The biggest stars in soccer history are usually strikers or midfielders. However, many defenders have also shined throughout the sport’s history. Defensive players ran around the pitch at all times and often outshone the offensive-minded players.
This time, just as the title of this article suggests, what we have is a selection of the best soccer defenders of all time. So in the following, we will introduce some 10 best and great defenders in the history of soccer. If you have any alternative selections, objections or arguments for and against, write in the comments section below.
Matthias Sammer (Germany)
Did Matthias Sammer belong in this selection? Was he a defender at all? Perhaps not exactly a fullback. He was a midfielder originally. Nowadays, you would say he was more of a defensive midfielder, later switching to the libero position.
A soccer player who spent the early seasons of his career in Dresden, East Germany, became a Stuttgart player after the fall of the Berlin Wall. His best years, however, was spent with Borussia Dortmund.
He led the German team to the title of European champions at the 1996 European Championships in England. The Germans defeated the Czech national team in the final. That same year he won the Golden Ball for the best footballer of the old continent. Besides the European Championship, he won the Champions League and became the champion of the German Bundesliga three times.
Cafu (Brazil)
Aside from a brief anabasis in Zaragoza, Spain, Brazilian defender Cafu played in his native country until he was 27, going to Europe in 1997 already a World Champion (1994) and South American Champion (1997). His employers were AS Roma, where he played for six years and was instrumental in winning the Italian championship title in 2001.
Cafu earned the nickname Il Pendolino (The Fast Man) during his spell in the Apennine Peninsula and moved to rivals AC Milan in 2003 after his contract in the capital expired. He won his second Italian title in the Rossoneri colors (2004) and three years later hoisted the Champions League winner’s trophy above his head.
He ended a successful career as a two-time world champion in 2008. He reached the final of the World Cup three times. He played 142 games for the national team between 1990 and 2006, netting five goals.
Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
The Brazilian Roberto Carlos became a phenomenon mainly for his direct free kicks. He was one of the best players of the last twenty years in this discipline. It didn’t matter at all from which distance the standard situation was played. Each time, the goal of the opponent was in the greatest danger.
Most of his career – all eleven seasons – was spent at Real Madrid, with which he won La Liga four times and the Champions League three times. He won the World Cup title with Brazil in 2002 and the South American Copa America championship twice.
Alessandro Nesta (Italy)
One of the best goalkeepers of the last decades, Nesta spent his best years at Lazio Roma and AC Milan, where he had a total of nineteen seasons (9 at Roma and 10 at Milan). Alessandro Nesta has never scored a goal. He played over 600 matches during his professional career and scored only 18 goals. His strong point was his impeccable defensive work. He helped Italy win the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and his record also includes three Italian titles, one Cup Winners’ Cup victory and two Champions League titles.
Ronald Koeman (Netherlands)
The Dutch defender Ronald Koeman used to be an even greater defender than Daniel Passarella. His tough and accurate long-range shots have become legendary.
Koeman played for Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and moved to Barcelona in 1989, where he played for six seasons. There he was nicknamed Tintin because he resembled the famous comic book hero. He returned to the Netherlands in 1995, playing two more years with Feyenoord Rotterdam. He won the Dutch and Spanish leagues four times, Champions League twice, and was Dutch Footballer of the Year twice.
Daniel Passarella (Argentina)
Daniel Passarella was the first Argentine in history to hold the World Cup trophy. As the host team captain in 1978, he led his team to the first title. At the time, one of the team’s key figures was him.
He was called “El Gran Capitan” (the great captain) for his leadership qualities and ability to organise the game perfectly. He was the type of defender, often supporting the attack and liked to take an active part in it. That is why he scored more goals than ever before. Scored 143 goals in 447 club games and 22 goals in 70 national team games.
Even though he wasn’t exactly short (he was only 173 centimeters tall), many goals he scored with his head. And he was great at direct shots and penalty kicks. However, he often helped himself with his elbows and played quite tricky. Until today he is considered the best defender in the history of South American soccer.
Bobby Moore (England)
English soccer legend has been associated with West Ham United for almost all his footballing life. Bobby Moore played 544 league games for the club and was its captain for twenty years. As the captain, in 1966, he led the England national team to the championship title at the home World Cup.
He is still considered one of the greatest players of all time. Legendary Brazilian Pele said he was the best defender he ever played against. He completed 108 games for the English national team and never missed a single minute on the pitch. This record will probably never be broken.
On 29 May 1963, aged 22, he led the national team as the youngest English captain in history to an international match in which Albion beat Czechoslovakia 4-2. In 1993, the island soccer icon died at the age of 51.
Lothar Matthäus (Germany)
Lothar Matthäus is a similar case to his compatriot Sammer. He first played in midfield, but in his 30s, he switched to defense. In the 1990s, he became arguably the best defender ever to grace the soccer pitch.
He started his professional career in 1979 with Borussia Mönchengladbach and finished it 21 years later in American Major League Soccer. In between, he played twelve seasons with Bayern Munich and four with Inter Milan.
He participated in five World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998), appearing in 25 matches – an all-time record for this statistic. As a captain, he led the German national team to the World Cup title in 1990 and won the Ballon d’Or. He represented Germany four times at European Championships (1980, 1984, 1988 and 2000), crowning his first participation with a title.
In his biography of Matthäus, Argentine Diego Maradona wrote that he was the best footballer he had ever played against. He was named the best German soccer player of the year in 1999 when he was 38 years old.
Paolo Maldini (Italy)
Paolo Maldini became a symbol of club loyalty. He wore the AC Milan jersey in all 25 seasons he spent in professional soccer. He bid farewell to his career as a club legend in 2009 at the age of 41.
Maldini had great leadership qualities. That’s why he was nicknamed “Il Capitano”. More than for his technical achievements, he was singled out for his perfect positional play, his vision and his intuition, which meant he always appeared in the right place at the right time.
That’s why he was nicknamed “Il Capitano”. More than for his technical achievements, he was honored for his perfect positional play, vision and intuition, which always made him appear in the right place at the right time.
Besides his World Cup title, Maldini is also the 2000 European Champion, winning the Italian League seven times and the Champions League five times. He was voted the best footballer of the year in 1994. In 2007, at the age of 39, he was the best defender in the Champions League.
Franco Baresi (Italy)
Just like Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi spent his entire career at AC Milan. He has won the Champions League three times, Italian Serie A six times and has a whole collection of medals from World Cups. In 1982 he won the most valuable award eight years later, followed by bronze and four years later silver.
Baresi said goodbye to soccer in 1997 at the age of 37. Only two years later, AC Milan fans voted him player of the century.
Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
“Emperor Franz” was probably the best soccer defender of all time. This nickname he earned because of his leadership qualities, his fantastic style of play and his enormous empathy. He was awarded the Ballon d’Or twice for being the best footballer in Europe and was player of the year four times in his home country. He is still considered the best German soccer player of all time.
A player who spent twelve seasons with Bayern Munich is regarded as the first modern fullback in the history of soccer and the “inventor of the libero position”. Amazingly, like fellow countrymen Sammer and Matthäus, he began as a midfielder and only later moved to the back row.
He won the German Bundesliga four times with Bayern and later won it again in the Hamburg jersey. He won the European Cup of National Champions three times and the Cup Winners’ Cup once. He has in his collection both the European and the World Cup titles.
After his active career ended, he became a coach and again collected one success after another. With Marseille, he won the French league, FC Bayern the Bundesliga and the UEFA Cup, and in 1990 he won the World Cup with the German national team. Alongside Brazilians Mario Zagallo and Didier Deschamps, he is the only person in the world to have achieved this as a player and coach.
