Build A Soccer Squad: Best Players by Position
Chemistry in this game is positional — a card only links properly in the slot printed on it, so "who is the best card" and "who is the best centre back" are different questions. This page answers the second one, position by position, and shows the source behind every entry instead of ranking on opinion.
How the Position Data Works
22 of the 33 sourced cards have a published position. Position data comes from guides that print a card's position or show it in a lineup.
Positions on this page come from two kinds of source:
The position printed on the card itself, quoted from the Coin Shop unlock table, which writes cards in the
form DAVIES (90 LB). This is the card's actual position. 4 cards have it.
The slot the card fills in a published 100+ rated squad, where it links green. 18 cards are placed this way.
Positions here come from the cards' own labels and from published squads — not from real-world football.
The 4-3-3 Slots You Are Filling
Every squad in this game is built into the same eleven slots. The tips guide spells out what each row is meant to take:
| Formation slots (4-3-3) | What to place there |
|---|---|
| LW, ST, RW | Natural forwards and wingers |
| LM, CM, RM | Midfielders in matching side/center roles |
| LB, CB, CB, RB | Defenders in their exact position |
| GK | A dedicated goalkeeper card only |
Goalkeeper (GK)
One slot, and the tips guide is explicit that it takes "a dedicated goalkeeper card only" — an outfield card dropped here breaks the link rather than half-working.
| Card | OVR | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB Kahn | 108 | GB | Squad slot Used at GK in 3 of 3 published 100+ squads |
Left Back (LB)
One of the two thinnest positions in the sourced pool, and one of the most searched. Every published 100+ squad uses the same left back.
| Card | OVR | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maldini | 104 | — | Squad slot Used at LB in 3 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| Davies | 90 | — | Card label Coin Shop: 2026 Canada, 5,000 coins |
Centre Back (CB)
The 4-3-3 uses two CB slots, and all three published squads fill at least one of them with the same card — in two of them, both.
| Card | OVR | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SB Cannavaro | 106 | SB | Squad slot Used at CB in 3 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| Cannavaro | 102 | — | Squad slot Used at CB in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
Right Back (RB)
The other thin position that draws heavy search traffic. Three cards are sourced here, one of them buyable outright.
| Card | OVR | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pavard | 106 | — | Squad slot Used at RB in 2 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| Cafu | 103 | — | Squad slot Used at RB in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| Hakimi | 92 | — | Card label Coin Shop: 2026 Morocco, 5,000 coins |
Central Midfield (CM)
The deepest position in the sourced pool — five cards, and the published squads rotate through four of them across three different midfield shapes.
| Card | OVR | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB Zidane | 108 | GB | Squad slot Used at CM in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| GB Modric | 107 | GB | Squad slot Used at CM in 2 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| E. Fernandez | 107 | — | Squad slot Used at CM in 2 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| SB Sneijder | 105 | SB | Squad slot Used at CM in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| De Bruyne | 91 | — | Card label Coin Shop: 2026 Belgium, 5,000 coins |
Left Wing (LW)
Three sourced cards spanning a 108 down to a 90 that can simply be bought, which makes this one of the easier wide slots to fill early.
| Card | OVR | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| James | 108 | — | Squad slot Used at LW in 2 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| Ronaldinho | 104 | — | Squad slot Used at LW in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| Mitoma | 90 | — | Card label Coin Shop: 2026 Japan, 5,000 coins |
Right Wing (RW)
Worth reading with the formation note below: two of the three published squads put a fourth attacker in an RW slot rather than a third central midfielder.
| Card | OVR | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muller | 108 | — | Squad slot Used at RW in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| SB Muller | 105 | SB | Squad slot Used at RW in 2 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| Yamal | 103 | — | Squad slot Used at RW in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
Striker (ST)
Three different cards across three squads — no single striker is treated as mandatory, unlike GK and LB.
| Card | OVR | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB Messi | 109 | GB | Squad slot Used at ST in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| SB R9 | 106 | SB | Squad slot Used at ST in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
| Messi | 104 | — | Squad slot Used at ST in 1 of 3 published 100+ squads |
The Four Positions You Can Just Buy
Rolling for a specific position is a gamble, but four position-labelled cards are listed as Coin Shop team unlocks at a fixed price. Coins come from your squad rating, so the higher your overall, the faster these become affordable — and unlocking the team outright is the only published way to target a position instead of hoping a Refresh shows you one.
| Team unlock | Card | Position | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Morocco | Hakimi (92 OVR) | RB | 5,000 coins |
| 2026 Belgium | De Bruyne (91 OVR) | CM | 5,000 coins |
| 2026 Canada | Davies (90 OVR) | LB | 5,000 coins |
| 2026 Japan | Mitoma (90 OVR) | LW | 5,000 coins |
Transcribed from the Coin Shop table in All Things How. These four are the cards with a published position label.
The Three 100+ Squads
Every "squad slot" tag above traces back to one of these three lineups. They are reproduced exactly as published — including the quirk that squads 1 and 3 field a fourth attacker in a second RW slot instead of a third central midfielder, which is worth noticing if you're short on midfielders.
Squad 1 avg 105.7 OVR
| LW | Ronaldinho | 104 |
| ST | GB Messi | 109 |
| RW | SB Muller | 105 |
| CM | GB Modric | 107 |
| CM | GB Zidane | 108 |
| RW | Yamal | 103 |
| LB | Maldini | 104 |
| CB | SB Cannavaro | 106 |
| CB | SB Cannavaro | 106 |
| RB | Cafu | 103 |
| GK | GB Kahn | 108 |
Squad 2 avg 105.6 OVR
| LW | James | 108 |
| ST | Messi | 104 |
| RW | SB Muller | 105 |
| CM | GB Modric | 107 |
| CM | E. Fernandez | 107 |
| CM | SB Sneijder | 105 |
| LB | Maldini | 104 |
| CB | SB Cannavaro | 106 |
| CB | Cannavaro | 102 |
| RB | Pavard | 106 |
| GK | GB Kahn | 108 |
Squad 3 avg 106.7 OVR
| LW | James | 108 |
| ST | SB R9 | 106 |
| RW | Muller | 108 |
| CM | E. Fernandez | 107 |
| CM | E. Fernandez | 107 |
| RW | Muller | 108 |
| LB | Maldini | 104 |
| CB | SB Cannavaro | 106 |
| CB | SB Cannavaro | 106 |
| RB | Pavard | 106 |
| GK | GB Kahn | 108 |
Source: All Things How — How to Reach a 100+ Rated Team. Averages are our own arithmetic on the published OVR values. Want to check your own eleven against these? The tier list page has a squad-average calculator.
Why Position Matters More Than Raw OVR
The reason this page exists as something separate from a tier list: chemistry is calculated from correct placement, and that bonus lands on top of the raw ratings when your final overall is worked out. A perfectly rated squad that is positionally wrong scores below a slightly weaker squad that links properly.
That is also why the thin positions matter disproportionately. If left back and right back have the fewest sourced options, those are the two slots most likely to be sitting mismatched in your squad right now, quietly costing you rating that no amount of striker upgrading will win back. The chemistry guide covers how the links are formed and what breaks them.
Position FAQ
What is the best GK in Build A Soccer Squad?
GB Kahn (108 OVR) is the goalkeeper in all three published 100+ rated squads, which makes it the best sourced answer for the position.
What are the best LB and RB in Build A Soccer Squad?
At left back, Maldini (104 OVR) appears in all three published 100+ squads, and Davies (90 OVR) is confirmed as an LB card by the Coin Shop unlock table, where it can be bought outright with the 2026 Canada team for 5,000 coins. At right back, Pavard (106 OVR) and Cafu (103 OVR) both appear in verified squads, and Hakimi (92 OVR) is a labelled RB card unlockable with 2026 Morocco.
Do you have to play a card in its printed position?
The tips guide states that you should "drop each card into the position printed on it" — matching positions raises team chemistry, and that bonus is added on top of the raw ratings when the final overall is calculated. It also warns that a 94-rated striker forced into a wing slot can drag your effectiveness down more than a correctly placed 88 would. So a mismatch is legal but costs you rating.
Which position cards can you buy instead of rolling for them?
Four position-labelled cards are listed as Coin Shop unlocks at 5,000 coins each: Davies (90 LB) with 2026 Canada, Hakimi (92 RB) with 2026 Morocco, Mitoma (90 LW) with 2026 Japan, and De Bruyne (91 CM) with 2026 Belgium. Buying a team unlock is the only way listed to target a specific position rather than gambling on rolls.
Sources
Every position claim on this page comes from one of these two pages, and nowhere else:
- All Things How — Build A Soccer Squad: How to Reach a 100+ Rated Team — the three squad tables, each headed "Position | Player (OVR)". Source of every Squad slot tag.
- All Things How — Build A Soccer Squad Tips: Chemistry, Rerolls, and Higher OVR — the 4-3-3 formation reference and the Coin Shop unlock table. Source of every Card label tag and the chemistry mechanics quoted above.
Pro Game Guides publishes OVR values for many of these cards but no positions, so it supports the ratings on the player list and not the placements here. Position data updated 2026-07-27. The game is in Early Beta, so positions are revised as new squads are published.
Keep Reading
Full Player List
All 33 sourced cards with ratings and the outlet behind each one.
Read the guide →100+ Rated Team
A worked example of assembling one of the published squads above from scratch.
Read the guide →Squad Building
Where positions, chemistry and rating pressure meet when you are filling eleven slots at once.
Read the guide →