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Josko Gvardiol Nuno Mendes FIFA 23Getty/GOAL composite

FIFA 23 best young defenders: The top 50 DEFs on Career Mode

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You've fired up FIFA 23, embarked on a Career Mode save and you know the first thing you want to do is get your defence set for years to come. There is some truth to the adage that defenders tend to get better with age, but there are loads of youthful centre-backs and full-backs flourishing too.

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To help you lay the foundation of a solid backline in FIFA 23, GOAL has compiled a list of the top 50 young defenders - CBs, LBs, RBs - aged 20 and under on the game according to their potential ratings.

KEY:

PO = Position

CR = Current rating

PR = Potential rating

*Clubs and ages are those the players have at the start of FIFA 23 Career Mode.

Best young defenders on FIFA 23

#

Player

Age

Club

PO

CR

PR

1

J. Gvardiol

20

RB Leipzig

CB

81

89

2

N. Mendes

20

Paris Saint-Germain

LB

80

88

3

A. Silva

18

Benfica

CB

66

86

4

G. Scalvini

18

Atalanta

CB

70

86

5

C. Lukeba

19

Lyon

CB

76

86

6

T. Livramento

19

Southampton

RB

75

85

7

M. Gusto

19

Lyon

RB

75

85

8

A. Hickey

20

Brentford

RB

75

85

9

P. Hincapie

20

Bayer Leverkusen

LB

78

85

10

L. Netz

19

Borussia M'gladbach

LB

73

85

11

T. Kouassi

20

Sevilla

CB

73

85

12

A. Fontanarosa

19

Inter

CB

67

84

13

J. Jose Mina

18

Deportivo Cali

RB

64

84

14

N. Mbamba

17

Club Brugge

CB

64

84

15

L. Colwill

19

Brighton

CB

70

84

16

Q. Merlin

20

Nantes

LB

70

84

17

A. Truffert

20

Rennes

LB

75

84

18

J. Branthwaite

20

PSV

CB

68

84

19

L. Stergiou

20

St Gallen

CB

67

84

20

Simo

17

Espanyol

CB

62

83

21

V. Tobias

18

Real Madrid

RB

65

83

22

T. Araujo

20

Gil Vicente

CB

67

83

23

C. Riquelme

18

Everton de Vina del Mar

LB

60

83

24

F. Chiarodia

17

Werder Bremen

CB

60

83

25

M. Kerkez

18

AZ

LB

69

83

26

M. Viti

20

Nice

CB

71

83

27

G. Esteves

18

Estoril

RB

70

83

28

M. Vuskovic

20

Hamburg

CB

72

83

29

A. Martinez

19

Girona

RWB

71

83

30

R. Dragusin

20

Genoa

CB

68

83

31

I. Toure

19

Marseille

CB

67

83

32

I. Zabarnyi

19

Dynamo Kyiv

CB

73

83

33

D. Rensch

19

Ajax

RB

73

83

34

J. Aude

19

Lanus

LB

67

83

35

B. Omeragic

20

Zurich

CB

68

83

36

A. Bella-Kotchap

20

Southampton

CB

73

83

37

R. Lewis

17

Manchester City

RB

61

82

38

P. Aning

18

Borussia Dortmund

LB

62

82

39

D. Coppola

18

Verona

CB

67

82

40

T. Rothe

17

Borussia Dortmund

LB

65

82

41

V. Gomez

19

Velez

CB

67

82

42

C. Mosquera

18

Valencia

CB

66

82

43

A. Phillips

17

Blackburn Rovers

CB

59

82

44

C. Bradley

19

Bolton

RWB

64

82

45

L. Gechter

18

Hertha Berlin

CB

68

82

46

O. Gene

19

Amiens

RWB

62

82

47

A. Balde

18

Barcelona

LB

71

82

48

B. Meijer

19

Club Brugge

LB

68

82

49

L. Mbete

18

Huddersfield

CB

63

82

50

S. Coulibaly

18

Borussia Dortmund

CB

63

82

RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol is deemed the best young defender in the world according to FIFA 23, with the Croatia international possessing the capability of reaching a rating of 89 on the game.

Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal left-back Nuno Mendes isn't far off Gvardiol, with a potential rating of 88. Mendes' compatriot Antonio Silva rounds the top three, with the Benfica centre-back's potential overall rating set at 86.

Italy has a long and distinguished tradition of producing formidable defenders and Giorgio Scalvini of Atalanta looks to be one of the next big things to come out of Serie A and he has a high potential rating of 86. Likewise, Inter youngster Alessandro Fontanarosa can reach a rating of 84.

Of course, depending on your budget, affording these prospects may not be realistic, but there are plenty of options just below the proverbial top shelf of wonderkid defenders in FIFA 23.

Tomas Araujo at Gil Vicente starts with a current rating of 67 but can rise to 83, while 17-year-old Fabio Chiarodia of Werder Bremen can improve by 23 points, from a rating of 60 to 83.

In terms of full-backs, Tino Livramento, Malo Gusto and Aaron Hickey are among the best young prospects, along with Piero Hincapie and Luca Netz.

Check out more of the best young players on FIFA 23 here

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