić, Silva remains an elite player in European football.
2. Kim Min-Jae, Napoli
Another great athlete at the center back position, Kim Min-Jae has been right behind teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as one of the best summer transfers of the 2022 window.
Kim has helped transform Napoli into one of the Champions League favorites and the clear best team in Serie A, providing a defensive steel and calmness that is rare to find.
Manager Luciano Spalletti recently called Kim the best in the world at his position, and it is not easy to come up with a case against the world-class South Korean.
Capable of scoring goals and adding to Napoli’s build-up play, Kim rarely puts a foot wrong in defense and is beyond brave in the air and in the tackle.
Already a leader for the Partenopei, the 26-year-old has 1.5 tackles and 2.4 interceptions per game in the Champions League and has never been dribbled past once in that competition. Talk about needing no adjustment to playing at the highest possible level.
1. Éder Militão, Real Madrid
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti recently threw his support behind Éder Militão as the best center back in the world, and, as with Kim Min-Jae, it is not easy to come up with a case against the Brazilian.
And because he has been doing it for multiple seasons whereas Kim only just joined Napoli, Militão is in the driver’s seat.
Militão has been tremendous again in the 2022/23 season for Madrid, and he is actually getting better every year in terms of his decision-making and consistency.
Even in 2019/20 when he first joined Los Blancos and was a backup to the legendary tandem of Raphaël Varane and Sergio Ramos, Militão flashed world-class potential when he did play.
Now, we can all see why Juni Calafat chose to sign the former Porto standout over spending even more money on the highly-regarded Matthijs de Ligt of Ajax. De Ligt is world-class, yet Militão is in a class of his own.
Already a fantastic ball-winner as one of the fastest center backs in world football, Militão has become more adept at reading strikers and picking out when to gamble and when not to.
Really, his anticipation, vision, and instincts were all fantastic to begin with, but it was just about the timing, positioning, and experience to knowing when to chase and where to stand when containing a counter.
Watching Militão play is a blessing, because he is so underrated with the passes he picks out – he hits Vinícius Júnior with some delicious long balls – and the way he tracks strikers off the ball.
You can’t go wrong with Kim, but Militão gets the edge for his excellence these past two seasons.
Either way, as brilliant as players like Silva, Dias, and van Dijk are in the English top flight, hopefully fans around the world are quickly catching on to the newest superstars in defense, because Militão and Kim are special players.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.