Welcome Roarer, to the big list, the biggest of big lists, bigger even than prolific Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, who, let’s not forget, was a titan in his field.
Here, The Roar’s football experts have combined our powers, Captain Planet-style, and have come up with the 50 players we expect to be the most influential at the 2018 World Cup. A number of excellent stars aren’t even making the trip to Russia; Gareth Bale, for instance, is one, and indeed Matt Simon is another.
So much of international football is about context, both tactically and emotionally; Cristiano Ronaldo spent most of the Euro 2016 final on the sideline, but may well have been Portugal’s most important player. Whether a player is thrust into tactical relevancy by their national team manager can also affect things. How will narratives play out? Which players will rise to the occasion, like James Rodriguez did last tourney for Colombia, and which will crumble, like England in every tournament, everywhere since 1966?
With all that in mind, a definitive list that synthesised each writer’s own was made, and here is part one: numbers 50 down to 41. The subsequent parts will be released in order, leading up to the World Cup kick-off. Remember, each part is not representative of the specifically assigned writer’s personal order, but that of the general group.
50: Fernandinho (Brazil)
So often the mundane work goes unnoticed. Anyone can see a lurching defensive effort, or a supreme attacking gesture, but as important to a footbal team’s chances is the work done by the holding midfielder, who controls the tempo and works hard and out of sight to make everyone else look better.
Fernandinho is exemplary at his position, and played in 34 of Manchester City’s 38 league games this season en route to the title. For Brazil, his calmness and steel in midfield could be just as important, a solid platform from which they can launch their attacking stars.
49. Radamel Falcao (Colombia)
When Falcao spent three-quarters of the 2015/16 injured at Manchester United, it looked as though the once-feared hitman would be put out to early pasture. But the last two seasons have seen the Colombian roar back into white-hot goal-scoring form.
He has 18 goals in 28 appearances for Monaco this season, despite battling some injury spells. He’s started nine of Colombia’s last 11 internationals, scoring four goals over that run. In tandem with James Rodriguez, Colombia have a potent attacking duo that will trouble almost any defence.
48. Thomas Muller (Germany)
The youngest of the Golden Generation (TM) of German players, it’s startling to realise Thomas Muller is still just 28. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philip Lahm et al have retired, but Muller is still a central part of a German team contending for a place at the tippy-top.
His eight goals, and quite astonishing 16 assists, for Bayern Munich this season are fine returns indeed. Often played as a drifting false nine, and an expert at sensing the constantly shifting space in the attacking third, Muller’s goal-scoring will be needed for a team with only two recognised strikers, one of which is 32-year-old Mario Gomez.
Thomas Muller at the 2014 World Cup alongside the now-retired Miroslav Klose. (Agência Brasil, Wiki Commons)
47. Joshua Kimmich (Germany)
Ah, the promise of youth. Kimmich is, both at club and national level, the successor to Philip Lahm. Central to Lahm’s value as a player was his ability to step into the attack and provide a tangible contribution. Kimmich, with 12 assists for Bayern Munich this season, has certainly proved he can do likewise.
Remember back in 2015, when then-manager Pep Guardiola dressed Kimmich down after a match?
This vigorous, public display was done because Pep probably saw how promising Kimmich was, and indeed how good he has become. Whether he can step into midfield and control the tempo like Lahm could remains to be seen.
46. Mats Hummels (Germany)
A cluster of Germans, bundled together around the stolidity of the starting centre back. Poached by Bayern from rivals Dortmund – a truly unexpected bit of transfer business from the Bavarians – he has been the rock at the back of Germany’s most dominant club ever since.
He has started five of the last eight internationals for Germany, and is a potent threat at set pieces, so often the manner by which teams burst through deadlocked games at the World Cup. It was thanks to his set-piece header that Germany broke through in their 2014 World Cup quarter-final against France.
45. Casemiro (Brazil)
The imposing Brazilian central midfielder was a revelation for Madrid this season, appearing in all but one of their Champions League-winning run, and playing the full 90 in the final. He added essential balance to a team that might otherwise have tilted into topsy-turvy chaos, scoring and conceding wildly.
He’s equally indispensable to Brazil, and has played the full 90 in their last seven matches. Brazil have a rich history of snarling defensive midfielders; Mauro Silva, Gilberto Silva, Dunga. Casemiro is another, and the Brazilian midfield will be a fearsome one with him in it.
44. Shinji Kagawa (Japan)
A maestro plucked from the Japanese leagues by Dortmund, Kagawa is a crucial fulcrum to the Japanese attack. A beautiful, pass-heavy system – not that it was on show when they beat Australia last year in a crucial qualifier – needs a beautiful, passing No.10, and they have that in Kagawa.
Occasionally floating in from the left, Kagawa’s quick feet and ability to thread a pass among heavy traffic is vital. The Samurai Blue went on an unbeaten run from June 2016 until June 2017, with Kagawa appearing in the majority of the matches during that time. Then, when Kagawa went down with a series of injuries in mid-June, Japan won just four of the next 13 games.
It’s no coincidence.
43. Sergio Busquets (Spain)
Busquets, like Muller, is another player that you’d be startled to learn is also still just 29. He was – when fit – a mainstay for Barcelona this season, who won the La Liga title. Only Busquets and 23-year-old Saul Niguez could be fully described as holding midfielders present in the Spain squad, unless you count Thiago, so Spain’s reliance on the Barcelona star will probably be significant.
He is one of the six Spaniards in the current squad who were there when the nation won the World Cup eight years ago, and that experience, in someone so relatively young, will be vital. Spain are looking to bounce back from a turgid 2014 campaign, so expect a little more hunger this time.
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42. Ivan Rakitic (Croatia)
The Croatian was also a mainstay for Barca in their title run this season, missing just three games, two of them with a fractured finger. Alongside the incomparable Luka Modric in the Croatian midfield, Rakitic is an interesting partner, often changing positions, fluidly slipping forward and back with Modric, both of whom can operate in deeper or more advanced areas.
Along with Mateo Kovacic, Croatia have an insanely talented, if positionally enigmatic midfield. If it works, and all the component parts flick and whirr with precision, then the results will be lovely. The performance of Rakitic will be central to this.
41. Emil Fosberg (Sweden)
Left winger for RB Leipzig, Fosberg had a fairly quiet 2017/18 season. Two goals and two assists in 21 Bundesliga games; what, you might ask, makes him so special?
Well, last season, when Leipzig rode a remarkable wave to a second-placed league finish, Fosberg registered a scarcely believable eight goals and 22 (!) assists in 30 league games. If not for a three-game red card suspension, he might have scored or assisted more.
On the Arsenal radar this summer, the Swede looks set to break out on the international stage in Russia in a side whose attack is no longer dominated by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. A fearless dribbler, Fosberg can frighten any fullback, and may well rack up a few oohs and aahs in Russia.
The next part, 40-31, will be arriving on Roar pages tomorrow courtesy of Stuart Thomas.
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