World Cup Focus: Free-scoring France Dominate Team of the Round

The second round of group fixtures came to a close on Sunday, with six teams assuring their progression to the round of 16 and five seeing their World Cup hopes come to a premature end. Among them, most notably, were holders Spain, while Roy Hodgson's England side were also dumped out after back-to-back defeats.

Unsurprisingly the quintet to have been eliminated are not represented in WhoScored.com's team of the round, with players from Argentina, Costa Rica and France all included having secured a place in the next phase.

Nigeria earned a crucial victory to knock Bosnia & Herzegovina out, with Safet Sušić's side falling at the first hurdle on their World Cup debut despite being tipped as dark horses by some. The Super Eagles kept a clean sheet in an end-to-end game, owing much to the exploits of keeper Vincent Enyeama. Off the back of a sensational season with Lille the stopper garnered a rating of 8.53 from WhoScored.com courtesy of 7 saves to keep Dzeko and co. at bay.

Another player to carry their club form into the tournament has been Ivory Coast right-back Serge Aurier, who is strongly tipped with a move to Arsenal after another excellent campaign with Toulouse. The 21-year old produced 3 tackles and completed 5 dribbles in an accomplished all round display, despite being the only player in our XI to end up on the losing team as Colombia booked a place in the next round with a 2-1 win.

Costa Rica's Junior Diaz takes his place on the left side of the defence, joined by teammate Giancarlo Gonzalez at the back after a heroic display saw Jorge Luis Pinto's men seal a mightily impressive 1-0 win over Italy, and unlikely place in the round of 16 in turn. The former set up the only goal of the game for captain Bryan Ruiz while Gonzalez was awarded WhoScored.com's man of the match award (8.21 rating) having made 5 tackles and won all 5 of his aerial duels, nullifying the threat of Mario Balotelli.

Algeria centre-back Rafik Halliche completes the backline, scoring the second of 4 goals as the Africans ran riot in the first half against South Korea with an excellent header from a corner. At the other end the former Fulham man made 11 clearances and won 5 aerial duels as Vahid Halilhodžić's took ahold of second place in Group H.

Jermaine Jones takes his place at the heart of the midfield after his thunderbolt equaliser set the ball rolling for the US to progress from the group stages, only for a last gasp leveller from a desperate Portugal side to ensure that all teams in Group G still have a chance to make it through. The Besiktas man was a real threat from deep, mustering 3 shots at goal, creating 2 chances and completing 4 dribbles to earn a rating of 8.32.

Jones is joined in midfield by the first of a trio of French representatives after their scintillating 5-2 victory over Switzerland, having romped to a 5-0 lead in Friday's game. Blaise Matuidi netted the second of those with a smart near post finish and put in a superb box-to-box display attempting 3 shots in total, completing 4 dribbles and producing a match-high 4 interceptions to earn a rating of 9.23.

The PSG middle man is accompanied by compatriots Mathieu Valbuena and Karim Benzema, who played in the wide forward positions either side of Olivier Giroud. The pairing excelled in a system that proved too much for the Swiss to handle, with the former netting a goal from 3 shots and picking up an assist from 3 key passes.

Benzema, meanwhile, earned the highest rating of the round (9.73) despite seeing a first half penalty saved. He made amends with a third goal of the tournament after the break and picked up 2 assists from an outstanding 6 key passes. A phenomenal start to the tournament for a man that has had his critics for les Bleus sees the Real Madrid forward rank as WhoScored's player of the tournament so far (9.30).

Lionel Messi was the saviour for Argentina who left it ‘til the very last minute to record a narrow 1-0 win over comparative international minnows Iran and earn a place in the next round in the process. The Barca star has silenced his unwarranted critics on the international stage to an extent with goals in back-to-back games, with the latest clinical strike typical of the 26-year old. It was one of 6 attempts on the day having also completed 7 dribbles to earn WhoScored's man of the match award.

Mario Mandzukic pips Emmanuel Emenike to the starting striker position with a rating of 9.2 having netted a brace in Croatia's cruise control-triumph over Cameroon. The forward scored the last two goals in a 4-0 win, having attempted 4 shots in total and won 5 aerial duels to prove his worth to the side after missing the opener against Brazil through suspension.

Who do you think shone in the second round of group fixtures? Let us know in the comments below