With Palmeiras being crowned champion, the list of top performing CBs presents a unexpected variety. The top performing CBs are all from different teams. In individual terms, the player with the highest average rating represents the team that finished in 14th place.
Player
Rating
Defense
Minutes Played
Team
Leo Ortiz
7.30
Back 4
1890
Bragantino
Emiliano Velázquez
7.28
Back 4
525
Santos
Júnior Alonso
7.24
Back 4
2565
Atlético Mineiro
Léo Pereira
7.22
Back 4
932
Flamengo
Murilo Cerqueira
7.21
Back 4
2657
Palmeiras
Rafinha
7.02
Back 5
952
São Paulo
Conditions for the presented data:
– Minimum minutes played in the season: 450 minutes (equivalent to 5 full games) per type of defense played (Back 4 or Back 5);
The 2022 World Cup was the first World Cup held in December. With the players taking a mid-season break from club level, the fitness level shown was quite remarkable compared with the past World Cups. In this list, the first rating that stands out is the 9.27 rating by Rodri, who played the whole tournament at CB, a position further back than usual. Despite this, his average rating was the highest recorded in this tournament. It is also necessary to highlight Pepe’s performances at 39 years of age.
Player
Rating
Defense
Minutes Played
Country
Rodri
9.27
Back 4
390
Spain
Aymeric Laporte
8.93
Back 4
300
Spain
Harry Maguire
8.33
Back 4
429
England
Thiago Silva
8.30
Back 4
390
Brazil
Marquinhos
8.22
Back 4
390
Brazil
John Stones
8.18
Back 4
434
England
Jurriën Timber
8.18
Back 5
390
Netherlands
Ben Davies
8.17
Back 5
180
Wales
Andreas Christensen
8.16
Back 5
180
Denmark
César Montes
7.89
Back 4
180
Mexico
Pepe
7.84
Back 4
360
Portugal
Jean-Charles Castelletto
7.79
Back 4
180
Cameroon
Jan Vertonghen
7.74
Back 4
180
Belgium
Nicolás Otamendi
7.73
Back 4
570
Argentina
Toby Alderweireld
7.73
Back 4
180
Belgium
Joško Gvardiol
7.70
Back 4
690
Croatia
Maya Yoshida
7.64
Back 4
180
Japan
José Giménez
7.53
Back 4
180
Uruguay
Tim Ream
7.51
Back 4
360
United States
Yassine Meriah
7.47
Back 5
270
Tunisia
Félix Torres Caicedo
7.36
Back 4
180
Ecuador
Nico Elvedi
7.36
Back 4
180
Switzerland
Dejan Lovren
7.34
Back 4
600
Croatia
Ibrahima Konaté
7.32
Back 4
286
France
Joachim Andersen
7.32
Back 5
180
Denmark
Antonio Rüdiger
7.11
Back 4
270
Germany
Nathan Aké
7.09
Back 5
479
Netherlands
Walker Zimmerman
7.06
Back 4
270
United States
Virgil van Dijk
7.04
Back 5
480
Netherlands
Ko Itakura
7.00
Back 4
180
Japan
Conditions for the presented data:
– Minimum minutes played in the competition: 180 minutes (equivalent to 2 full games) per type of defense played (Back 4 or Back 5);
