Football

Who is the fastest football player in the world right now?

Walter Benham
March 23, 2023

Apart from just being about getting balls in the back of the net and dishing out amazing dribbling skills on the football pitch, the game of football has a lot to do with athleticism. Football players train for skill, endurance and speed too. So while the very best players are those with a track record for lodging balls in the back of the net, the fastest football players are those who have proven their ability to take the ball for a flight at a pace other players only try to keep up with.

When it comes to speed with the ball on the football pitch, the fastest player in the world is Antonio Rudiger. The Real Madrid defender made his record speed of 36.7 Km/h while still playing for Chelsea in the Premier League in 2022. Antonio is undoubtedly one of Europe’s best center-backs, and his record speed makes him not just Europe’s fastest but also the fastest player in the world.

Other equally thrilling speedsters in the world of football currently include Ousmane Dembele, Adam Traore, Mohamed Salah, and the very popular French football youngster Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe has been widely regarded as the fastest player in the world. However, the most recent data puts him among the fastest players in the world but not at the top of the list.

Who Is Faster Than Mbappe?

S/N	Player name	Club	Speed (Km/h)
1	Antonio Rudiger	Real Madrid	36.7
2	Mykhailo Mudryk	Chelsea FC	36.6
3	Ousmane Dembele	FC Barcelona	36.6
4	Adama Traore	Wolverhampton Wanderers	36.6
5	Mohamed Salah	Liverpool FC	36.6
6	Darwin Nunez	Liverpool FC	36.5
7	Rafael Leao	A.C Milan	36.5
8	Archaf Hakimi	Paris Saint Germain	36.48
9	Federico Valverde	Real Madrid	36.3
10	Nuno Tavares	Olympique de Marseille	36.2
11	Alphonso Davies	Bayern Munich	36.2
12	Erling Haaland	Manchester City FC	36.2
13	Kylian Mbappe	Paris Saint Germain	36.08

Antonio Rudiger, Ousmane Dembele, Adam Traore, Mykhailo Mudryk, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Rafael Leao, Alphonso Davies, Erling Halaand, and a few other players recorded much higher speeds than Mbappe from the data taken in 2022. However, before now, when the French football youngster still topped the speed list, it was just normal to say the only faster athlete than Mbappe at the time was Usain Bolt of jamaica.

However, Mbappe’s place on the list of the world’s fastest players has been thoroughly contested for making the list of football players who hit significantly greater speeds than him a long one.

Who Is The Fastest Player In Soccer 2023?

Antonio Rudiger recorded the highest speed in 2022 while playing in the English Premier League for Chelsea right before moving to Real Madrid. His record speed of 36.7 Km/h remains the highest speed hit by a player on the playing field in 2022. Maintaining this speed over a 100m distance would result in a world-class sprint race time of 9.81 seconds which is just some fractions away from the world’s fastest man’s record, Usain Bolt’s 9.63 seconds.

The German national and now Real Madrid defender topped the speed records while still doing his time in Chelsea when he hit his record speed during the club’s match against Brighton that ended in a draw. Antonio Rudiger’s record speed was also just a few fractions less than that of fast-paced footballers like Mohamed Salah and Adama Traore.

Here’s a list of players who hit significantly high speeds in 2022 other than Antonio Rudiger.

Myhailo Murdyk

Myhailo Murdyk, the now Chelsea FC midfielder and former Shakar Donetsk football talent put up quite a thrilling performance at the Champions league. And although Shakar Donetsk never made it past the group stages, the impressive Ukrainian football talent was able to come off as one of the fastest players on the pitch. He recorded speeds reaching up to 36.6 km/h, making him the fastest player in the group stages.

Ousmane Dembele

Dembele is ambipedal and has a good deal of dribbling skills up his sleeves. The FC Barcelona had come from injuries in the seasons before to staging a top-notch performance in his role as a winger for the Barcelona team. He recorded speeds of up to 36.6 km/h during the Champions League 2022 season.

Adama Traore

More than anything else about Adama Traore, what stands out the most is his intimidating physical build. And beyond this, he has fast-moving feet and great confidence to match, making the FC Barcelona winger a terrifying influence on defenders. Adama hit a top speed of 36.6 Km/h.

Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah is undoubtedly one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s football history. He has successfully manned the right wing for the club since 2017, when he set the record for the highest number of goals to be scored by a single player in their debut season in Liverpool- a number that stands at 44. Salah’s effectiveness on the wings is a function of his overall skillfulness as the great player he is. However, it’s also due a great deal to his speed of flight with the ball. Salah hit a peak speed of 36.6 Km/h.

Darwin Nunez

The Liverpool and Uruguayan striker didn’t have the best of beginnings in his Liverpool career. However, Nunez has a great set of legs going for him when it comes to speed with the ball. That’s why he could break the record for the fastest player in the football history of the premier league, a record he set in 2020 when he hit the record-breaking speed of 37.8 Km/h in a match against Chelsea.

The 2021/2022 season hasn’t been any different for the speedster, as he recorded a top speed of 36.5 Km/h in a match against Fulham this season.

Rafel Leao

It’s just impossible to doubt that Rafael is a very pacey forward player with the technical abilities required for the role firmly in his grasp. His phenomenal performance at the left flank for A. C. Milan has been pivotal to the success of the Serie A team. Rafael also has his speed game on point. He recorded a top speed of 36.5 km/h in the 2021/ 2022 season.

Who Is The Fastest Player In FIFA 2022

S/N	Player name	Speed (Km/h)	Country	Match where record speed was attained
1	Kamaldeen Sulemana	35.69	Ghana	Ghana vs. Uruguay
2	Nico Williams	35.6	Spain	Spain vs. Germany
3	Alphonso Davies	35.6	Canada	Canada vs. Croatia
4	David Raum	35.5	Germany	Germany vs. Spain
5	Antonee Robinson	35.4	United States	United States vs. Wales
6	Daniel James	35.4	Wales	Wales vs. Iran
7	Ismaila Sarr	35.4	Senegal	Senegal vs. Netherlands
8	Achraf Harkimi	35.3	Morocco	Morocco vs. Croatia
9	Kylian Mbappe	35.3	France	France vs. Poland

The Ghanaian winger and Rennes player Kamaldeen Sulemana was the fastest footballer at Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup. He hit a peak speed of 35.69Km/h. The talented 22-year-old set this record in the match between Ghana and Uruguay. Other equally pacey players at the 2022 World Cup include the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Alphonso Davies, and others.

Here’s a list of some top-performing speedsters at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Kamaldeen Sulemana

The Ghanaian winger is a no doubt a speedster and as far as the 2022 World Cup was concerned he made it to the top of the speed stands. He clocked an impressive top speed of 35.69 Km/h at the world football competition. Sulemana has always been a promising football talent and was called to play in the Ghana national team squad for the first time in 2020.

Although Suleman made it to become the fastest player at the 2022 World Cup, he only appeared in two games and as a substitute player during the competition, scoring no goals and providing no assists.

Nico Williams

Spain’s national team had Nico Williams play as a winger for the first time in 2020 as a part of the Spanish under 18 squad. The Athletic Bilbao winger’s record for Spain has always been impressive as he has gradually progressed from playing in the under 18, and under 19 to the under 21 squads for Spain before being called up to the senior squad. He finished the competition as the second fastest player in the world football competition. Nico recorded a top speed of 35.6 Km/h in the match against Germany.

David Raum

The German national and RB Leipzig left midfielder played the left back position for the Germany national team at the 2022 World Cup. David’s career has been impressive and after playing in his country’s under-19, under-20, and under-21 squads, he playing his debut game with the Germany national team senior squad in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Armenia, he joined the team in Qatar, where he clocked a top speed of 35.4 Km/h.

Antonee Robinson

Antonee Robinson has been one of the full backs for Fulham and he also featured in the World cup for the United States national team. Robinson’s debut games for the team was in 2018 where he featured in a friendly match between the United States and Boilivia. Antonee Robinson clocked a top speed of 35.39 Km/h in the World cup.

Daniel James

Wales was able to qualify for the FIFA World cup for the first time in over 60 years, thanks to the presence of pacey players like Daniel James in their squad. Daniel recorded a speed of 35.39 Km/h at Qatar making him one of the quickest players at the competition.

Kylian Mbappe

The French forward and Paris Saint Germain star stands out as the fastest football player in Ligue. Kylian Mbappe’s top speed of 36.05 Km/h in the league earned him the position. He has no doubt been the fastest football player in the world for some time. However, while playing for the France national team at the World cup, he only reached a top speed of 35.3 Km/h at the world football competition.

Who Is Faster Than Messi?

The Paris Saint Germain football star and Argentine football sensation Lionel Messi is incredibly skilled. However, there are a lot of players who are way faster with the ball than Messi. Throughout his professional career, Lionel Messi has only been able to record top speeds hovering around 32.2 Km/h and no more. Messi is definitely the best player of our time but not the fastest.

The list of players that outpace the gifted forward player is long. And even Messi’s closest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, has more speed with the ball than the Argentine soccer god.

Who Is Faster Than Ronaldo?

Cristiano Ronaldo has hit peak speeds of up to 34 Km/h and slightly more. He is significantly faster than his Paris Saint Germain rival, Lionel Messi. Ronaldo set a new record at the 2018 World Cup when he dashed at 33.95 Km/h in a match against Spain. This ranked as the highest speed any player had ever moved at in a FIFA World Cup until it was broken at the 2022 World Cup.

Although Ronaldo is undoubtedly a pacey player, he is not the fastest player in the world. And while he beats Messi to the chase when it comes to speed with the ball, many players are way ahead of the Portuguese football star in terms of speed achievements on the field. To bet on online sports betting on the fastest football player you can visit this page.

Conclusion

Antonio Rudiger stands out as the fastest football player in the world. And although the likes of Kylian Mbappe have become increasingly popular for being the fastest player on most occasions, the title for the fastest player in the world best fits the Real Madrid defender, Antonio Rudiger.