Waldemar Anton: Dortmund's Defensive Pillar and National Team Contender
Waldemar Anton doesn’t need long speeches to get his point across.
"It actually happens in every game that we shout at each other once," he said recently about his on‑pitch relationship with Serhou Guirassy. The two have known each other for so long that nothing stays bottled up. If something needs saying, it gets said. Even if it comes out a bit too loud.
On Saturday night in Stuttgart, Anton had fresh material.
With Dortmund clinging to a 1-0 lead against his former club, Guirassy ambled off in the 74th minute. Too slowly. Under the new rules, Fabio Silva then had to wait 60 seconds before coming on. For that minute, BVB were down to 10 men, and Niko Kovac’s irritation on the touchline was obvious.
Anton, though, stayed locked in on the one task that now defines his career: making sure nobody gets past him.
Booed in Stuttgart, untouchable in Dortmund
Back at the stadium where he once wore the shirt, Anton received the now-familiar soundtrack. Every touch, every involvement, met with whistles and boos from the VfB Stuttgart fans who still feel stung by his sudden move to Dortmund two years ago.
They can jeer all they like. They still can’t beat him.
Dortmund’s 1-0 win extended a defensive run that has become the backbone of Kovac’s tenure. BVB already finished last season with the best defence in the league, conceding just 34 goals. Four matchdays into the new campaign, they have three clean sheets and sit joint top of the defensive rankings with Bayern Munich, both on only two goals conceded.
This is no accident. This is structure, repetition, and one centre-back playing at a level no German defender currently matches.
From fragile start to “total constant”
Anton’s first season in Dortmund was rough. Two muscle fibre tears in quick succession left him sidelined longer than at any point in his career. Rhythm gone, continuity broken.
Since then, he has turned into what Kovac called months ago a “total constant” at BVB.
The coach rarely misses a chance to underline Anton’s importance, even if the player himself shrugs at labels like “defensive leader”. Ahead of the Champions League opener against Villarreal, Kovac spelled it out: Anton lives football. He leads by example. He supports, he fights, he refuses to give in. A role model in boots.
Last season, the numbers told the same story. While Nico Schlotterbeck battled his own injury problems at the start of the year, Anton delivered week after week. Kovac dubbed him the “Ironman”, and the tag stuck for good reason: out of 47 competitive matches in 2025/26, Anton missed only three. In league and cup, he played all 35 appearances from first whistle to last.
No rotation. No rest. No drop-off.
World Cup, no break, same level
Even a World Cup with Germany didn’t slow him down. Anton had less preparation time before this season than almost any other Dortmund player. It barely registered.
He came back and simply continued. Same timing, same aggression, same clarity.
Now on 15 caps for the national team, Anton is playing with the assurance of someone who knows every duel, every aerial challenge, every interception matters. His constant availability is only the starting point. The rest is mentality and steel.
He plays without drama. He defends with edge. He anticipates danger before it becomes visible to anyone else. Since Mats Hummels in his prime, nobody at BVB has defended on the front foot with such intelligence and effectiveness.
The best German centre-back right now?
The data backs up the eye test. Anton ranks among the league’s elite for duel success, aerial wins, interceptions and clearances. He has become the central pillar of Dortmund’s defensive stability and one of the clear symbols of their rise under Kovac.
On current form and given the way he has opened this season, there is no German centre-back operating at a higher level.
That makes him impossible to ignore for the national team reboot. Jürgen Klopp wants Germany to be built on a rock-solid back line. Anton offers exactly that: huge experience, physical and mental sharpness, constant organisation, and guidance for younger teammates. He ticks almost every box for what Klopp wants the future DFB defence to look like.
Long term, Schlotterbeck’s strong left foot and his diagonal balls in build-up may give him a stylistic edge for certain roles. And nobody is disputing that Bayern Munich’s Jonathan Tah is still the clear number one in the pecking order.
But the battle for the second spot? For the partner? That’s where Anton is forcing his way into every conversation.
Quiet voice, loud performances
Just don’t expect him to say much about it.
Kovac has described him as “very calm, very modest, very humble”, a player who parks his ego and puts the team first. That attitude, paired with his reliability, has ended any internal debate at Dortmund. At the current league leaders, his name is among the first on the teamsheet. There is no competition for his place anymore.
The only real question now hangs over the national team.
With Germany trying to rebuild under Klopp and a major tournament cycle looming, how long can anyone afford to overlook a defender who, week after week, makes the game look this simple?
