Kante or Kimmich? Who is the better player?
People don’t credit defensive midfielders as much as they deserve, they are like a combination of a defender and a striker with some qualities of both these positions. Fortunately in recent times people are realizing the importance of these players, in the last year people were rooting for Jorginho to win the Ballon D’or too. The fate of a defensive midfielder is changing but one thing people still don’t realize is how difficult it is to play in that position. The two famous defensive midfielders in the world of football are “Mr. Versatile” Joshua Kimmich and “NG” N’Golo Kanté. Both these players have stepped up on big occasions but the real question is if Kante better than Kimmich?
Personal Stats:
They are the backbone of their team, defensive midfielders are the pure friends of the defenders and true supporters of the attackers. N’Golo Kanté and Kimmich are both centre defensive midfielders. Their main moto in a match is to resist a goal. Kanté plays in the Premier league and Kimmich plays in the Bundesliga.
| 2021/22 | Kante | Kimmich |
| Goals | 0 | 3 |
| Assists | 3 | 8 |
| Completed Passes | 85% | 87% |
| Succesful Tackles | 76% | 46% |
| Fouls | 9 | 13 |
| Passes | 825 | 1773 |
Kimmich was in his prime time when he played for FC Bayern Munich in the 2019/20 season. It didn’t matter that he didn’t score a goal, but he had his best season with 4 goals, 7 assists, 90% completed passes, 61% successful tackles, 2584 passes and 27 fouls.
Kanté was in his prime time when he played for Chelsea in the 2016/17 season. He had his best season with 1 goal, 4 assists, 83% completed passes, 75% successful tackles, 1530 passes and 43 fouls. The statistics say that young Kimmich beats experienced Kanté in this division.
Titles:
It is a matter of great pride for every player to be a part of the title-winning team. If he has contributed to winning the title, there is nothing more to say. Here we will look at the statistics of winning titles for their team. Kanté won a total of 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.
Kimmich won a total of 17 trophies for his club, including 5 German Super Cup, 3 German Cup, 6 German Championship, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 Champions League, 1 FIFA club World Cup. Football pundits say that the Bundesliga is a very simple league and FC Bayern is one of the strongest teams with little to no competition. Although Kimmich has won more titles than Kanté, Kanté has won tougher titles than Kimmich.
International Career:
Kanté began his international career with Mali at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. He was selected for France’s senior squad on 17th March 2016. Kanté played his first World Cup in 2018. He played 7 matches in the tournament and was selected as the man of the match against Denmark. They won the World Cup against Croatia in 2018. He has scored 2 goals in 51 appearances till now for France.
On 17th May 2016, Kimmich began his career in Germany’s preliminary squad for UEFA Euro 2016. Kimmich scored his first goal for the German national team in a 3-0 win over Norway during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. On 17th May 2017, Kimmich was included in the Germany squad for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Germany won its first Confederations Cup title with the help of Kimmich’s two assists. He was selected and played for Germany in the 2018 World Cup. He has scored 3 goals in 64 appearances till now for Germany.
Clubs:
Kanté began his club career with Boulogne and Caen. But when his prime time came when he signed for Leicester City, he became well known to the fans. He made an outstanding contribution with 175 tackles and 157 interceptions, to winning the 2015-16 Premier League Championship. In 2016, Chelsea signed him to a five-year contract. That’s when his prime time reached a high level. He has won sundry trophies for Chelsea. On 13th February 2022, his contribution to Chelsea’s first club World Cup win was unparalleled. He was the man of the match in the 2021 UEFA Champions League final where Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0. He has scored 13 goals in 249 league games till now.
Kimmich began his club career as a young footballer for VfB Stuttgart. He then joined RB Leipzig in July 2013, where he scored 3 goals in 53 league games. On 2nd January 2015, Kimmich entered his prime time as soon as he signed for FC Bayern. He was able to score every goal in the first and second leg of the Champions League semi-final tie against a team like Real Madrid. Although they lost the match. On 14th August 2020, Kimmich scored a goal and assisted in an 8-2 victory over Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League. On 23rd August 2020, Kimmich was instrumental in Kingsley Koeman’s winning goal in the final against Paris Saint-Germain, his first Champions League title. He has secured 33 goals in 289 league games till now.
Individual Stats:
A player is rewarded based on the performance of the match. Whether his team wins the game or not, he will be rewarded.
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.
Individual Honours Of Joshua Kimmich –
· UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2016
· UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI: 2016
· German national Player of the Year: 2017, 2021
· UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2017–18, 2019–20
· UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season: 2019–20
· UEFA Team of the Year: 2020
· FIFA FIFPro World11: 2020
· FIFA Club World Cup Bronze Ball: 2020
· ESM Team of the Year: 2018–19
· Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21
· kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2018–19, 2019–20
· Bundesliga Goal of the Month: May 2020, September 2020
· IFFHS Men’s World Team: 2020
Who is the Better Player?
Bayern’s young Hustler has won many huge titles for his club. In addition to the prestigious FIFA World Cup, the French champion has also won many trophies. They try to give their best when they play for their team.
The last few years have been magical for both of them and they have gained a lot of fame which they would want to continue in the future. In conclusion, if you are a true football fan, you cannot take the side of one of the two. They are both strong rivals. They will win many more club titles in the future and their names will be written in the history of football.
