13. Diego Godin
There’s no right answer for who the best defender in the world is, but if you were to make an argument for Diego Godin, it’d be hard to be wrong.
Along with Koke, he’s the leader for an Atletico Madrid club that’s considered among the world’s best thanks to a recent La Liga title and a pair of trips to the Champions League final. Despite both Real Madrid and Barcelona possessing world-class center backs of their own, there’s more pressure on Godin to perform every week because Atleti simply won’t put up the same goal tally as its Spanish rivals.
If there’s an underrated part of Godin’s game, it’s his nose for goal. Standing at a smallish 6-foot-1, Godin has shown an uncanny ability to win headers in the opposing box, in addition to of course winning nearly every 50-50 ball defensively.
At this point, it won’t be a success for Atletico to simply challenge for a La Liga title or make a deep Champions League run. The club is after silverware this season, and with Godin holding down the back line, you wouldn’t want to bet against them.