FIFA 22: Best Defenders, Centre-backs, left-backs, and right-backs to sign in Career Mode

The rock in the middle of that defense is a powerful center-back, capable of breaking up play and setting up counterattacks with ease. While full-backs and more often wing-backs are the most fashionable position in football, covering a huge amount of ground between offensive and defensive transitions.

Across Europe’s top 5 leagues – and world football in general – it’s often said there’s a dearth of top-quality defenders, with the game currently in a particularly attacking strategic phase.

However, here are some of the best defenders in FIFA 22 including centre-backs, left-backs, and right-backs, capable of transforming your leaky back line into a bus parking lot Jose would be proud of.

First off we’ll list off the highest overall rated defenders in FIFA 22. Although these superstars will only fit the loftiest of budgets, with the likes of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane making big moves this Summer you can’t really say any transfer is unrealistic any more.

Next, we will round up the highest potential defenders who might not be first team ready, but have a lot of room to grow throughout Career Mode.

Finally, we’ll go through some suggestions of who to sign in your first season of career mode. No one likes being told their top target has “just moved and won’t move again”, but these gems are available straight away.

Highest overall defenders in FIFA 22

These defensive stalwarts with improve the quality of any back line on the planet. While a few of them may be past their very best, their talent is indisputable.

Highest potential defenders in FIFA 22

With some of the most recognisable defenders entering their peak years or the twilight of their career, the next generation is getting ready to take the world by storm.

Best FIFA 22 centre-backs to sign in the first season

• Lucas Veríssimo – Benfica – £23m Value – 26 – 26 years old and threatening to be the next big defender to breakout from Liga NOS, Lucas Verissimo is an option you might not have heard of with great physical stats – including 80+ pace. What’s more, his major defensive stats are all around 80 as well, so with 84 potential to grow into, a defending focussed training program can quickly turn him into a total beast.

• Lucas Klostermann – RB Leipzig – £26.5m Value – 25 – Despite the high-profile departures of Upamecano and Konate, there’s plenty of defending talent left in Leipzig ripe for the plunder. Capable of playing at centre-back or on the right of a back 4 or 5, Lukas Klostermann has great pace and defending stats as well as enough stamina to play 90 minutes week in and week out.
  He also has better than average short passing for stepping into midfield, while you can further improve with his +4 potential growth.

• Maxence Lacroix – Wolfsburg – £33m Value – 21 – Already destined to be the bane of FUT players the world over, for teams with the budget to afford him Maxence Lacroix looks like an incredibly overpowered centre-back. With a whopping 93 sprint speed, 83 strength, and standing at 6ft 3, only the quickest or most towering forwards are going to get anywhere near the ball against Lacroix. While his raw tackling stats aren’t the best, this can easily be fixed with a defensive training regime and his +7 potential growth.

• Jeremiah St. Juste – Mainz – £9.5m Value – 24 – Lacroix without the pricetag, Jeremiah St. Juste is incredibly fast with decent strength, defending, and height to back it up. At 76 overall and a lowerer value and release clause, St. Juste is more attainable for clubs with more modest budgets, but still has +4 potential growth to build up his tackling and strength with training.

• Becir Omeragic – Zurich – £2.5m Value – 19 – If you’re working with a lower budget or want a younger understudy to an already established pairing, Becir Omeragic has decent physicals and passable defending stats for his 67 overall. Put the training in to make use of his 83 potential for a cheap price.

• Leonidas Stergiou – FC St. Gallen – £2.5m Value – 19 – Another cheap option with a lot of room to grow is Leonidas Stergiou from the Swiss league. His stats aren’t the best to begin with, but he’ll grow quickly with 86 starting potential.

Best FIFA 22 left-backs and right-backs to sign in the first season

• Liberato Cacace – LB – Sint-Truidense VV – £4.9m Value – 20 – New Zealander Liberato Cacace has awesome physical stats, including around 80 for pace, jumping, stamina, and most impressively strength. With a relatively cheap price tag and 83 potential to grow into to improve his defensive stats, Cacace is a great addition to any squad either as a starter with potential or on the bench.

• Pervis Estupinan – LB – Villarreal – £26m Value – 23 – With Unai Emery preferring Pedraza at left-back, Pervis Estupinan is a reasonably realistic, if expensive, option for top teams thanks to his high pace, stamina, strength, and defensive stats. While he’s pretty good from the start of career mode, 85 potential means he’ll get even better quickly.

• Fabien Centonze – RB – FC Metz – £13m – 25 – Highly rated in France for the last couple of seasons, Centonze teams good physicals with decent technical ability and sky-high stamina to get up and down the pitch in a wing-back role.

• Felix Agu – RB/LB – Werder Bremen – £3.8m – 21 – For what you pay, Felix Agu looks like a fantastic pickup for pretty much any team. With 83 potential and both LB and RB in his listed positions, Agu has good dribbling, but awesome movement and power stats. His strength and defending definitely leave a lot to be desired, but at just 21, he has time to bolster his rating with intensive training.

• Devyne Rensch – RB – Ajax – £7m Value – 18 – With a 5 star weak foot and 85 potential, Devyne Rensch is a solid all-rounder already at a young age, and can be had for a reasonable fee.

• Josha Vagnoman – RB/LB – Hamburger SV – £3.9m Value – 20 – Taller than your average full-back, but with pace to burn and 87 strength, Josha Vagnoman is another player that can slot in at both LB and RB, while improving his passable defending stats with 82 potential.

To complete your defensive line, here are the best goalkeepers in FIFA 22.

Then you need to turn your attention to further up the pitch with the best Strikers and Wingers in FIFA 22. Or if it’s the middle of the park that needs work, here are the best CAMs, CDMs and central midfielders in FIFA 22.