In soccer, the ability to cover ground is just as important as technical skill. Being able to run relentlessly has become one of the most prized attributes a player can possess.
Managers demand that their players press, recover, and press again, and the players who can do that for 90 minutes, week after week, are worth their weight in gold.
Distance covered is one of the most revealing statistics in the game because it does not lie.
It shows you who is genuinely working, who is protecting their teammates, and who is giving everything for the cause even when the ball is nowhere near them.
The average distance run in soccer is between 6 and 8.5 miles (9,700 to 13,000 meters), with a high of 10 miles.
The top runners in the top 5 Leagues covered distances equivalent to running between multiple major cities across the course of a single season.
Here are the 10 soccer players who ran the most in 2026.
Top 10 Soccer Players Who Run the Most (2026)
Running technology has evolved dramatically over the past decade, allowing for far more precise measurement of player distance covered in soccer. This list counts down the 10 soccer players who run the most overall and show superior work rate:
10. Maximilian Eggestein (SC Freiburg)
Most football fans outside Germany will not know this name, but the numbers do not care about fame.
Maximilian Eggestein covered 406.9 km in the Bundesliga in 2025/26, the highest distance recorded by any player in Germany’s top flight according to official Bundesliga tracking data.
The 27-year-old German midfielder has built his entire career on the foundation of being an engine in the middle of the park, and the distance stats confirm that Freiburg’s system relies on him more than almost any other player relies on their midfielder in European football.
He is the most hard-running player in the Bundesliga and one of the most underrated midfielders in Germany.
9. Adrien Truffert (AFC Bournemouth)
Most left backs cover ground going forward.
Adrien Truffert covered 402.59 km across 3,380 minutes of Premier League football in his debut season in England, putting him in the top three of the entire according to the official Premier League data, by any outfield player.
The French left back joined Bournemouth from Rennes and immediately became one of the most physically impressive players in the division, combining attacking intent with defensive discipline across every single minute of football he played.
A full back covering that kind of distance in his debut Premier League season is almost unheard of, and Andoni Iraola’s system clearly demands everything he has to give.
8. Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Morgan Rogers is not supposed to be a running machine. He plays as a number ten, a creative attacking player whose job is to find pockets of space and link play between midfield and attack.
But in 2025/26, Rogers covered 400.29 km across 3,285 minutes of Premier League football, becoming one of only four players in the division to break the 400km barrier.
An attacking player covering that much ground in a season tells you everything about how Unai Emery’s Aston Villa team is built, and how much Rogers has developed physically since his breakthrough at Middlesbrough.
He had one of the most complete individual seasons of any English player in the Premier League and this distance stat is the hidden number behind all the creativity.
7. Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain)
Vitinha is the heartbeat of the most dominant club side in Europe right now. PSG won the Champions League, the Ligue 1 title, and Vitinha was the engine at the centre of everything,
He covered the most progressive distance per 90 minutes of any central midfielder in Ligue 1 and consistently ranking among the top players in the league for total work rate metrics.
The Portuguese midfielder played 2,121 minutes of Ligue 1 football in 2025/26, contributing 1 goal and 7 assists, while maintaining a FotMob rating of 7.55, the highest of any midfielder in the division.
His ability to press, recover, and immediately demand the ball again is what separates him from almost every other midfielder in world football.
6. Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool)
Dominik Szoboszlai covered 385.79 km across 3,233 minutes of Premier League football in 2025/26, making him one of the top runners in the entire division and the player who covered the most ground of any Liverpool outfield player across the season.
The Hungarian captain is one of the most physically complete midfielders in the Premier League and one of the best set-piece takers in football.
He combines elite distance coverage with genuine goal threat, and his performances helped Liverpool remain competitive across all four competitions they entered this season.
His engine was a key reason why Liverpool’s high press remained one of the most effective in Europe throughout the campaign, and his ability to cover ground both on and off the ball makes him one of the best box-to-box midfielders in world football right now.
5. Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United)
The single match record for distance covered in any Premier League game in 2025/26 belongs to Bruno Guimaraes.
On January 7, 2026, in Newcastle’s thrilling 4-3 home win over Leeds United, the Brazilian midfielder covered an extraordinary 13.24 km in a single match, the furthest any player ran in a top-flight game across the entire season according to official Premier League tracking data.
He also scored in that game, which means he was not just running for the sake of it.
The Newcastle captain is one of the most physically imposing and technically gifted midfielders in the world, and his combination of power, range, and relentless work rate makes him one of the hardest players on earth to play against over 90 minutes.
He is consistently mentioned in conversations about the best midfielders in the world and this record explains exactly why.
4. Bernardo Silva (Real Madrid)
Bernardo Silva is 31 years old, 5ft 8in tall, and somehow one of the most physically relentless players in the Premier League.
He covered 388.85 km across 3,405 minutes of Premier League football in 2025/26, and produced four of the ten highest individual single-match distances recorded by any player in the entire division across the whole season.
That means in four separate games, no player on the pitch that day covered more ground than Bernardo Silva.
He ran 13.13 km against Nottingham Forest in March, 12.98 km against Chelsea in January, 12.85 km against Fulham in December, and 12.84 km against Liverpool in February.
The fact that a player of his size and technique can also be one of the most physically demanding players in the world’s most watched league is one of football’s most impressive individual achievements, and it is why City have never seriously entertained selling him despite years of interest from clubs across Europe.
3. Pedri (FC Barcelona)
Pedri is not built like a marathon runner. The Barcelona midfielder is 5ft 8in, slight of frame, and plays with a touch so delicate that watching him control a ball feels more like watching a pianist than an athlete.
But according to statistics published by AS and reported by Tribuna, Pedri covered 330 km across just 24 La Liga appearances in 2025/26, averaging over 13 km per match, the highest per-game average of any midfielder across all of Europe’s major leagues.
In one match against RC Celta de Vigo, he reportedly reached 14 km in a single game, a distance that would challenge most dedicated long-distance runners on a Sunday morning.
Barcelona under Hansi Flick asked their players to press with intensity from the front and Pedri answered that demand more consistently than any other midfielder in the continent.
He is the most underrated distance runner in world football and the data makes that argument for him.
Across the 2025/26 season, spanning domestic league fixtures, continental competition, and international duty, Pedri has maintained some of the most impressive running distance statistics in world football.
2. Elliot Anderson (Manchester City)
Elliot Anderson covered 411.06 km across 3,334 minutes of Premier League football for Nottingham Forest in 2025/26, the second-highest distance recorded by any player in the entire Premier League season.
The Newcastle-born midfielder was so impressive that Manchester City paid £116 million to sign him, making him the most expensive British player in football history, surpassing the £115 million Real Madrid paid for Jude Bellingham in 2023.
Anderson started every Premier League game for Forest, scored four goals and registered four assists, and ranked among the top five players in the league for both tackles and passes across the season.
Currently with England at the 2026 World Cup, he shown his talent. He is one of the soccer players who run the most at the 2026 World Cup.
His combination of physical output and technical quality is what has made him one of the most sought-after young midfielders in world football, and the distance numbers show that City are not just getting a footballer, they are getting a player who will run through walls for 90 minutes every single week.
1. James Garner (Everton)
James Garner covered 415.46 km across 3,414 minutes of Premier League football in 2025/26, the most distance covered by any player in the entire Premier League season.
To put that into perspective, the official Premier League data describes that as the equivalent of running from Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium to Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park in south London, and then continuing on to Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea.
The England international covered more ground than any midfielder, any defender, any winger, or any striker in the country’s top flight.
Garner is 24 years old, plays for an Everton side that spent the majority of the season fighting against relegation, and still covered more distance than every other player in the division week after week.
That is the definition of a player who refuses to stop working, and it is the reason why Everton’s supporters have taken him so completely to their hearts at a club that has always valued players who bleed for the badge.
He is one of the hardest-running midfielders in world football and the statistics prove it beyond any argument.
Honourable Mentions
Other players who covered extraordinary distances in 2025/26 and deserve recognition:
- Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United), 398.06 km in the Championship, outrunning most Premier League midfielders from a division below.
- Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), 386.85 km as a wide forward, an almost impossible distance for a player in his position.
- Michael Kayode (Brentford), 386.78 km, one of the most physically demanding full backs in the Premier League.
- Declan Rice (Arsenal), 380.22 km while winning the Premier League title with Arsenal, proving elite players can do it all.
- Vladimir Coufal (Wolfsburg), 402.8 km in the Bundesliga, one of the top three runners in all of Germany.
- Kaishu Sano (Bochum), 401.1 km in the Bundesliga, proof that Japanese football is producing elite-level physical athletes.
- Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace), 380.10 km, the most distance covered by any Crystal Palace player and one of the top left backs for distance in the division.
- Pascal Gross (Brighton), The only player to run over 13 km in a single Premier League match more than once this season.
- Sander Berge (Fulham), 373.07 km in only 2,911 minutes, the best distance-per-minute ratio of any player outside the top ten.
- João Neves (PSG), Ranked second in Ligue 1 for progressive distance per 90 minutes, one of the most complete young midfielders in Europe.
FAQs
Q: Who ran the most distance in the Premier League in 2025/26?
James Garner of Everton covered 415.46 km across the 2025/26 Premier League season, more than any other player in England’s top flight.
Q: Which soccer player runs the most per game?
Pedri of FC Barcelona averaged over 13 km per match in La Liga in 2025/26, the highest per-game average of any midfielder across all of Europe’s major leagues according to statistics published by AS.
Q: What is the record for distance covered in a single Premier League match?
Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United holds the 2025/26 Premier League record, covering 13.24 km in a single match against Leeds United on January 7, 2026, the furthest any player ran in a top-flight game that season.
Q: Do midfielders or defenders run more in football?
Midfielders generally cover the most distance in football because they operate across the entire pitch both in and out of possession. Seven of the top ten distance runners in the 2025/26 Premier League season were central midfielders or number tens, with only two full backs and one wide forward making the list.
Q: Which league has the highest distance covered per match?
The Premier League is consistently ranked as one of the highest-intensity leagues in the world for distance covered per match, with top runners regularly exceeding 400 km across a full season. The Bundesliga and La Liga also produce elite-level distance runners, with Maximilian Eggestein covering 406.9 km in Germany and Pedri averaging over 13 km per game in Spain in 2025/26.
