Top 8 Midfielders to watch for in World Cup 2022

Xabi Alonso once said that, “If you have control of the midfield, you have control of the game, and you have more chances to win.”  Midfield sets the tempo of the match by controlling possession from the center of the field. It is the important position that creates the goal scoring chances with accurate passes and long balls. The success of Spain and Barcelona in the past decade lay in its effective midfield with Xavi, Iniesta and others.

Best Midfielders in the world 2022

A few days are left for the FIFA World Cup to begin. This tournament will run from November 20 to December 18, in which 32 teams are participating. 

8. Jude Bellingham

Nation: England

Club: Borussia Dortmund

Jude Bellingham is an English midfielder who made his senior level debut at just 16 years of age and at 17 for Borussia Dortmund. Bellingham is in the next generation of attacking midfielder and is known for playing in different midfield positions with short sharp passes and great dribbling skills.

Definitely Bellingham will be one of the best soccer players in the in the coming years. Recently, Liverpool and Real Madrid has shown interest in him.

7. Bruno Fernandes

Nation: Portugal

Club: Manchester United

Fernandes is known for his goalscoring, leadership, playmaking, and penalty taking abilities. He is known for his ability to convert free kicks. Bruno Fernandes is the attacking midfielder and has the record of highest scoring midfielder in a season. Recently Man Utd extended his contract till 2026.

6. İlkay Gündoğan

Nation: Germany

Club: Manchester City

The success of Manchester City lies in the strength of midfield. With the combination of De Bruyne, Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, City has the most effective midfield. He won the Premier League in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022, the EFL Cup in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, and the FA Cup in 2019.

The German is technically sound, has the ability to dictate the pace of the game, and can make an impact from both ends of the field with great passing range.

5. Pedri

Nation: Spain

Club: Barcelona

Pedri is a member of the young generation of Spanish players along with gavi. At just 19 years of age, he has made a name among the list of best midfielders. He is also considered as the second coming of Andres Iniesta.

He is a versatile player who plays as a central midfielder and creates goal scoring chances for his teammates. He is known for his dribbling abilities, pace, intelligence, vision and ball passing skills.

Pedri is also one of the contenders for claiming Best Young Player Award in this FIFA World Cup 2022.

4. Casemiro

Nation: Brazil

Club: Manchester United

Casemiro is a Brazilian international player who also plays for a Premier League club Manchester United as a defensive midfielder. He is considered as the best defensive midfielder in the modern world soccer. He is known for his physicality, aggressive and hard tackling style of play.

Casemiro is primarily known for his ability to provide balance to his teams by supporting his more offensive-minded teammates defensively. In addition, he excels in a holding midfield position in front of the defense by stopping counterattacks and protecting the back line because of his quick responses, outstanding positional sense, game reading, and good anticipation.

3. Joshua Kimmich

Nation: Germany

Club: Bayern Munich

Joshua Kimmich is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or right back. He is a versatile player known for his technical and aggressive playmaking ability. 

Kimmich is the most complete midfielder because sometimes he plays as a makeshift center back as well as central midfielder.

He is also known for accurate passing and maneuvering and is a great striker of the ball

2. Luka Modric

Nation: Croatia

Club: Real Madrid

Luka Modric is the best midfielder, world has ever seen. He won the Golden Ball award in the world cup 2018 and Croatia reached the final because of Modric’s contribution. The midfield of Real Madrid has been led by Modric for several years. He has won twenty-one major trophies at Real Madrid, including five UEFA Champions League titles, three La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey and four FIFA Club World Cup titles.

He mostly plays as a versatile central midfielder and is known for his creative long range passes and praised for his tactical intelligence. Fans call him ‘Midfield Maestro”.

1. Kevin De Bruyne

Nation: Belgium

Club: Manchester City

Kevin De bruyne is the shining star behind the success of Premier League club Manchester City. He is a talented central midfielder but also plays as a second striker or winger. De Bruyne is known for his creative style of play, skill, vision and exceptional goal scoring capability at crucial stages of the match. 

In a match, exceptionally innovative passes by him increase the goal scoring chances and it has been proved vital in several matches. 

In 2020,Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola described him as the best midfielder in the world. Media often call him  a ‘complete footballer.’

S.No.	Player
8.	Jude Bellingham
7.	Bruno Fernandes
6.	İlkay Gündoğan
5.	Pedri
4.	Casemiro
3.	Joshua Kimmich
2.	Luka Modric
1.	Kevin De Bruyne

Also Read:

1. Top 8 Forwards to watch for in this World Cup 2022

2. 7 Benefits of playing Soccer 2022

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