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