The World Cup, and international football in general, is often a game of great individuals rather than great teams, and if you needed proof of that, you can look only as far as the semi-finals.
The two best teams – as in collective units – in Croatia and Morocco were downed by the teams with the best two individuals in France and Argentina.
It’s been a great tournament with some superb performances all around, and I could pick a whole squad of standouts. It wouldn’t be that interesting to just go for all Argentinians and French players – and an entire defence of Moroccans – so I’ve imposed a rule on this team where no country can be represented more than one.
Here’s our Team of the Tournament.
Goalkeeping is a lonely job, and it only gets lonlier when you’re in a bad team that tries not to attack. Poland’s plan was to hope that Robert Lewandowski could nick them goals and that Wojtech Szczesny could keep them out, and it worked well enough to make it to the knockout stages.
Szczesny was the key, saving a crucial penalty against Saudi Arabia and then another to deny Lionel Messi and keep Polish hopes alive in the final game of the group. Poland ended up progressing by virtue of being a one goal better than Mexico, and Szczesny did that basically all on his own.
Croatia have a lot of superstars that we’ve all heard a lot about, over the years, so I’m going to focus on one of their lesser-known, but no less impressive stars: right back Josip Juranovic.
Aussie fans might be aware of him, as he plays for Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic – full disclosure, also my team – and he shone in this tournament, offering thrust from deep with the ball and exceptional recovery pace (in a slow team) without it. His showing against Brazil, where Jura totally nullified Vinicius Jnr, was one of the best seen anywhere in Qatar.
Australia’s star was undoubtedly the towering centre half from Aberdeen via Port Hedland, who burst onto the world stage with a series of they-shall-not-pass performances.
Ironically, his own passing was also good, including one supremely composed effort that set Mat Leckie free for his goal against Denmark when, realistically, we were all screaming for him to boot it.
I was there in the rain in Parramatta the night Souttar did his ACL against Saudi Arabia: the Socceroos drew and looked terrible then, and if you’d have told me that they’d make the Last 16 and their gangly centre back would be the star, I’d have laughed you out of Western Sydney.
DOHA, QATAR – DECEMBER 03: Harry Souttar of Australia and Julian Alvarez of Argentina in action during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Round of 16 match between Argentina and Australia at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on December 03, 2022 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
This World Cup has been a banner event for young and old, specifically the very young and very old. But for the one-player rule, this would have been a young, in Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol, but instead, it is oldest of the veterans, 39-year-young Portugal centre half Pepe.
He’s something of a comedy baddie figure and lived up to his billing as ever, with the usual shitehousing of opponents, complaining about refs and generally playing pantomime, but crucially, also backed it up on the field.
Whereas other veteran Portugal stars refused to put the team first, Pepe always did and got his rewards: he scored in the Last 16 against Switzerland and should have forced extra time against Morocco, but sent a header wide.
For a tournament packed with great right backs, there was a dearth of great left backs. Theo Hernandez of France was good in attack, but only if you forget how bad he was in defence against England, while Jordi Alba began superbly then faded badly.
Instead, I give the nod to Japan’s Koaru Mitoma, who is regularly a left winger at Brighton but played left back in Hajime Moriyasu’s ever-changing tactical set up. It was Mitoma who provided one of the moments of the tournament, chasing a lost cause at the back post to keep the ball in play and cross for Ao Tanaka to score the winner against Spain.
It’s hard to judge Brazil’s performances given that so much was expected and, ultimately, nothing concrete was delivered. Another tournament goes by in which they were favourites but didn’t win.
When they got going, though…wow. For all the levels of hate for Neymar – and I would be among the first in the queue to provide it – it was undeniable that he provided some of the best moments of the tournament, especially in attack, and especially from midfield.
His reinvention in Tite’s system as an attacking number 8 was just as inspired as Antoine Griezmann’s move to that role for France, and when he was on, he was more than on. The goal against Croatia that should have been enough for Brazil goes straight into the pantheon of Great Goals Nobody Remembers, right up there with Hernan Crespo’s to make it 3-0 in the 2005 Champions League Final (aka Kaka and the greatest pass of all time).
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
It’s hard just to pick one Moroccan player, and a more just list would have Acrah Hakimi and Romain Saiss in it too, but if there was one player who exemplified what the Atlas Lions were trying to do, it was Sofyan Amrabat.
The defensive midfield was a monster, snapping at tackles and breaking up attacks in a manner that cut off the centre of the park as an attacking option for opposing sides. He shut down the best midfield in the tournament in Croatia, then the second best in Spain, and arguably the third best in Portugal, pretty much single-handedly.
England departed the tournament with a feeling that theirs is a team on the up, and central to that belief is Jude Bellingham.
The Dortmund midfielder was their best player and is still a teenager will plenty of improving left in him.
His combination with old stager Jordan Henderson was a microcosm of the old/young dynamic seen at a lot of this World Cup, and his ability to work both sides of the ball, to pass and to dribble, and to pick moments all suggest that this is the guy Gareth Southgate will build his team around for the foreseeable future.
PSV forward Cody Gakpo was not unknown going into this World Cup, as he has been one of the best players in the Eredivisie for some time, but he was yet to make his name on the biggest stage: he has, for example, played just seven minutes in the Champions League (and that was four years ago).
Now, everyone knows who he is. A big money move to Manchester United is likely to follow, and it’s easy to see why they’re interested.
Gakpo was one of the best for chance creation, dribbling and, not least, scoring – and allowed the Dutch to play a system that allowed them to swamp to back and leave him and Memphis Depay up top to swoop when the transition came.
(Photo by Patrick Smith – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
No surprises for guessing our final two, who were the best in the entire tournament and bent it to their will. Kylian Mbappe is already in the running for the top scorer in the history of the World Cup, with 12 in just 14 games, four behind Miroslav Klose with a potential three more tournaments to come.
Mbappe was the tactical problem that nobody could fix, a pure combination of skill and speed that allowed France to play on the break. Even when he looked like he was quiet, he was able to strike in seconds and change the game. Oh, and he scored a hat trick in the World Cup bloody Final.
Lionel Messi has been the best player in the world for years, and got the final sendoff from the international game that he deserved. There’s not much more to say other than that this was the ending that world football wanted and needed for the little man.
He scored in every round of the knockouts, scored twice in the final, provided two of the best assists ever seen at the tournament and generally ran every game he was in.
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