FIFA Men's World Cup

Top 50 players at World Cup 2022, No. 23: Rúben Dias

Published Oct. 28, 2022 11:04 p.m. ET

FOX Sports soccer analyst and former USMNT midfielder Stu Holden is counting down the 50 best players participating in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Up next is …

Rúben Dias

Country: Portugal
Rank: 23
Rank in 2018: N/A
Position: Center-back
Age: 25

Rúben Dias was on Portugal's World Cup squad in 2018, but he was buried on the bench behind José Fonte and Pepe. Now 25 years old and a two-time Premier League title-winner, no one's ahead of Dias in the pecking order at center-back. However, that also means a lot more is expected from him.

"When you play on a team like Portugal, you have all the attacking talent up front," Holden said. "Fernando Santos really likes a guy in the back with experience — a leader, a guy like Pepe. But also Dias’s ability to organize the team, get on the end of crosses and he’s a threat on the attacking side as well."

[Stu Holden's Top 50 Players: The countdown so far]