We\u2019ve also factored in silverware, key stats and the all-important x-factor to form our list. Don\u2019t worry, we know you\u2019re probably going to disagree with our picks.<\/p>\n
Just to give you a sense of how challenging it was to cut this list down to just 10 players, Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson, Chelsea stalwart Thiago Silva and Manchester City\u2019s big summer signing Josko Gvardiol all missed the cut.<\/p>\n
RadioTimes.com<\/a> brings you our definitive list of the 10 best defenders in the world in 2023.<\/p>\n Check our more football features: Best players of all time<\/a> | Best players in the world 2023<\/a> | Best strikers 2023<\/a> | Best midfielders 2023<\/a>\u00a0| Best goalkeepers 2023<\/a> | Best young players 2023<\/a> | Best teams in the world 2023<\/a><\/strong><\/p> A disappointing spell at Real Madrid is firmly in the past as Theo Hernandez has been electric for AC Milan since rocking up at the San Siro in 2019.<\/p>\n A return of 49 goal contributions from 145 appearances for Milan is indicative of his attacking qualities and he is, arguably, the most exciting left-back in world football thanks to his dazzling dribbles.<\/p>\n Hernandez has established himself as France\u2019s first-choice left-back ahead of brother Lucas and even managed to notch in Les Bleus\u2019s 2022 World Cup semi-final victory over Qatar. He\u2019s a proper baller.<\/p>\n Trent Alexander-Arnold heads into the 2023-2024 campaign off the back of the most difficult season of his career, which can partly be attributed to Liverpool\u2019s slump in form, but that\u2019s no reason to mark him down too harshly.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old hasn\u2019t exactly won over Gareth Southgate at international level, but he\u2019s more than made his mark at club level with his outrageous range of passing and crossing. He has come under fire for his defensive ability but his attacking contributions make him the epitome of the modern day full-back.<\/p>\n A return of more than 70 assists and 16 goals in fewer than 300 appearances for Liverpool is frighteningly good and his trophy cabinet is bursting with individual and team honours.<\/p>\n Chelsea have looked vulnerable at the back since losing Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid on a free transfer, and the 30-year-old has taken to the Bernabeu like a duck to water.<\/p>\n The beauty of Rudiger is that he does both sides of the game so well. He is comfortable on the ball and drags the rest of the team up the pitch, possesses a wicked shot, rarely gets beat in one-on-one situations and has enough pace to catch runners in behind.<\/p>\n A lack of international honours and league crowns, at the time of writing, count against the Germany star, although he was crucial part of Chelsea\u2019s successful 2020\/21 Champions League campaign.<\/p>\n Eder Militao is probably not the first name that would have come to mind for a place in the top 10, but he is a class act that has been key to Real Madrid\u2019s domestic and continental success in recent years.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old has had to share a place in the team with Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba \u2013 more on those two later \u2013 but a sharp defensive mind and turn of foot make him a formidable centre-back for strikers to face.<\/p>\n As well as silverware with Los Blancos, Militao was part of Brazil\u2019s Copa America-winning squad in 2019 and, crucially, has age on his side to climb higher up this list, although an ACL injury looks set to wreck his current campaign.<\/p>\n John Stones emerged as one of the key planks of Manchester City\u2019s treble-winning team in 2022-2023.<\/p>\n The England international went from being a rotation option \u2013 due to injuries and competition \u2013 to one of the first names on Pep Guardiola\u2019s team sheet thanks to his composure on the ball and ability to step into midfield.<\/p>\n Stones, 29, is one of the most decorated English players in the Premier League with five league titles among his trophy haul, while a place in the 2023 Champions League Team of the Season was richly deserved thanks to his dazzling display in the final.<\/p>\n The best right-back in the world? Yes, without a shadow of a doubt.<\/p>\n At 24 years of age, Achraf Hakimi has already played for four of the continent\u2019s biggest clubs and won plenty of silverware including a Champions League, Serie A and Ligue 1 title.<\/p>\n With pace to burn and an eye for goal, Hakimi is a dangerous proposition for opposing full-backs but got a chance to show his defensive qualities during Morocco\u2019s historic run to the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar last year.<\/p>\n I know, I know. I said that any blips in form would be ignored but Virgil van Dijk hasn\u2019t been at his best for a while now, although it\u2019s perhaps a little unfair that he will always be judged on his previously unbelievable standards.<\/p>\n The Dutchman was the final piece in the puzzle for Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool finally won the Premier League in 2020 while the Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup trophies are also on his CV.<\/p>\n A disappointing 2022-2023 campaign for the Reds can be partly attributed to Van Dijk enduring his toughest season in a while, but class endures and he is bound to be remembered as one of the Premier League\u2019s best ever when he hangs up his boots.<\/p>\n A few eyebrows were raised when Manchester City stumped up more than \u00a360 million and Nicolas Otamendi to prise Ruben Dias from Benfica in the summer of 2020, but he has been a class addition.<\/p>\n He was named the Premier League Player of the Season in his first season at the Etihad Stadium as City conceded the fewest goal en route to a comfortable title triumph to add to silverware won with Benfica and Portugal.<\/p>\n Dias comes across as an old-school centre-back in defensive situations as he uses his big frame to out-muscle opponents, but it is in possession that he really shines thanks to his pin-point passing and composure on the ball. A class act.<\/p>\n When you think of PSG players in recent years, the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar spring to mind. Marquinhos doesn\u2019t exactly have the va-va-voom of his superstar team-mates but he\u2019s a vital cog at the back and the leader of the team.<\/p>\n The 76-cap Brazil international has won 20 major trophies since joining the French capital club in 2013 as well as an Olympic Gold Medal and the 2019 Copa America with his country.<\/p>\n You have to be a bit special on the ball to earn a place in one of the continent\u2019s top teams but Marquinhos performs the basics of defending to a tee to make him an utterly reliable figure.<\/p>\n The \u2018Honours\u2019 section on David Alaba\u2019s Wikipedia page is ridiculously long and stands as a testament to the fact that he is the complete package.<\/p>\n After 10 Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, the nine-time Austrian Footballer of the Year opted for a free transfer to Real Madrid in 2021 where he played a regular role in their La Liga and Champions League triumph that term.<\/p>\n If that wasn\u2019t enough to convince you that Alaba is the real deal, let\u2019s not forget that he started out as a left-back capable of playing further forward in midfield before successfully converting into a ball-playing centre-back.<\/p>\n He\u2019s got all the attributes you want from a defender \u2013 technique, composure on the ball, pace, power and, to top it off, he reads the game so well.<\/p>\n Real Madrid are blessed with options at the back but David Alaba is the cream of their crop.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a shame that Alaba has never been able to strut his stuff on the biggest stage of them all, the World Cup, but he\u2019s earned more than 100 caps for his country and has pretty much won all there is to win at club level.<\/p>\n He really is a modern-day great.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch, check out our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a> or\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/b><\/a>\u00a0or visit our Sport<\/a> hub for all the latest news.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only \u00a31 with delivery to your home \u2013 subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Our comprehensive round-up of the 10 best defenders in the world in 2023. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":35876,"template":"","categories":[7,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/best-defenders-in-the-world-2023-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/best-defenders-in-the-world-2023-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/best-defenders-in-the-world-2023-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/best-defenders-in-the-world-2023-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/best-defenders-in-the-world-2023-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/best-defenders-in-the-world-2023-1536x1023.jpg",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/best-defenders-in-the-world-2023-2048x1364.jpg",2048,1364,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Our comprehensive round-up of the 10 best defenders in the world in 2023.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/35875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}10. Theo Hernandez (AC Milan)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Theo](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Theo-Hernandez-8fc1be9.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Theo")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 9. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Trent](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Trent-e04e59c.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Trent")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 8. Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Antonio](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Antonio-Rudiger-094f5a3.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Antonio")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 7. Eder Militao (Real Madrid)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Eder](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Eder-Militao-1315034.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Eder")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 6. John Stones (Manchester City)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"John](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/11\/John-Stones-7352eb3.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"John")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 5. Achraf Hakimi (PSG)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Achraf](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Achraf-Hakimi-c7d2c07.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Achraf")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 4. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Virgil](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Virgil-van-Dijk-e1776fa.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Virgil")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 3. Ruben Dias (Manchester City)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Ruben](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Ruben-Dias-5117823.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Ruben")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 2. Marquinhos (PSG)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Marquinhos\"](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/Marquinhos-e5e2d80.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Marquinhos\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> 1. David Alaba (Real Madrid)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"David](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/01\/David-Alaba-d9f2dd6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"David")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Who is the best defender in the world?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"