The World Cup in Russia has come to an end and we can look back at a tournament with only one 0-0 draw among the 64 games. Our readers have been diligently casting their voted at the end of the games and we have used those votes to compile our team of the tournament.
Players must have played in at least four games to be selected.
Goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois, Belgium (7.57)
The Chelsea goalkeeper performed superbly throughout the tournament. He was never given anything less than a seven and scored a nine in Belgium’s quarter-final win over Brazil, in which he produced one of the saves of the tournament to prevent Neymar equalising towards the end. Iran’s Alireza Beiranvand also scored highly but only played three games while Danijel Subasic, Yann Sommer, Guillermo Ochoa and Jordan Pickford were also given good marks.
Defenders
Sime Vrsaljko, Croatia (7.5)\
The Atlético Madrid full-back secures the place to the right of our back four, benefiting from Croatia’s run to the final but also his relentlessness throughout the tournament. He was selected as a full-back but played more like a winger, supporting Ivan Perisic as the team attacked, but never seemed to be neglecting his defensive duties. Thomas Meunier (7.4) and Kieran Trippier (7.33) can both play at full-back and wing-back and came close to forcing their way into this team but did not quite manage it.
Domagoj Vida, Croatia (7.33)
Consistency personified in Russia, the Besiktas defender was the leader of Zlatko Dalic’s defence, directing not only his centre-back partner Dejan Lovren but also his full-backs, Vrsaljko and Ivan Strinic. He courted controversy with a video on which he was seen shouting “Glory to Ukraine” after Croatia’s win against Russia but on the pitch he was pretty much faultless. In the final he produced one superb sliding challenge to stop Kylian Mbappé and produced the final touch to set up Ivan Perisic’s goal.
Diego Godín, Uruguay (7.2)
The Uruguayan just about outscores some high-quality contenders for the second centre-half slot in the team, Raphaël Varane (7.14) coming closest to 32-year-old with Dejan Lovren, Thiago Silva, Harry Maguire, Toby Alderweireld, Andreas Granqvist and Victor Lindelöf all having an average rating of 7.0. Godín collected two eights and two sevens and finally a six as Uruguay crashed out to France in the quarter-finals.
Lucas Hernandez, France (7.0)
The France full-back squeezes into the team with the lowest score of the 11 players, indicating that there was not as much competition for the left-back slot as elsewhere on the pitch. Hernandez, in fairness, had a superb tournament with Didier Deschamps trusting the 22-year-old Atlético Madrid defender to be able to perform on the biggest stage. Hernandez repaid him handsomely, not least in the final with his diligent defending while also setting up Mbappé’s goal. Russia’s Yuri Zhirkov also had an average rating of seven but played only three games.
Midfielders
Ivan Perisic, Croatia (7.57)
The tireless Internazionale player did not deserve to be on the losing side of the final, having produced another superb example of wing-play at its best. Never stopped running but also, much more importantly, always looked for an end product, whether that was a goal or an assist. Scored a beautiful goal in the final but was also harshly adjudged to have handled in his own box, leading to France’s penalty. Will not be short of suitors if Inter allow him to leave.
Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium (7.67)
Always a joy to watch, his ability to pass and shoot with both feet is possibly unparalleled in world football. That he was part of a successful Belgium team helped of course, but he was one of the main reasons they did so well. Was able to perform better once Marouane Fellaini was playing next to him, and scored two sevens, two eights and one nine – the latter against Brazil in the quarter-final.
Luka Modric, Croatia (8.0)
Won the Golden Ball for player of the tournament and our readers gave him the highest average rating of all players (together with Eden Hazard). The Real Madrid playmaker never seems flustered, and hardly ever gives the ball away. He may not have been able to influence the final in the way he would have wanted to but he was wonderful to watch during the four and a half weeks in Russia.
Denis Cherysev, Russia (7.4)
Not a starter for the hosts when the tournament began but announced himself to a wider audience after coming on and scoring two goals against Saudi Arabia in the first game. His first was a rocket into the roof of the net and the second a wonderful outside-of-the-foot effort from just inside the box. He scored four in total, with his curled effort to give Russia the lead against Croatia in the quarter-final also a goal-of-the-tournament contender.
Attacking midfielder
Eden Hazard, Belgium (8.0)
The Chelsea forward takes the place of the sole attacking midfielder in our 4-4-1-1 formation. The playmaker had an outstanding tournament, scoring three goals and providing two assists on Belgium’s way to third place. He could not quite break down France in the semi-finals but it was not for lack of trying. Always tried to stay on his feet, despite the sometimes fairly brutal attempts to get the ball off him. Russia’s Aleksandr Golovin was one of the other main contenders for this position with an average rating of 7.5.
Forward
Kylian Mbappé, France (7.43)
The first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pelé, capping a brilliant four and a half weeks in Russia with that goal against Croatia at the Luzhniki. We we were all aware that he had the capacity to perform at the World Cup but it was still somewhat surprising to witness the ease with which he took to the biggest stage of them all. Was preferred to players such as Romelu Lukaku (7.33), Mario Mandzukic (7.33) and his own teammate Antoine Griezmann (7.14)
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