To be able to play at the highest level in midfield in the 21st century, one must be a complete and all-round excellent footballer. Gone are the days of being a one-trick pony; players can no longer boast one elite attribute, such as tackling, stamina or passing; they must be exceptional at almost all facets of the game.
Tactical evolution and a dramatic increase in intensity has meant the burden of dealing with the physical aspects of the modern game, as well as mastering the technical aspects, has made operating in the middle of the park potentially the most difficult job on a football pitch. Many have emerged as multi-faceted midfielders, and have subsequently enjoyed illustrious careers.
The pool of midfield talent in this century has been nothing like previous iterations of the beautiful game. From Kevin De Bruyne to Toni Kroos, outstanding players have flourished in an incredibly competitive landscape.
GIVEMESPORT have identified the ten greatest midfielders to have graced the pitch since the turn of the century, and ranked each of them based on a number of factors.
Ranking Factors
Longevity
Trophies
Goal Contributions
Defensive ability
Passing ability
Individual Awards
Legacy
Greatest Midfielders of 21st Century
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
10 Andrea Pirlo
Clubs: Brescia, Inter Milan, Reggina, AC Milan, Juventus, New York City FC
Andrea Pirlo
Nicknamed 'the metronome' whilst at Milan, this moniker perfectly encapsulated Andrea Pirlo as a footballer. Despite possessing the turning circle of a giraffe, the Italian could dictate the tempo of a game with his stunning range of passing, sublime vision and intelligence.
Throughout a decorated career that saw him enjoy spells at each of Italy's three biggest clubs, he won Serie A six times and the Champions League twice, as well as the World Cup with his country. He may not have been a significant contributor to goals from midfield, but he retired as one of the most influential players in Italian football, with his quarter-back-esque distribution imperative for every team he played in.
Pirlo's Career Statistics
Appearances
Goals
Honours
9 N'Golo Kante
Clubs: Boulogne, Caen, Leicester City, Chelsea, Al-Ittihad
N'golo Kante lifting the Champions League-1
Bursting onto the scene comparatively late to the rest on this list, it's an indictment of just how good N'Golo Kante was in his pomp that he qualifies for this top ten despite only becoming known to the world at the age of 24. Carrying a Leicester City midfield that consisted of himself and Danny Drinkwater to their unlikely and historic Premier League title in the 2015/16 season, the Frenchman's exceptional energy makes him a shoe in.
Standing at just 5'6, Kante defied what it took to be a great midfield player, given his size and stature. Charging around the pitch and winning the ball back relentlessly, the former Chelsea man was perhaps unfairly pigeonholed as merely a defensive machine, when in actual fact his passing and playmaking ability was up there with the very best midfielders.
A joy to watch, and dubbed the most likeable player in world football, Kante has packed his short career at the highest level with a plethora of major silverware, winning the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League and the World Cup.
|Kante's Career Statistics|
|Appearances|552|
|Goals|31|
|Honours|7|
|---|
8 Steven Gerrard
Clubs: Liverpool, LA Galaxy
Steven Gerrard with the Champions League trophy
While a league title evaded him throughout his distinguished career, Steven Gerrard is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders to do it in this century, carrying his boyhood club through multiple iterations, including some challenging times. The Englishman was capable of doing everything, and evolved his game as his body aged.
In his earlier days, he was a creative number ten, playing close to the striker and scoring a host of goals, managing double figures for six consecutive seasons between 2004 and 2010. As he got older, he developed into more of a deep-lying playmaker, and was often deployed as a six in a double pivot.
Liverpool's captain and talisman for several years, he led the Merseysiders to a Champions League triumph in 2005, against the odds, and finished his career as one of the most celebrated players to play for the famous English club, with just two players making more appearances for the Reds.
|Gerrard's Career Statistics|
|Appearances|863|
|Goals|211|
|Honours|9|
|---|
7 Frank Lampard
Clubs: West Ham United, Swansea City, Chelsea, Manchester City, New York City FC
Frank Lampard celebrates scoring for Chelsea
The most prolific midfielder in Europe since the turn of the century, Frank Lampard's capacity to score goals perhaps means he's underappreciated in discourse such as this. Netting at a rate most strikers would dream of, the timing of his runs into the box and his finishing ability were both outstanding, and meant he enjoyed six consecutive seasons where he notched 20 goals or more in all competitions, an astounding record for a midfielder.
There's a perception in some quarters that Lampard was limited to merely being a player who found the back of the net, which even if true, would still have made him incredibly valuable. However, this is anything but the case, with the Chelsea legend's ever-presence in the box not deterring him from fulfilling his midfield duties, such as his pinpoint and efficient passing, and combative physicality.
Not to mention, he also won it all with the Blues, and was the key pillar to most of this success.
|Lampard's Career Statistics|
|Appearances|1,021|
|Goals|303|
|Honours|14|
|---|
6 Bastian Schweinsteiger
Clubs: Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Chicago Fire
Bastian Schweinsteiger @ Chicago Fire
Perhaps not as flashy as many on this list, Bastian Schweinsteiger was as effective as any midfielder in the world during his prime years. Boasting the perfect balance of technical quality and immense physicality, his heroic performance in the 2014 World Cup final will go down as one of the most iconic midfield displays of all time.
He made 500 appearances for Bayern, and 121 for Germany, lifting a staggering 20 trophies in his time, including the Champions League, as well as the aforementioned World Cup. Like his English counterparts Gerrard and Lampard, Schweinsteiger played in every single role in midfield, tasked with a variety of responsibilities under several elite managers, and fulfilled all to a remarkable level.
|Schewinsteiger's Career Statistics|
|Appearances|784|
|Goals|104|
|Honours|20|
|---|
5 Kevin De Bruyne
Clubs: Genk, Chelsea, Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg, Manchester City
Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne during a pre-match warm-up
One of the greatest passers of a football in history, De Bruyne's ability to perfectly weight an eye-of-a-needle through-ball is probably unmatched by any other midfielder of his generation. The elegance in his passing is accompanied by his poise when driving with the ball, and has allowed him to equal Thierry Henry's Premier League assist record in a single season, and he sits behind just Ryan Giggs in the all-time charts in this category.
Thus, the Belgian is arguably the most creative midfielder in the 21st century, and certainly one of the most talented. What holds him back from reaching the upper echelons of this list are some of his injury issues later in his career, as well as his relatively modest collection of honours in comparison to those above, with just a single Champions League title to his name.
|De Bruyne's Career Statistics|
|Appearances|729|
|Goals|180|
|Honours|14|
|---|
4 Toni Kroos
Clubs: Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid
Toni Kroos
Enjoying one of the most illustrious careers of any player in the last 24 years, Kroos won the Champions League five times, along with seven domestic league titles, countless domestic cups, and the World Cup. In the mould of Andrea Pirlo, a midfield metronome who controlled games with a high volume and high quality of passes, the German was one of the most prolific ball progressors of all time.
The weight and timing of his passes were immaculate, as well as his ability to execute difficult balls in high leverage moments on a consistent basis. Kroos was an artist at work when distributing the ball, using the Allianz Arena and the Bernabeu to spray delightful passes across his canvas.
|Kroos' Career Statistics|
|Appearances|845|
|Goals|84|
|Honours|33|
|---|
3 Andres Iniesta
Clubs: Barcelona, Vissel Kobe, Emirates
Andres Iniesta in action for Spain
Spending 16 years in Barcelona's first team, one of La Masia's finest exports was one of the cornerstones of the Catalan giants' era of dominance in the late 2000s and early 2010s under Pep Guardiola, as well as being one of the talismen for the dominant Spain side of the same period. Graceful when moving with the ball and silky when releasing it, Andrés Iniesta was a beautiful footballer to watch, roaming into pockets of space and creating magic through his supreme technical quality.
Winning two European Championships, four Champions Leagues and scoring the winning goal in a World Cup final, his impact for Spain and Barcelona was monumental. Named in the greatest Champions League eleven of all time, Iniesta's legacy is already that of one of the greatest to play the game, despite only hanging up his in October of this year.
|Iniesta's Career Statistics|
|Appearances|1,016|
|Goals|106|
|Honours|36|
|---|
2 Luka Modric
Clubs: Dinamo Zagreb, Zrinjski Mostar, Inter Zapresic, Tottenham Hotspur Real Madrid
Real Madrid's Luka Modric
Still playing at the highest level at the age of 39, Luka Modric's absurd longevity speaks to a militant professionalism that has been rewarded with an abundance of individual and team accolades. Winning the Ballon d'Or in 2018, disrupting Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's dominance in this realm, the Croatian has won six Champions Leagues - a feat only matched by Real Madrid teammate Dani Carvajal.
Like Kante, Modric's slight frame suggests that he could have been nullified by more physically imposing midfielders. This certainly hasn't been the case, with his technical qualities and intellect on the pitch allowing him to disregard this physical disadvantage.
Making over 1,000 career appearances, his exploits for Croatia have already granted him legendary status in the Eastern European nation, and he'll no doubt be looked back on in a similar vein in football in general, when he eventually retires.
|Modric's Career Statistics|
|Appearances|1,071|
|Goals|127|
|Honours|33|
|---|
1 Xavi
Clubs: Barcelona, Al Sadd
Xavi celebrates a Barcelona victory
The greatest midfielder in the 21st Century, Xavi's excellence as a deep-lying playmaker made him one of the most effective players of all time. His ability to find and exploit space was pivotal to Guardiola's Barcelona team working the ball up the pitch, and arguably meant the Spaniard was highly responsible for extracting the most out of the greatest player of all time in Lionel Messi.
Xavi knew how to feed the Argentine magician, with his intelligence and passing ability providing the short dribbler with the ball in dangerous areas frequently enough to damage opposition defences.
Winning eight La Liga titles, four Copa de Reys, four Champions Leagues, the World Cup and two European Championships, Xavi is one of the most distinguished footballers ever, and was the ever-present glue in every single one of the successful teams he played in.
|Xavi's Career Statistics|
|Appearances|1,078|
|Goals|126|
|Honours|33|
|---|
All Statistics via TransferMarkt - correct as of 02/12/2024
Lionel Messi, Steven Gerrard and Cristiano Ronaldo Related
10 Greatest Big-Game Players in Football History
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Zinedine Zidane are among those to have delivered when the occasion needed them most.