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Association football position

In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.

Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers, and wing-backs. The centre-back and full-back positions are most common in modern formations.

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The sweeper and wing-back roles are more specialised, often limited to certain formations dependent on the manager's style of play and tactics.

Centre-back

The centre-back (also known as a central defender or centre-half, as the modern role of the centre-back arose from the centre-half position) defends in the area directly in front of the goal and tries to prevent opposing players, particularly centre-forwards, from scoring.

Centre-backs accomplish this by blocking shots, tackling, intercepting passes, contesting headers and marking forwards to discourage the opposing team