THE WORLD'S HIGHEST SCORING DEFENDER 2023
The World’s Highest Scoring Defender 2023: James Tavernier
English right-back James Tavernier became the world’s highest scoring defender in 2023. He totaled 26 goals in all competitions (the annual record for XXI century) playing for Glasgow Rangers.
It’s already third calendar year for him to be crowned as the most prolific defender, after 2020 (17 goals) and 2022 (22).
In 2023, Tavernier (never invited to the national team) scored 14 goals from the penalty spot and 12 from open play.
Along with him, another two defenders have reached the mark of 20 goals: Benjamin Mata, a Cook Islands centre-back performing in the New Zealand league (21), and his Czech colleague Ladislav Krejčí (20).
Never before in the world football, so many defenders achieved 20+ top level goals in the same calendar year.
In the table below, the position is mentioned, most often taken by a defender in the games of 2023.
Only players who performed as defenders in vast majority of games within 2023 are taken into account.
The right column indicates how many of total goals came from penalties.
Tie-breakers: 1) most international goals (ICC + NT), 2) most national team goals (NT), 3) most national league goals (NL), 4) fewer penalty goals.
| HIGHEST | SCORING | DEFENDERS 2023 | ||||||||
| Player | Pos. | Country | Clubs | NL | NC | ICC | NT | Goals | Pen. | |
| 1 | James Tavernier | RB | England | Rangers (Scotland) | 20 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 14 | |
| 2 | Benjamin Mata | CB | Cook Islands | Wellington Olympic (NZ) | 14 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 17 | |
| 3 | Ladislav Krejčí | CB | Czechia | Sparta Prague | 15 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 9 | |
| 4 | Höskuldur Gunnlaugsson | RB | Iceland | Breidablik | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 5 | |
| 5 | Ramin Rezaeian | RB | Iran | Sepahan | 7 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 2 | |
| 6 | Ali Maâloul | LB | Tunisia | Al Ahly (Egypt) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 10 |
| 7 | Vladimer Mamuchashvili | RB | Georgia | Dinamo Batumi | 12 | 1 | 13 | 9 | ||
| 8 | Alexander Scholz | CB | Denmark | Urawa Reds (Japan) | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 11 | |
| 9 | Stefano Brundo | CB | Italy | Sri Pahang (Malaysia) | 10 | 2 | 12 | 7 | ||
| 10 | Maksim Osipenko | CB | Russia | Rostov | 10 | 2 | 12 | 8 | ||
| 11 | Giorgi Gvelesiani | CB | Georgia | Persepolis (Iran) | 8 | 4 | 12 | 10 | ||
| 12 | Gonzalo Piovi | CB | Argentina | Racing | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 4 | |
| 13 | Edvinas Girdvainis | CB | Lithuania | Kauno Zalgiris | 10 | 1 | 11 | 2 | ||
| 14 | Carlos Ramírez | CB | Colombia | Deportivo Pereira | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 8 | |
| 15 | Vincent Atingah | CB | Ghana | Medeama | 11 | 11 | 8 | |||
| 16 | Kendall Waston | CB | Costa Rica | Saprissa | 8 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | |
| 17 | Daniel Muñoz | RB | Colombia | Genk (Belgium) | 8 | 2 | 10 | 0 |