As Jorginho showed the world in the last European Championships, in addition to Luka Modric and Enzo Fernandez at previous World Cups, great midfielders can make a world of difference at the international stage.
Here are the 10 best midfielders you need to know at Euro 2024, ranked in order.
10. Dominik Szoboszlai, Hungary
Dominik Szoboszlai’s match-winning performance against Montenegro will forever live in the lore of Hungarian football. The Liverpool star is the modern day hope of the country in football, carrying a legacy that includes some of the greatest players in history, most namely Ferenc Puskas
A playmaker who has become a more robust midfielder by working on his physical strength, Szoboszlai can play virtually any position for Hungary but is currently being utilized as a playmaker.
After an amazing 2022/23 season in the Bundesliga in which Szoboszlai truly became a complete midfielder for Leipzig, the 23-year-old made the move up to Liverpool and only increased his stock. He is one of the world’s best.
9. Ilkay Gundogan, Germany
German international Ilkay Gundogan has been praised around the world for years as one of the best midfielders on the planet, first setting the tempo for an exciting Dortmund side before becoming a titan at Manchester City.
Gundogan won the Premier League and Champions League for Man City in the 2022/23 season before embarking on a new challenge in trying to pull a stagnating Barcelona back to Champions League supremacy.
While Gundogan wasn’t quite able to do that in his first season in Catalunya, he was Barcelona’s best player, scoring five goals with nine assists while averaging 2.7 key passes and 1.2 fouls drawn per game.
Gundogan is one of the most cerebral and fiery competitors around, still going strong at the age of 33. His legacy had been underrated for far too long, but after his incredible 2022/23 Champions League campaign, that is in the process of being rectified.
8. Aurelien Tchouameni, France
Aurelien Tchouameni joined Real Madrid in the summer 2022 transfer window as a priority transfer target for Real Madrid, who spent 80 million euros in order to beat the likes of PSG and Liverpool to the defensive midfielder’s signature.
The Frenchman would immediately replace Casemiro, and although the No. 6 role at Real Madrid is a difficult one for a young player to transition to, it didn’t take long for Tchouameni to become one of the Merengue club’s most important players.
Tchouameni took another big step forward in 2023/24, increasing his importance with several stellar emergency starts at center back, arguably outplaying any “real” center back in LaLiga during his matches in central defense.
The 24-year-old ex-Monaco man isn’t even in his prime, and is already one of the best anchoring midfielders in world football, joyfully picking apart defenses while providing world-class defending and covering of his own.
7. Declan Rice, England
A 100 million pound investment by Arsenal in the summer 2023 transfer window, Declan Rice has been worth every cent the Gunners spent in order to ensure the world-class defensive midfielder would not end up with title rivals Manchester City.
In his first season at the Emirates, the former West Ham star was a rousing success, creating an enviable axis with world-class attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard.
A natural leader, Rice is just about flawless with his passing and picks those passes purposefully, boosting Arsenal’s attacking efforts while giving the team a defensive basis that allows the likes of Odegaard, Kai Havertz, and Leandro Trossard more freedom.
Rice finished his first season in North London with 7 goals, 8 assists, and 3.4 combined tackles and interceptions per game, producing the kind of all-around impact that will have him competing for the Premier League Player of the Season award soon enough.
6. Rodri, Spain
Another Premier League Player of the Season caliber midfielder, Rodri gives Manchester City a level of security in and out of possession that few other midfielders in world football can match.
The Spanish international had his best career season yet in 2023/24, even exceeding Declan Rice’s performances and proving vital in Man City withstanding early injury to Kevin De Bruyne in order to wind up Premier League champions over Arsenal again.
Rodri scored eight goal with nine assists, completing nearly 93 percent of his passes while averaging 2.2 combined fouls drawn and dribbles completed per game with nearly three combined tackles and interceptions per match.
The perfect anchoring midfielder, Rodri is in the prime of his career at 27 and carries the legacy of world-class Spanish midfielders proudly.
5. Jamal Musiala, Germany
German playmaker Jamal Musiala had another stellar individual season for Bayern Munich, even as Die Roten stumbled in the Bundesliga and finished behind both Bayer Leverkusen and an arguably bigger surprise side, VfB Stuttgart.
Musiala reached double-digit goals for the second time in his career despite only being 21, as he continues to show a level of finishing beyond his years or even the skills of most of the world’s best attacking midfielders of any age.
One of the elite dribblers in world football, Musiala’s close control is unmatched and has drawn loose comparisons to one of the GOATs himself, Lionel Messi.
Willing to defend from the front and brilliant with his decision-making in the final third, the future is already now for Musiala and the German national team.
4. Florian Wirtz, Germany
Yet his national teammate Florian Wirtz was even more impressive in the 2023/24 season and is cementing his status as one of the best talents German football has ever produced.
Kai Havertz’s successor to the playmaker role at Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz has thrived at a level beyond and put together an amazing, post-injury 2023/24 season for the undefeated Werkself.
On the radar of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and virtually every elite club in European football, Wirtz is sure to win even more admirers at Euro 2024.
Wirtz is also only 21 and just finished his second Bundesliga season with double-digit assists, recording 11 goals and 11 assists as the clear face of a star-studded Leverkusen side.
3. Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium
Even at the age of 32 and with injuries recently becoming a concern, Kevin De Bruyne still sets a different standard among pure playmakers in modern football.
The Belgium captain gave Manchester City the decisive boost they needed to win the Premier League title at the end of the season, and he finished the 2023/24 campaign with 4 goals and 10 assists despite only playing 1,228 minutes; he averaged 3.3 key passes per game.
KDB can pick out an assist from anywhere on the pitch and is technique personified, scoring the kinds of goals from beyond range that most players struggle to even attempt on the training ground.
A player with a history of success at the international level, De Bruyne was one of the stars of the Belgium side that finished third in the 2018 World Cup.
2. Toni Kroos, Germany
Toni Kroos was the highest-rated player at the 2014 World Cup, which Germany won, and he has consistently impressed at international tournaments even when his country has not, such as at the last European Championships.
The reigning Champions League winner with Real Madrid made another big statement to his critics, who still somehow exist, with a beyond brilliant opening performance against Scotland.
Kroos literally completed more than 99 percent of his passes while creating chances galore, doing what he has done all decade long for Real Madrid with the German national team.
Set to retire at the end of the tournament at the peak of his powers, Kroos showed repeatedly throughout the latest Champions League campaign that his skill-set is untouchable and will never be replicated in the future.
1. Jude Bellingham, England
Kroos’ Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham stands in a category of his own among midfielders in world football and is among the Ballon d’Or favorites alongside another great Madridista, left winger Vinicius Junior.
Bellingham nearly won the Pichichi award in his first season at Real Madrid despite being an attacking midfielder who brought that same all-action mindset he had at Dortmund when he was a pure No. 8 for the then-Bundesliga title contenders.
Now a Champions League and LaLiga winner, Bellingham is the face of an England national team that is desperate to finally win the big one after near-misses, including at the last European Championships.
If Bellingham’s matchwinner against Serbia in England’s Euro 2024 opener is anything to go by, then the 2022/23 Bundesliga Player of the Season could very well be the great equalizer that brings the Three Lions “back” on top of European football.
