10 best midfielders at the 2026 World Cup

Goal-scoring will never go out of fashion, and they’ve always said that “defense wins championships,” but soccer continues to revolve around the engine room.
The middle of the pitch is the battleground that so often decides outcomes of matches. It’s where the fight for control is at its fiercest, and where teams can hurt their opponents the most.
Soccer has drifted into an era of pace and power, but the supreme technical craft that defined Spain’s dominant cycle between 2008 and 2012 hasn’t dissipated in significance.
The elite boast supreme athleticism and an appreciation of subtlety, with dogged box-to-box operators emerging as some of the most valuable players in the world. Howev...