Is N'Golo Kanté better than Casemiro?
Is N’Golo Kanté better than Casemiro?
The life of a defending midfielder is very difficult, they don’t get appreciated enough because their names don’t come on the score sheet. In the world of football, there are many great defending midfielders but some of them are just extraordinary. The two most famous names in the world of defensive midfielders are Carlos Henrique Casemiro aka “The Tank” and N’Golo Kanté the “NG“. In this article, we will discuss the two of them as well as compare their playing stats.
Personal stats :
Midfielders are the backbone of every football team. In a match, midfielders have a lot to do for their team. They create goal opportunities, as well as help defenders, stop the goal. There are three types of midfielders: centre midfielder, centre attacking midfielder and centre defensive midfielder. N’Golo Kante and Casemiro are both centre defensive midfielders. Both have achieved a lot in their football careers and they are still achieving. They are playing in two different leagues, which could affect their career stats although it should not matter because La Liga is not far behind the Premier League.
In the 2021/22 season, Kanté scored 2 goals in 29 appearances(s) and Casemiro scored 0 goals in 37 appearances(s).
| 2021/22 | Kante | Casemiro |
| Assists | 3 | 3 |
| Completed Passes | 85% | 86% |
| Successful Tackles | 76% | 70% |
| Passes | 825 | 1620 |
| Fouls | 9 | 45 |
In the 2020/21 season, Casemiro had 84% successful passing accuracy and 68% successful tackle accuracy. Where Kanté had 87% successful passing accuracy and 73% successful tackle accuracy. The two players have the same kind of responsibility which is to stop the goal. When they are on the pitch they give their maximum and they are both important for their team. But based on the stats of the last two seasons, we can say that with a better percentage of successful tackles and passing accuracy for his team, also the amount of effort Kante shows on the field is unmatched. Kanté wins ahead of Casemiro in this category.
Titles :
One of the best ways to compare two players is to check the number of trophies they have lifted. When a player wins many trophies for a team, his value increases exponentially. Kanté won 7 trophies for his club, including 2 Premier League titles, 1 Champions League, 1 Europa League, 1 FA Cup and a Super Cup and 1 FIFA Club World Cup. On the other hand, Casemiro won 13 trophies for his club, including 1 Spanish Cup, 2 Spanish Championship, 3 Spanish Super Cup, 4 Champions League, 2 UEFA Super Cup, 1 Copa Sudamericana, 3 FIFA Club World Cup. Considering the above facts Casemiro defeated Kanté in this category because he has won more club trophies than him although Kante has won many big titles in his career, in the near future Kante might get ahead of Casemiro easily.
International career and achievements :
At 19, Casemiro made his debut for the Brazil senior team on 14th September 2011, against Argentina. The player was selected in Brazil playing XI for the FIFA World Cup in Russia, in 2018. With a 93% successful pass rate, he was instrumental in helping his team reach the quarter-finals, where they lost to Belgium (1-2). He was in the playing XI of Brazil’s 3-1 win over Peru in the 2019 Copa América Final.
Born in Mali, Kanté started his career with Mali in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. He was selected for the France senior squad on 17th March 2016, against the Netherlands Kanté played his first World Cup in 2018 and they won the World Cup against Croatia.
Casemiro won 2 International trophies, including 1 Under 20 World Cup and 1 Copa América. Kanté won the highest international trophy, the FIFA World Cup, in 2018.
Individual Titles:
If a player performs well, then he will surely be rewarded. In the position of these two players, it is very difficult for them to win anything major because the glory is stolen by the strikers and defenders. Even after facing massive competition from other players who play in this category both of them have managed to win several individual titles.
Individual Honours Of Casemiro :
- UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2016–17, 2017–18
- UEFA La Liga Team of the Season: 2019–20
- IFFHS CONMEBOL Team of the Decade 2011–2020
- Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2021
Individual Honours Of N’Golo Kanté :
- PFA Team of the Year: 2015–16 Premier League, 2016–17 Premier League
- ESM Team of the Year: 2015–16, 2016–17
- Leicester City Players’ Player of the Year: 2015–16
- L’Équipe Team of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018
- PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2016–17
- Premier League Player of the Season: 2016–17
- FWA Footballer of the Year: 2016–17
- Chelsea Players’ Player of the Year: 2016–17
- Chelsea Player of the Year: 2017–18
- Trophées UNFP for Best French Player Abroad: 2017, 2018
- French Player of the Year: 2017
- FIFA FIFPro World11: 2018, 2021
- UEFA Team of the Year: 2018
- UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2018–19
- UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21
- UEFA Champions League Midfielder of the Season: 2020–21
Kanté was also awarded “Knight of the Legion of Honour”(Highest civilian honour of France) in 2018. It is easy to say that Kante is far ahead of Casemiro when it comes to winning titles with their own name on them.
Clubs:
Kanté started his football career with Boulogne and Caen. But after signing for Leicester City, he became well-known to the fans. By managing 175 tackles and 157 interceptions, he made a huge contribution to his team in winning the 2015-16 Premier league championship with Leicester City. In 2016, he was signed on a five-year contract with Chelsea.
That’s when he entered his prime time. He won numerous trophies with Chelsea. On 13th February 2022, he helped Chelsea to win their first Club World Cup triumph over Palmeiras.
Casemiro started his career with São Paulo at just 11. He made his Série A debut on 25th July 2010, against Santos FC. He played for FC Porto and Real Madrid also. He entered into his prime time when he signed for Real Madrid. He scored a long-range strike in the Champions League final against Juventus FC, in a 4–1 victory for Real. In the 2017–18 Champions League, Casemiro made 13 appearances while scoring one goal, when Madrid won their third consecutive Champions League title making it one of the biggest achievements in the history of Real Madrid.
Kante or Casemiro? Who is the Better Player?
The Real Madrid football maestro has lifted massive titles for his club. The French champion also lifted a lot of trophies along with the prestigious FIFA World Cup. Both play with a lot of responsibility. The last few years have been magical for both of them and they can continue to get more records in their name. You can’t tell which of them is the best. You might think Kanté has more unique titles so he could be better than Casemiro, but then what about the league titles? Casemiro has won more league titles than Kanté.
In conclusion, if you are a true football fan, you can’t take sides. They are both strong competitors and incomparable to each other. They will gain a lot in the future and their names may be written in the history of football!