A midfielder (or simply mid) is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role. The group of midfielders in a team is called the midfield.

More complete midfielders require a number of skills on top of fitness: they tackle, dribble, shoot and pass during any match. Most managers field at least one central midfielder with a marked task of breaking up opposition's attacks while the rest are more adept to creating goals or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. At either side of the pitch a manager can field a right or left midfielder, who are used equally for both attack and defence, or a winger, a player used primarily for attack.

In essence, a good midfield must possess the ability to be combative while also being creative. A good striker without midfield support could lack attacking chances, while a defense likewise could be severely tested. Because they occupy the most influential parts of the pitch, midfielders are perhaps more likely to influence the outcome of a match than other positions, especially if they have vision for a good pass or ability to score.

Bastian Schweinsteiger (pronounced [ˈbasti̯an ˈʃvaɪnʃtaɪɡɐ] ( listen)) (born 1 August 1984 in Kolbermoor, West Germany) is a German footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bayern Munich and the German national team. A right-footed player, he is capable of playing out wide or in a more central role.

Schweinsteiger has won many awards in his club and international careers, including five Bundesliga titles, five German Cups, and two League Cups. As of January 2011, he is the Bayern Munich vice-captain to long-time teammate Philipp Lahm.

Schweinsteiger signed with Bayern Munich as a youth team player on 1 July 1998 and rose through the club's youth sides. A talented youth ski racer, he had to decide between pursuing a professional career in skiing or one in football. Having won the German youth championship in July 2002, Schweinsteiger quickly earned a place in the reserves, producing a string of solid third division displays. He initially earned a reputation for being a rebel off the pitch, making headlines for the wrong reasons but has since settled down.

Sergio Busquets Burgos (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈserxjo βusˈkets], Catalan: [βusˈkɛts]; born 16 July 1988) is a Spanish footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team, as a defensive midfielder.

He was a relatively obscure player when he arrived in FC Barcelona's first team in July 2008, but eventually made a name for himself in a relatively short period of time, reaching the Spanish national team in less than one year after making his professional club debut.

Busquets was born in Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia. In 2005, he joined local FC Barcelona's youth ranks, scoring seven goals in 26 matches for the Juvenil A team in his second season. Two years later, he was promoted to the B team under Josep Guardiola, and helped it achieve promotion to the third division. In that same season he would make his first-team debut, coming on as a substitute in a Catalonia Cup match.

On 13 September 2008, Busquets played his first La Liga match, 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against Racing de Santander. During Barcelona's UEFA Champions League match against FC Basel at St. Jakob-Park on 22 October 2008, he scored the second goal in the 15th minute in a 5–0 group stage win. In early December, in another start, he scored his second goal with Barça in the competition, netting in the 83rd minute of a 2–3 home loss against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. On 22 December, Busquets signed a contract extension until 2013, with a buy-out clause of €80 million.

Mesut Özil (German pronunciation: [ˈmeːzut ˈøːzil], Turkish pronunciation: [me̞ˈsut ˈø̞zil]) (born 15 October 1988) is a German footballer who plays for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Germany national football team. Özil has been a youth national team member since 2006, and a member of the German national team since 2009. He gained international attention during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was nominated for the Golden Ball Award, which is awarded to the tournament's best player. Following his breakout performance at the World Cup, he was transferred from Werder Bremen to Real Madrid in August 2010.

Özil is acclaimed for his finesse and improvisation as an attacking midfielder. His style and knack for providing assists for his team-mates has been compared to that of Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane. In 2011, he ranked second in assists in La Liga with 17, and first in major European competitions with 25.

Özil began his youth career playing for various clubs in Gelsenkirchen and then played five years for Rot-Weiss Essen.

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean footballer who plays as defensive midfielder for Juventus and Chile. Although usually deployed as a defensive midfielder, Vidal is a versatile box-to-box midfielder capable of playing in a more attacking role as well.

Vidal was born in San Joaquín, a working class commune in the capital Santiago, the second of six children. His potential was discovered by his uncle and he later joined the youth squads of local Primera División giants Colo-Colo.

Vidal's professional debut came in the first leg of the 2006 Apertura Tournament final. The match was between Colo-Colo and arch rivals Universidad de Chile. Vidal came on as a late substitute for Gonzalo Fierro. Colo-Colo would go on to win the game 2–1 and win the championship as well. In the following season (2006 Clausura Tournament) he became a more important part of the squad and would lead Colo-Colo to their second championship win in a row. Vidal scored three goals in Colo-Colo's Copa Sudamericana 2006 campaign. His good showing caught the eye of scouts from various European clubs.