Top 50 players at 2022 World Cup, No. 36: Antonio Rüdiger

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 …

Antonio Rüdiger

Country: Germany
Rank: 36
Rank in 2018: N/A
Position: Centerback
Age: 29

Eight years ago at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Germany were crowned the champions of international soccer. Antonio Rüdiger, who was 21 at the time, wasn't part of that team, but he was part of the team that got knocked out of the tournament in the group stage four years later in 2018.

Now an established veteran with a Champions League and a Club World Cup to his name, Rüdiger will enter the tournament with the expectation of being Germany's defensive anchor alongside Borussia Dortmund's Niklas Süle.

"They have all the talent in the front part of the field," Holden said. "But it’s the defense that’s going to need to keep the goals out. I fully believe that if Rudiger’s playing well, die Mannschaft will make a really deep run."