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

The best young defenders on FIFA 23 Career Mode listed according to their potential

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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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Best young defenders on FIFA 23

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