Thiago Silva Vs Sergio Ramos? Who is a better player?
Defence is not just a position in football but a big responsibility because we know that a significant part of the game revolves around the defenders. We have witnessed great legendary defenders in our generation who deserve a lot of appreciation. Being a viewer we often criticize players and their actions on the field but we never know how crucial a situation could be.
Sergio Ramos is a Spanish footballer who is undoubtedly one of the greatest defenders in the history of football. He is an exceptional defender and is widely appreciated for his tackling skills, aerial abilities, and strong leadership qualities. Being one of the best defenders, Ramos possesses a strong and decisive mindset on the field and his experience helps boost the confidence of the entire team. Ramos started his football journey with Sevilla’s youth academy and later moved to Real Madrid in 2005. Now he has moved back to Sevilla where it all started for the Spaniard.
Thiago Silva is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and is appreciated for his discipline and leadership qualities. His football journey started in Fluminense at the age of 14 when he was surprised by his coach with his stunning performance and got the role of a defensive midfielder. In 2001 he got noticed and was invited by a South Brazil-based club RS Futebol. His performance has been consistent since then and has achieved a lot in his career due to that.
We will be carrying out a detailed comparison based on various segments to find out who is the better player. Sergio Ramos and Thiago Silva are exceptional talents and are loved for their gameplay by many fans across the globe.
1: Personal Stats
Young Silva started his journey when he was 14 years old with Fluminense. His impressive game style and dedication to the game attracted the coaches a lot. However, after being assigned the role of defensive midfielder he gave trials in various clubs but got rejected everywhere.
After improving his gameplay and adapting some changes and was invited to RS Futebol due to his impressive performance. Receiving promotions in his career and moving ahead in a very short time Silva became a good footballer and received offers from other clubs as well. In 2006 he was signed by Fluminense and turned out to be an outstanding player in 2006 Brasileirão.
As time passed he became one of the finest players of the club and was also dominating at the individual level. He was also regarded as one of the most important performers in the 2008 Copa Libertadores, performing exceptionally well till the finals.
Silva was signed at a fee of €10 million for four years. He started his training with the club and was improving his gameplay and techniques under the guidance of Paulo Maldini, the living legend. After the training and his good performance in practice matches, he was included in the 2009-10 season. His debut season was a big stage where he proved himself and legend Maldini appreciated his gameplay. He is considered as the best AC Milan investment ever.
Sergio Ramos is considered one of the best defenders ever in this world. He started his career with Sevilla and ended up being one of the best in the club. After a record transfer to Real Madrid, he became the most expensive Spanish defender. He played as a central bank during his first seasons but he was relocated to a right-back position after the arrival of the new manager. He is known for his aggression on the field and is dominating gameplay which makes him the player with one of the most red-carded players in the history of Football.
His journey with Real Madrid can be considered one of the most astonishing spells in the career of any footballer as he won many titles and was also named multiple times in the Team of the Year and finished 21st in the European Player of the Year nomination for 2008.
The Spanish defender holds the record for the youngest Spanish player to reach 100 caps and is also the only defender to be selected 9 times for the UEFA Team of the Year. The journey of Sergio Ramos from a young to an established football player was very quick as his gameplay improved when he started playing with Sevilla at the age of 14. He used to play with a local club FC Camas and then joined Sevilla.
Ramos established himself as a very promising football player and as a result, he was signed by Real Madrid in 2005 at a then-record fee. Sergio Ramos is also counted among the most-scoring defenders as the player has scored more than 100 goals in his career and is still playing to achieve more and set the bar high for the upcoming generations.
Unlike other players Sergio Ramos did not chase money before retiring instead he joined his boyhood club Sevilla and is currently the best defender in Sevilla who plays with a hunger for glory and passion.
| Ramos | Silva | |
| Games | 782 | 641 |
| Goals | 110 | 37 |
| Assists | 42 | 16 |
Both players have been playing for a long time and are almost at the ending stage of their careers. After playing for so long, there is no point in comparing these two players based on their best seasons, and overall comparison will be the best way to find who is better. We can see in the above-mentioned stats that Ramos is ahead of Silva in every aspect.
2: Titles
Ramos is 37 years old and Silva is 39 now and they are still playing. This is enough to display their longevity in the game and how dedicated they are towards the sport. It is quite obvious that players like them win a large number of titles and set many benchmarks for the next generation to become complete legends.
| Sergio Ramos | Thiago Silva |
| 5x La Liga | 7x Ligue 1 |
| 4x Champions League | 6x Coupe de la Ligue |
| 3x UEFA Super Cup | 5x Coupe de France |
| 4x Supercopa de España0 | 5x Trophée des Champions |
| 2x Copa del Rey | 1x Champions League |
| 2x Ligue 1 | 1x Serie A |
| 4x FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP | Supercoppa Italiana |
| Trophée des Champions | 1x UEFA Supercup |
Based on all the titles mentioned, it is clear that Silva won as Ramos has lifted 27 titles in his career while Silva has won 32 titles. So Silva has an edge over Ramos in this category. Ramos may have some of the biggest titles under his belt but in terms of numbers, Silva is ahead.
3: Individual Honors
Comparison of two such experienced players will be incomplete until we compare these players on how many individual honours they have won.
Individual Honours Of Thiago Silva:
Bola de Prata: 2007
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Best Fan’s Player: 2008
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2008
CONMEBOL South American Team of the Year: 2008
Samba Gold: 2011, 2012, 2013
Serie A Team of the Year: 2010–11, 2011–12
UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month: March 2013, October 2019
UEFA Team of the Year: 2011, 2012, 2013
UEFA Champions League Team of the Group Stage: 2015
FIFA FIFPro World11: 2013, 2014, 2015
FIFA Confederations Cup Dream Team: 2013
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2014, 2018
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2014, 2018
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2015–16
Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2019
FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2021
Individual Honours Of Sergio Ramos:
La Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year: 2005
FIFA FIFPro World11: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
UEFA Team of the Year: 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020
FIFA World Cup Dream Team: 2010
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2010
La Liga Best Defender: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2012
FIFA Confederations Cup Dream Team: 2013
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2014
La Liga Team of the Season: 2015–16
UEFA La Liga Team of the Season: 2016–17, 2019–20
UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season: 2017, 2018
IFFHS Men’s World Team: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
IFFHS World Team of the Decade: 2011–2020
IFFHS World’s Highest Scoring Defender of the 21st Century: 2001–2020
Luis Aragones Award: 2016
Ballon d’Or Dream Team (Bronze): 2020
L’Équipe Team of the Year: 2020
L’Équipe Team of the Year (Fan Vote): 2020
11Leyendas Jornal AS: 2021
Globe Soccer Awards “Best Defender of All Time”
The two legends of the game have won some of the best trophies and honours a player can win. A trophy can be won if you are a part of the team but to win a title with your name on it a player needs to perform exceptionally. Based on the above titles we can see that Ramos is ahead of Silva when it comes to individual honours.
4: International Career
Ramos was an instant choice for the Spain U-19 team as he was playing exceptionally well according to his age and the selectors decided to get him on board.
After winning some friendly matches and gaining important international exposure he appeared in the senior matches at the age of 18 years old and became the youngest player to ever play for the national team in the last 55 years. Scoring his first international goals against San Marino for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers he was also selected for the final stages and became the first choice right back of the team.
In the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign he was one of the first preferences of the playing 11 throughout the tournament. He was also selected for the 2000 FIFA Confederation Cup squad and captained the national Spanish team for the first time against South Korea in a friendly. He also proved himself among the best in the world as he was considered one of the perfectionists of the 2010 World Cup.
He also played in the 2018 UEFA Nations League and was also an elemental personality in the 2020 Euro qualification matches. His experience has always helped the national team as well as the club he has played for. The kind of impact that Ramos has on the field is something that only a few players in the industry have.
After being excluded from the UEFA Euro 2020 squad and undergoing injury, he was also excluded from this quad of the 2020 FIFA World Cup, and as a result, he finally announced his retirement at the age of 36. A true legend in the history of Spanish football.
Thiago Silva had a strong season with Fluminense and due to his excellent performance, he was called up for the preliminary Squad for the 2007 Copa America. After his impressive gameplay and proving his importance in the team, he was regularly called up for the pre-Olympics friendly against many countries and was also given a green flag for the coming tournaments. However, despite performing so well in all the international matches, he was an unused substitute in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. His first international trophy was the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and was also rated as the 10th-best player at the end of the group-stage matches.
| Ramos | Silva | |
| Games | 180 | 113 |
| Goals | 23 | 7 |
| Assists | 8 | 4 |
Silva played his first World Cup in 2014 where he was regarded as one of the finest players from Brazil in the tournament and at the end of the group stage he was also rated as the third-best defender of the tournament by FIFA. His performance in the quarter-finals can be considered one of the most iconic performances of his career. After this tournament, he got a permanent spot in the international team and was also seen playing in the 2015 Copa America 2018 FIFA World Cup 2019 Copa America 2022 world cup qualifiers.
Sergio Ramos is definitely a more successful international player. However, we must not forget Silva was benched due to his lack of progress which made him play fewer matches otherwise he would have surely made a better international career. The amount of trophies and hardships Ramos faced on the pitch for Spain can only be matched by a few players in history.
5: Personal Life
Ramos is a father of 4 sons and is married to the journalist Pilar Rubio. Sergio Ramos is a big-time car lover and has the beauties parked in his garage worth more than £2 million. He considers himself a family man and loves spending time with his family. His net worth is around $80 million and he loves hanging out and spending time with his kids. He was also appointed as the ambassador of UNICEF Spain in 2018.
Silva is married to his wife Isabelle and is a father of 2 adorable sons. Being a Christian, he is a strong believer and has a lot of faith in his religion. He speaks 5 languages. Thiago Silva has a net worth of $45 million.
Who is the best player between Thiago Silva and Sergio Ramos?
Football lovers have witnessed the golden era of Thiago Silva and Sergio Ramos playing on the field and value their contribution to the international football scenario. We have been blessed to see the greatness of two such warriors who were strong and could fight the world to defend their team. In today’s time when defenders are getting weaker day by day, it was an honour to see players like them rule the pitch. It wouldn’t be wrong to consider both players as one of the greatest defenders in the history of Football.
We have compared these players in many aspects and we have finally concluded to see who is a better player. Sergio Ramos turned out to be a better player in almost every category except the number of titles won throughout their career. Thiago Silva is an excellent player and an outstanding defender but since this was a comparison we must conclude that Sergio Ramos is the clear winner of this debate and he is a better player than Thiago Silva.
There is a reason why fans all around the world call him the ‘Greatest Defender In The History Of Football’.
