World champion Messi spearheads star-studded 2022 World Cup best XI
After a month of football ending with a drama filled final, it is now time to look back on the World Cup team of the tournament. While it was Argentina who went home with football’s biggest prize on Sunday, it is runners-up France who dominate the best XI with three players. There is also room for players from Croatia, Morocco, England, Portugal, Brazil and of course Argentina.
Dominik Livakovic (Croatia) – 6.99
After yet another historic run for Croatia that saw them finish third at the World Cup after finishing second in 2018, and they have a lot to owe to Dominik Livakovic for the achievement. His heroics in the last-16 and the quarter-finals saw Croatia maintain their 100% record in World Cup penalty shootouts, making four saves across the two games, the most by any goalkeeper at the tournament in penalty shootouts. He also kept two clean sheets and made 25 saves, the most by any goalkeeper at the tournament, earning him a WhoScored rating of 6.99.
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) – 7.04
Morocco created history of their own at the World Cup, becoming the first African side to reach the semi-finals. They may have lost out in the third-place play-off, but they still made plenty of history along the way. PSG’s Achraf Hakimi played a huge rolewith his performances at right-back, helping Morocco to maintain four clean sheets with his 26 tackles, the most by any player at the tournament. He contributed offensively with one assist and six chances created, earning him an overall WhoScored rating of 7.04.
Brazil would have been disappointed at their quarter-final exit at the hands of Croatia, but Thiago Silva is one who perhaps exceeded expectations to make this XI with a WhoScored rating of 7.07. The 38-year-old wasn't dribbled past in Qatar and returned a pass success rate of 93.6% from 85.8 passes per game, the latter ranking eighth at the World Cup.
Harry Maguire (England) – 7.35
England made it to the quarter-finals, but were beaten by France after Harry Kane missed a decisive penalty late on. Their discipline at the back was key to this run, only conceding four goals in their five games, with Harry Maguire a consistent performer throughout. He made seven tackles in his five appearances, as well as well as four interceptions. He also maintained a pass success rate of 87.2% and registered one assist, but what really underlined his performances was the fact he was only dribbled past once in all his games. This earned Maguire an overall WhoScored rating of 7.35.
Theo Hernandez (France) – 7.22
France became only the fifth defending champions to reach the final the next tournament, but were unable to go all the way, losing out on penalties to Argentina. Theo Hernandez, who only came in as a substitute when his brother Lucas pulled up injured in the first game, was one of their most consistent performers. While he was defensively solid with 16 tackles, the joint fourth most at the tournament, it was his attacking abilities that helped to give France that edge in games. Only Antoine Griezmann (22) and Lionel Messi (21) were able to register more key passes than Hernandez (11) throughout the tournament, while he was also able to register two assists and score a goal to open the scoring in the semi-final win over Morocco. His overall WhoScored rating was 7.22 as a result.
Jude Bellingham (England) – 7.58
It could be argued that had England gone further in the tournament, then Jude Bellingham would have been up for the official Young Player of the Tournament award, after putting in some fine displays in midfield. While he was able to score one and assist one, Bellingham showed control in the centre of the park, registering the fourth most tackles (16) in the tournament and winning six aerial duels. His passing was also top level, maintaining a pass success over 90%, as well as driving through midfield with six successful dribbles and registering five shots, despite playing in a deeper role. Bellingham’s overall WhoScored rating was 7.58 as a result.
There was a lot of optimism surrounding Brazil as the potential favourites to go all the way at the World Cup, but unfortunately for them they were knocked out in the end, on penalties, in the quarter-finals to Croatia. Casemiro was arguably their star performer in the tournament, hardly putting a foot wrong. As well as scoring a key goal in the 1-0 win over Switzerland, he was a brilliant all-rounder for them throughout. Even though he played deep, his shots per game still stood at 2.3, while he maintained a pass success rate of 83.1%. He also made 11 tackles and seven interceptions to protect Brazil’s backline, as they conceded only twice while he was playing, earning him an overall WhoScored rating of 7.53.
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Bruno Fernandes (Portugal) – 8.15
Portugal made it to the quarter-finals, losing out to Morocco by a single goal. Their main man though who helped them to that point was without a doubt Bruno Fernandes. In spite of their quarter-final exit, Fernandes was still rated as second best in the tournament as he scored twice and registered three assists, the letter the joint most. He had eight shots in his four appearances and was able to create nine key passes, while maintaining a pass success rate of 87.6%, earning Fernandes an overall WhoScored rating of 8.15.
Antoine Griezmann (France) – 7.52
A player who deserves a lot of credit for their performances has to be Antoine Griezmann. While he was playing a deeper role than usual, he was still able to be just as effective in the final third, making 22 key passes, more than any other player in Qatar. Despite not scoring, he still contributed to the goals, registering the joint most assists of the tournament (3). Emphaising his deeper role, he definitely played his part defensively, making 14 tackles and eight interceptions making him a key part of the French defensive unit. For his efforts, Griezmann earned an overall WhoScored rating of 7.52.
While Kylian Mbappe was unable to go all the way in back-to-back tournaments, he still managed to break a number of individual accolades. His hat-trick in the final helped him to his tally of eight goals, which won him the Golden Boot, and he also managed to register two assists. No player in Qatar completed more dribbles (25) than the France star either, while his 11 key passes were the joint third most. He also won 32 ground duels in total, which ranks as one of the highest. Mbappe was the third highest ranked player at the World Cup, with a WhoScored rating of 8.00.
Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 8.25
After 26 World Cup matches, Lionel Messi finally guided his Argentina side to World Cup success. While there were a number of stand-out performers in their run to a third World Cup, Messi was by far the most key player, underlined as the highest rated overall at the World Cup. While he just missed out on the Golden Boot by one goal, scoring seven, he still registered the joint most assists (3). He fell one short of Griezmann’s record for key passes, making 21, while his 15 successful dribbles was the third highest. He also scored in both of Argentina’s penalty shootout wins and overall earned a WhoScored rating of 8.25.
