Merih Demiral

#3 · Defender · age 28

Scored 2 goals vs Austria at Euro 2024

Club

Al-Ahli

Saudi Arabia · Saudi Pro League

Caps

Intl goals

WC26 rating

high confidence

Recent form: 45
Career peak: 78
League level: 75
Competition pedigree: 98
International pedigree: 84
Longevity: 68

Independent rating — league strength (Opta-anchored) × competition tier × position-normalized output. Not affiliated with EA or FIFA.

Career by season

Season	Club	Competition	Apps	Gls	Ast	Rating
25/26	Al-Ahli	Saudi Pro League	20	2	0	7.00
25/26	Al-Ahli	AFC Champions League Elite	6	0	0	6.80
24/25	Al-Ahli	Saudi Pro League	30	1	2	7.10
24/25	Al-Ahli	AFC Champions League Elite	12	0	1	7.14
23/24	Al-Ahli	Saudi Pro League	20	1	1	6.98
22/23	Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.a.	Serie A	28	1	0	—
21/22	Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.a.	Serie A	28	1	2	—
21/22	Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.a.	UEFA Champions League	6	1	0	—
21/22	Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.a.	UEFA Europa League	6	0	1	—
21/22	Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio S.p.a.	Coppa Italia	2	0	0	—
20/21	Juventus Football Club	Serie A	16	0	1	—
20/21	Juventus Football Club	UEFA Champions League	5	0	0	—
20/21	Juventus Football Club	Coppa Italia	4	0	0	—
19/20	Juventus Football Club	Serie A	5	1	1	—
19/20	Juventus Football Club	Supercoppa Italiana	1	0	0	—
19/20	Juventus Football Club	UEFA Champions League	1	0	0	—
18/19	Alanyaspor	Super Lig	16	1	0	—
18/19	Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio	Serie A	14	2	0	—

Source: transfermarkt + sofascore · fetched 2026-05-29

Demiral is Türkiye’s most-important defender — a CB who can both win every header in his own box and arrive in the opposition box for set pieces. Likely starts alongside Kabak as the central pairing in a back four.

Strengths

aerial dominance in both boxes
set-piece scoring
front-foot defending
physicality against centre-forwards

Recent form

Al-Ahli starter through 2025-26 Saudi Pro League season.

His two-goal Euro 2024 round-of-16 performance vs Austria is the joint-fastest brace by a defender at a Euros knockout match.