The world cup significantly elevated rodri's status; he is now a goat-Level defensive midfielder

The Athletic published an article discussing Rodri's standing in the football world, concluding that after comparing him to past football stars, Rodri is now a GOAT-level defensive midfielder.

The report states that after the 2026 World Cup, the debate over the "GOAT" in football history seems to have been settled. For many, the question has long been undisputed. For others, the conclusion was clear at least a decade ago.

Messi almost single-handedly led Argentina to the World Cup final, further cementing the belief that Messi is the greatest player we have ever seen.

During the World Cup, did a new benchmark figure emerge in football? We're not talking about the Cape Verde goalkeeper here.

But a player who has just become the seventh in football history to win the World Cup, Euro/Copa América, Champions League, and the Ballon d'Or.

This player also won the Best Player award at this World Cup, taking home the World Cup Golden Ball, completing his collection of Ballon d'Or trophies. Historically, only Ronaldo, Zidane, Luka Modric, and Messi have achieved this feat.

There are some objective limitations: before 1995, the Ballon d'Or was only open to European players, and the World Cup Golden Ball was only officially established in 1982. If these historical factors are taken into account, Pelé, Diego Maradona, and most likely Romário, could also be on this list.

But regardless, should we now acknowledge that Rodri has joined the ranks of the greatest players in football history?

This 30-year-old midfielder, with his unassailable midfield orchestration and leadership as captain, carried Spain to victory, achieving an almost complete grand slam of club and national team honors.

In the past three years, he has won the World Cup, Euro, Ballon d'Or, World Cup Golden Ball, and Champions League; during his time at Manchester City, he won four Premier League titles, five domestic cups, and the old Club World Cup; he has two UEFA Super Cups (one with Manchester City, one with Atlético Madrid), and also won the UEFA Nations League with Spain.

This impressive list of honors is highly likely to continue growing in the future. Many of his major honors were achieved in the later stages of his career, and his historical standing, much like Modric who won the Ballon d'Or at 33 in 2018, is slowly being recognized by the world, officially entering the pantheon of football legends.

However, does holding a multitude of team honors and major individual awards automatically qualify one for discussions about the greatest players in history? Does a defensive midfielder truly deserve to be called the GOAT of football?

In this North American World Cup, Rodri completed a total of 648 passes, breaking his own record for the most passes by a player in a single World Cup, set in 2022. A high total number of passes does not directly equate to being a top player, but it does prove that he is the precise metronome of this Spanish team, which was undeniably the strongest overall in this tournament. Controlling the tempo of the game, delivering accurate penetrating passes, and dismantling the opponent's attacking system – he did it all himself.

For almost two years prior, Rodri was far from his peak: in September 2024, he suffered a serious ACL injury to his right knee, missing almost the entire recovery period; after recovering, it took him a long time to gradually regain his competitive form. It's no coincidence that in the two seasons Rodri was injured, Manchester City missed out on the Premier League title, while previously the team had topped the Premier League for four consecutive years, with Rodri being the absolute offensive and defensive core of Manchester City's system.

After this serious injury, during Guardiola's ten-year tenure at Manchester City, the team entered its darkest period, losing six of eight league games at one point. The void left by Rodri's absence was simply unfillable. Guardiola tried many different midfielders to replace him, but this top club in modern English football simply couldn't function properly without Rodri.

Last season, Rodri returned, and although his form improved, it didn't return to its peak, and Manchester City's results were still inconsistent by their own standards. Guardiola was well aware that Rodri's dip in form was temporary and that he would eventually return to his best level.

Guardiola made a highly prescient prediction in October last year: "Rodri at the World Cup will return to his peak, and next season he will completely rediscover his best self."

Today's Rodri is very close to the competitive level he displayed when he won the Ballon d'Or in 2024. That Ballon d'Or was quite controversial, as he beat Real Madrid's Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr. (Vinicius himself calmly accepted this). What's even rarer is that he is one of the very few non-attacking players in football to win the Ballon d'Or.

Since the legendary sweeper Franz Beckenbauer won his second Ballon d'Or in 1976, among all Ballon d'Or winners, excluding forwards, wingers, and attacking midfielders, there are only four players: Lothar Matthäus (1990), Matthias Sammer (1996), Fabio Cannavaro (2006), and Rodri.

Midfielders like Modric, Zidane, and Ruud Gullit have fundamentally different playing attributes from Rodri, even though Rodri scored the winning goal in the 2022-23 Champions League final, he is essentially still a defensively oriented player.

In the World Cup final, Rodri's core mission was to limit the GOAT of football, Messi, and he and the entire Spanish team completed this task almost perfectly. In the 9th minute of extra time, after Rodri was replaced by Zubimendi and a midfield tactical substitution was made, Messi's threat on the field significantly increased. Of course, Ferran Torres scored for Spain in the 106th minute, and Argentina had to push hard to catch up, which was also an objective factor contributing to Messi's increased presence.

But if a fit Rodri had stayed on the field until the end, Spain could have held on more securely to their lead and won the championship.

This is also an unavoidable contradiction when evaluating the strongest players in football history.

In the final at the Metropolitano Stadium, it was Rodri's mission to stop Messi; in all matches, it is his constant duty to limit the performance of top attacking stars.

Most football fans love the game for its spectacular goals, elegant dribbles, imaginative passes, and passionate moments. While Rodri occasionally delivers brilliant attacking performances and is the cornerstone of Manchester City and Spain's entire attacking system, his core role on the field is to disrupt the opponent's aesthetically pleasing attacking patterns.

Based on this, can we truly put him on par with Messi, Mbappé, Haaland, and others, and call him one of the top stars in world football? Vinicius Jr.'s previous sentiments perhaps stem from this.

Former French defender Willy Sagnol once said in 2012: "The Ballon d'Or has long predominantly gone to attacking players, and as a defender, I'm not upset about it. The essence of football is to create beautiful fantasies for people, and it's hard for defenders to do that, which I think is fair. The Ballon d'Or should be given to players who ignite the fans' aspirations, and Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are those types of players; they are the most suitable candidates for this award."

Looking back at the list of Ballon d'Or winners over the years, Sagnol's view is perfectly reflected.

Paolo Maldini, a masterful defender, never won the Ballon d'Or; the same applies to Franco Baresi, Sergio Ramos, Philipp Lahm, Alessandro Nesta, and Ronald Koeman.

Sergio Busquets, Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Radamel Falcao, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Rijkaard, N'Golo Kanté, a host of legendary defensive midfielders, also never touched the Ballon d'Or. These players are all revered in history, and some of their career performances even rival Rodri's.

However, with a plethora of club and national team honors, Rodri has firmly established himself in the top tier of defensive midfielders in football history.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente stated after the final: "We have always believed that Rodri is the best player in the world right now, and his career still has many glorious moments to be written.

I hope the outside world can be more tolerant when players face setbacks, and not casually negate a player's efforts and journey. He is fully capable of winning the Ballon d'Or again, and many other players in the team also have that capability."

It has been a difficult journey, and Rodri himself cherishes this struggle.

"I just hope the new generation sees my experience as an opportunity," said the 2026 World Cup-winning captain. "When you fall, you can get back up. That's been my creed all my life.

"Then life gives you a World Cup, or it doesn't. But we were brave, and I was brave when I hit rock bottom, so I thank everyone who helped me. But in those moments, I also have to thank myself."

Is Rodri the GOAT? No. But as a GOAT-level defensive midfielder, he has entered the discussion.

The one who made dreams stop has just made his own dream come true.

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