Home › Rankings

Best defenders in the world (2026)

According to GolVote fans, Virgil van Dijk is number one with a rating of 1516, ahead of Achraf Hakimi and Trent Alexander-Arnold. The order is decided by head-to-head fan votes and changes live with every vote.

Best defenders in the world: a live ranking decided by football fans' head-to-head votes. Updated with every vote. Updated: 9 October 2026.

Who is better?

Virgil van Dijk🇳🇱 Netherlands · Defender

VS

Achraf Hakimi🇲🇦 Morocco · Defender

Virgil van Dijk: Ailura, CC BY-SA 3.0 at · Achraf Hakimi: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Next duel →

1. 1Virgil van Dijk🇳🇱 Netherlands · Defender1516
2. 2Achraf Hakimi🇲🇦 Morocco · Defender1510
3. 3Trent Alexander-Arnold🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1498
4. 4William Saliba🇫🇷 France · Defender1492
5. 5Pau Cubarsí🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1492
6. 6Marquinhos🇧🇷 Brazil · Defender1480
7. 7Nuno Mendes🇵🇹 Portugal · Defender1480
8. 8Rúben Dias🇵🇹 Portugal · Defender1474
9. 9Jordi Alba🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1471
10. 10Harry Maguire🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1465
11. 11David Alaba🇦🇹 Austria · Defender1465
12. 12João Cancelo🇵🇹 Portugal · Defender1456
13. 13Marc Hagit Cucurella🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1456
14. 14Lucas Hernandez🇫🇷 France · Defender1456
15. 15Matthijs de Ligt🇳🇱 Netherlands · Defender1456
16. 16Lucas Digne🇫🇷 France · Defender1456
17. 17Eric Dier🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1456
18. 18Jules Koundé🇫🇷 France · Defender1456
19. 19Andreas Christensen🇩🇰 Denmark · Defender1456
20. 20Ibrahima Konaté🇫🇷 France · Defender1456
21. 21Héctor Bellerín🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1456
22. 22Alphonso Davies🇨🇦 Canada · Defender1456
23. 23Andy Robertson🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland · Defender1456
24. 24Thomas Meunier🇧🇪 Belgium · Defender1456
25. 25Éder Militão🇧🇷 Brazil · Defender1456
26. 26Matthias Ginter🇩🇪 Germany · Defender1453
27. 27Ricardo Rodriguez🇨🇭 Switzerland · Defender1453
28. 28José María Giménez🇺🇾 Uruguay · Defender1453
29. 29Jonathan Tah🇩🇪 Germany · Defender1453
30. 30Denzel Dumfries🇳🇱 Netherlands · Defender1453
31. 31Manuel Akanji🇨🇭 Switzerland · Defender1453
32. 32Álvaro Odriozola🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1453
33. 33Takehiro Tomiyasu🇯🇵 Japan · Defender1453
34. 34Sead Kolašinac🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina · Defender1453
35. 35Lisandro Martínez🇦🇷 Argentina · Defender1453
36. 36Matteo Darmian🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1453
37. 37Kalidou Koulibaly🇸🇳 Senegal · Defender1453
38. 38Fabian Schär🇨🇭 Switzerland · Defender1450
39. 39Dayot Upamecano🇫🇷 France · Defender1450
40. 40Ben Chilwell🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1450
41. 41Yerry Mina🇨🇴 Colombia · Defender1450
42. 42Marc Bartra🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1450
43. 43Ronald Araújo🇺🇾 Uruguay · Defender1450
44. 44Ferland Mendy🇫🇷 France · Defender1450
45. 45Victor Lindelöf🇸🇪 Sweden · Defender1450
46. 46Marcos Alonso Mendoza🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1450
47. 47Leonardo Spinazzola🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1450
48. 48Robin Gosens🇩🇪 Germany · Defender1450
49. 49Noussair Mazraoui🇲🇦 Morocco · Defender1450
50. 50Joško Gvardiol🇭🇷 Croatia · Defender1450
51. 51Kō Itakura🇯🇵 Japan · Defender1450
52. 52Nahuel Molina🇦🇷 Argentina · Defender1450
53. 53Nicolás Tagliafico🇦🇷 Argentina · Defender1450
54. 54Giovanni Di Lorenzo🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1447
55. 55Cristian Romero🇦🇷 Argentina · Defender1447
56. 56Marc Guéhi🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1447
57. 57Djibril Sidibé🇫🇷 France · Defender1447
58. 58Robin Le Normand🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1447
59. 59Álex Grimaldo🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1447
60. 60Emerson Palmieri🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1447
61. 61Pedro Porro🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1447
62. 62Nico Schlotterbeck🇩🇪 Germany · Defender1447
63. 63Riccardo Calafiori🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1447
64. 64Juan Jesus🇧🇷 Brazil · Defender1444
65. 65Fikayo Tomori🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1444
66. 66Nico Elvedi🇨🇭 Switzerland · Defender1444
67. 67Martín Montoya🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1444
68. 68Jurriën Timber🇳🇱 Netherlands · Defender1444
69. 69Piero Hincapié🇪🇨 Ecuador · Defender1444
70. 70Jeremie Frimpong🇳🇱 Netherlands · Defender1444
71. 71Jannik Vestergaard🇩🇰 Denmark · Defender1444
72. 72Abdukodir Khusanov🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Defender1444
73. 73Dean Huijsen🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1444
74. 74Kim Min-jae🇰🇷 South Korea · Defender1444
75. 75Julian Ryerson🇳🇴 Norway · Defender1444
76. 76Nayef Aguerd🇲🇦 Morocco · Defender1444
77. 77Juan Foyth🇦🇷 Argentina · Defender1444
78. 78Yukinari Sugawara🇯🇵 Japan · Defender1444
79. 79Aaron Wan-Bissaka🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo · Defender1444
80. 80Diego Llorente🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1441
81. 81Ezri Konsa🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1441
82. 82Timothy Castagne🇧🇪 Belgium · Defender1441
83. 83Pau Torres🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1441
84. 84Rob Holding🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1441
85. 85Nikola Milenković🇷🇸 Serbia · Defender1441
86. 86Duje Ćaleta-Car🇭🇷 Croatia · Defender1441
87. 87Konrad Laimer🇦🇹 Austria · Defender1441
88. 88Dan Burn🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1441
89. 89Davide Zappacosta🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1441
90. 90Jean-Clair Todibo🇫🇷 France · Defender1441
91. 91Álvaro Fernández🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1441
92. 92Gabriel Paletta🇮🇹 Italy · Defender1441
93. 93Cristian Ansaldi🇦🇷 Argentina · Defender1441
94. 94Tyler Adams🇺🇸 United States · Defender1441
95. 95Axel Disasi🇫🇷 France · Defender1441
96. 96Ethan Ampadu🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales · Defender1441
97. 97Ainsley Maitland-Niles🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England · Defender1441
98. 98Zeki Çelik🇹🇷 Turkey · Defender1441
99. 99Angeliño🇪🇸 Spain · Defender1438
100. 100Pervis Estupiñán🇪🇨 Ecuador · Defender1438