Who Is The Fastest Football Player In The World?

Footballers are some of the best athletes across all sports in the world.

Given the fast pace of the game and that most players need to run virtually non-stop for 90 minutes, stamina is certainly a huge advantage, and so is speed.

But, who is the fastest football player on the pitch?

We have the answer.

Top 10 Fastest Football Players in the World

Kylian Mbappe

Top speed: 38 km/h
Position: Forward
Current club: Paris Saint-Germain
Born: December 20, 1998
Country: France

The young French star is on the top of the world’s fastest footballers list.

Mbappe, whose nickname is Donatello, who has been with the club since 2017, rose through the ranks after he recorded a speed of 38 km/h (23.6 mph) against Monaco. The game was one of his best performances, where he scored a hat trick.

His personal record is faster than what one of the greatest sprinters, Usain Bolt, averaged when he set his 100m world record during his 2009 World Athletics Championship win, where the speedster reached a high speed of 37.58 km/h (23.35 mph).

However, we will see which top speed Mbappe will clock, as he is considered as one of the best forwards in the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

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Kyle Walker

Top speed: 37.8 km/h
Position: Right-back
Current club: Manchester City
Born: May 28, 1990
Country: England

Kyle Walker is one of the fastest soccer players in the Premier League (and he knows it) and was the quickest player there in the 2019/20 season.

Manchester City’s right-back is one of the best defenders and has played a crucial role in the team’s success, where he’s won four EFL Cup trophies, four Premier League titles, and one FA Cup.

He recorded his top speed of 37.8 km/h (23.49mph) during a match against Chelsea on June 25, 2020. That speed was just enough to knock Wolves winger Adama Traore from the No.1 spot.

Adama Traore

Top speed: 37.79 km/h
Position: Winger
Current club: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Born: January 25, 1996
Country: Spain

For a long time, Adama Traore was widely regarded as the Premier League’s speed king, as the Wolverhampton Wanderers player has consistently made the top 10 list of the quickest players in the league.

Last year, Traore was leading with a top speed of 37.79 km/h (23.48mph), which he recorded on the final day of the season against the Blues until Kyle Walker snatched that title from him.

This year, Traore’s best of 35.60 km/h (22.12mph) was topped by Southampton’s Adam Armstrong.

Antonio Rudiger

Top speed: 36.7 km/h
Position: Centre-back
Current club: Real Madrid
Born: March 3, 1993
Country: Germany

Rudiger is currently the quickest football player in the Premier League after narrowly beating Salah with a spring speed of 36.7 km/h (22.8 mph).

The former Chelsea defender currently plays for one of the most hated football clubs, Real Madrid. He established himself as one of the best centre-backs in the league – especially since Thomas Tuchel took over at the beginning of 2021– hit his season’s best pace during a draw with Brighton & Hove Albion, according to Opta.

Mohamed Salah

Top speed: 36.6 km/h
Position: Right-wing
Current club: Liverpool
Born: June 15, 1992
Country: Egypt

Liverpool’s forward Mohamed Salah has lit up the Premier League with his electric speed and incredible goal-scoring prowess.

It was widely believed that he would keep his top spot as the fastest in the Premier League with a top speed of 36.6 km/h this season, but his max velocity was topped by his Chelsea foe, Antonio Rudiger.

The difference between the two is mere a 0.1 km/h.

Achraf Hakimi

Top speed: 36.2 km/h
Position: Right-back
Current club: Paris Saint-Germain
Born: November 4, 1998
Country: Morocco

Achraf Hakimi held the record for the fastest Bundesliga player for a few months before Davies took that title away from him.

The 23-year-old clocked a top speed of 36.2 km/h in Dortmund’s draw at home to RB Leipzig back in 2019, which made him the fastest player ever recorded in Germany’s top flight (at the time) since they started collecting data in 2011/12.

He later topped that with a 36.49 km/h run as BVB thumped Union Berlin 5-0 on Matchday 20.

Erling Haaland

Top speed: 36 km/h
Position: Striker
Current club: Manchester City
Born: July 21, 2000
Country: Norway

Haaland established himself as one of the fastest and best strikers in the world.

The 22-year-old Norwegian centre-forward, who currently plays for Manchester City, is freakishly quick for someone of his size.

Haaland first matched Rabbi Matadono’s top speed of 36 km/h in the 2020/21 campaign on Matchday 28 at VfB Stuttgart.

He repeated the feat only three games later in Wolfsburg.

Alphonso Davies

Top speed: 35.6 km/h
Position: Left-back/ Winger
Current club: Bayern Munich
Born: November 2, 2000
Country: Canada

Davies plays for one of the most successful football clubs in Europe and is considered a top talent in the Bundesliga.

He was instrumental in helping his national team qualify for the World Cup this year, which is their first since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Davies is one the fastest football players to ever step on a football pitch. His top speed of 35.6 km/h (22.12 mph) was recorded during a recovery run in a match against Arminia.

Also read: Who is the youngest World Cup scorer?

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Top speed: 35.5 km/h
Position: Striker
Current club: Chelsea
Born: June 18, 1989
Country: Gabon

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is renowned for his pace.

The former Arsenal goalscorer and striker, who recently made headlines for suffering a broken jaw during a robbery at his house, at one point in his career (during his time with Borussia Dortmund), even challenged Usain Bolt to a race.

Aubameyang still joked that younger players would be no match for him if he was their age. The former Arsenal captain now plays for London rivals Chelsea, and hopefully, he will make it on the list of Chelsea’s all-time scorers.

Leroy Sane

Top speed: 35.48 km/h
Position: Winger
Current club: Bayern Munich
Born: January 11, 1996
Country: Germany

In 2017, Leroy Sane clocked the fastest sprint since Premier League records began.

Sane, who played for Manchester City at the time, recorded running at 35.48 km/h (22.05 mph) in the 1-0 win at Chelsea.

During that season, there was only one player that broke the 22 mph barrier– the then-Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt who topped out at 22.01mph in Manchester United’s 3-2 win at Selhurst Park.

Bottom Line

Speed plays a major role in a footballer’s success on the pitch– the ability to control the ball and outrun your opponents is the not-so-secret formula for a victory in the sport.

For now, the fastest football player on the pitch is PSG’s Mbappe with a staggering top speed of 38 km/h.

It would be fun to see who and whether anyone can outrun the French forward.

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