World Cup Player Defending Stats 2026

Who led the way on tackles, interceptions, clearances, duels won and much more.

Updated 19 July 2026, after the last game

World Cup Player Defending Stats Questions

Which World Cup player made the most interceptions in 2026?

Dayot Upamecano of France made the most interceptions in the World Cup in 2026, with 15 from eight appearances, an average of 1.9 a game. Aymeric Laporte was next on 14.

Which World Cup player made the most clearances in 2026?

Nico Elvedi of Switzerland made the most clearances in the World Cup in 2026, with 51 from six appearances, an average of 8.5 a game. Tarik Muharemović was next on 43.

Which World Cup player blocked the most shots in 2026?

Finn Surman of New Zealand blocked the most shots in the World Cup in 2026, with 9 from three appearances, an average of 3.0 a game. Roberto Lopes was next on 8.

Which World Cup player won the most aerial duels in 2026?

Harry Souttar of Australia won the most aerial duels in the World Cup in 2026, with 22 from four appearances, an average of 5.5 a game. Elliot Anderson was next on 19.

Which World Cup player won the most ground duels in 2026?

Lionel Messi of Argentina won the most ground duels in the World Cup in 2026, with 56 from eight appearances, an average of 7.0 a game. Jude Bellingham was next on 48.

Which World Cup player had the most tackles and interceptions combined in 2026?

Dayot Upamecano of France and Andrés Cubas of Paraguay had the most tackles and interceptions combined in the World Cup in 2026, with 32 each. Rodri and Alexis Mac Allister were next on 30.

World Cup Tackles leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Tackles
1	Rodri	Spain	27
2	Juan José Cáceres	Paraguay	22
3	Andrés Cubas	Paraguay	21
4	Alexis Mac Allister	Argentina	21
5	Elliot Anderson	England	20
6	Marvin Senaya	Ghana	20
7	Douglas Santos	Brazil	18
8	Aurélien Tchouaméni	France	18
9	Djed Spence	England	18
10	Neil El Aynaoui	Morocco	18

World Cup Interceptions leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Interceptions
1	Dayot Upamecano	France	15
2	Aymeric Laporte	Spain	14
3	Adrien Rabiot	France	11
4	Andrés Cubas	Paraguay	11
5	Cristian Romero	Argentina	11
6	Khuliso Mudau	South Africa	11
7	Yazan Alarab	Jordan	11
8	Livano Comenencia	Curacao	11
9	Stefan Posch	Austria	10
10	Pedri	Spain	10

World Cup Tackles and Interceptions leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Tackles and Interceptions
1	Dayot Upamecano	France	32
2	Andrés Cubas	Paraguay	32
3	Rodri	Spain	30
4	Alexis Mac Allister	Argentina	30
5	Elliot Anderson	England	28
6	Juan José Cáceres	Paraguay	27
7	Cristian Romero	Argentina	26
8	Neil El Aynaoui	Morocco	26
9	Marvin Senaya	Ghana	26
10	Douglas Santos	Brazil	24

World Cup Clearances leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Clearances
1	Nico Elvedi	Switzerland	51
2	Tarik Muharemović	Bosnia	43
3	Diney Borges	Cape Verde	40
4	Brandon Mechele	Belgium	39
5	Kristoffer Ajer	Norway	38
6	Yasser Ibrahim	Egypt	34
7	Noussair Mazraoui	Morocco	33
8	Lisandro Martínez	Argentina	32
9	Gustavo Gómez	Paraguay	31
10	Omar Alderete	Paraguay	31

World Cup Blocked Shots leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Blocked Shots
1	Finn Surman	New Zealand	9
2	Roberto Lopes	Cape Verde	8
3	Andrés Cubas	Paraguay	7
4	Harry Souttar	Australia	7
5	Boualem Khoukhi	Qatar	7
6	Issa Diop	Morocco	6
7	Marko Stamenić	New Zealand	6
8	Alessandro Circati	Australia	6
9	Renato Veiga	Portugal	6
10	Nico Elvedi	Switzerland	5

World Cup Dribbled Past leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Dribbled Past
1	Matías Galarza Fonda	Paraguay	16
2	Alexis Mac Allister	Argentina	13
3	Achraf Hakimi	Morocco	11
4	Miguel Almirón	Paraguay	10
5	Désiré Doué	France	10
6	Dayot Upamecano	France	9
7	Julian Ryerson	Norway	9
8	Anthony Gordon	England	9
9	Diego Gómez	Paraguay	9
10	Mostafa Mohamed Zaki Abdelraouf	Egypt	9

World Cup Total Duels leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Total Duels
1	Lamine Yamal	Spain	103
2	Lionel Messi	Argentina	100
3	Michael Olise	France	92
4	Jude Bellingham	England	92
5	Elliot Anderson	England	87
6	Alexis Mac Allister	Argentina	86
7	Achraf Hakimi	Morocco	80
8	Juan José Cáceres	Paraguay	75
9	Rodri	Spain	73
10	Kylian Mbappé	France	70

World Cup Duels Won leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Duels Won
1	Lionel Messi	Argentina	58
2	Elliot Anderson	England	55
3	Jude Bellingham	England	50
4	Rodri	Spain	49
5	Michael Olise	France	47
6	Lamine Yamal	Spain	47
7	Juan José Cáceres	Paraguay	44
8	Alexis Mac Allister	Argentina	40
9	Achraf Hakimi	Morocco	37
10	Jamal Musiala	Germany	34

World Cup Ground Duels Won leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Ground Duels Won
1	Lionel Messi	Argentina	56
2	Jude Bellingham	England	48
3	Lamine Yamal	Spain	47
4	Michael Olise	France	46
5	Rodri	Spain	38
6	Elliot Anderson	England	36
7	Alexis Mac Allister	Argentina	34
8	Jamal Musiala	Germany	34
9	Achraf Hakimi	Morocco	33
10	Juan José Cáceres	Paraguay	32

World Cup Aerial Duels Won leaders

Rank	Player	Team	Aerial Duels Won
1	Harry Souttar	Australia	22
2	Elliot Anderson	England	19
3	Aymeric Laporte	Spain	18
4	Erling Haaland	Norway	17
5	Brandon Mechele	Belgium	16
6	Gabriel Magalhães	Brazil	16
7	Kristoffer Ajer	Norway	16
8	Mehdi Taremi	Iran	16
9	Evidence Makgopa	South Africa	16
10	Alexander Sørloth	Norway	15

World Cup player stats in past seasons

World Cup player stats 2022