World Cup 2022 Team of the Tournament ft. Lionel Messi & Kylian Mbappe | Football

CB: Harry Souttar (Australia)

The likes of Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi and England duo John Stones and Harry Maguire would have also been worthy of this team, but the comeback story of Souttar could not be ignored.

After an ACL injury in November 2021, the Stoke star went to Qatar having played virtually no football for a year, yet put in immense performances to help Australia shockingly reach the knockouts, with the only goals they conceded coming against finalists France and Argentina.

CB: Josko Gvardiol (Croatia)

Subject of huge transfer interest from Chelsea and Real Madrid, Gvardiol’s price has only gone up after a magnificent campaign in Qatar where he more than held his own against the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Neymar.

The 20-year-old currently at RB Leipzig has been described as ‘the best in the world’ by his national team manager and off the back of this World Cup, it’s hard to argue with him.

LB: Theo Hernandez (France)

Theo Hernandez was not expecting to play much this tournament with older brother Lucas ahead of him in the pecking order, but after he was injured early on in France’s opening game, the AC Milan left-back was thrown into the thick of it.

While Les Bleus’ defensive record leaves a lot to be desired, Hernandez provided plenty going forward, recording two assists and scoring once en-route to the final.

CDM: Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)

Prior to the semi-finals, Morocco had conceded just one (own) goal in five games, keeping clean sheets against Portugal, Spain, Croatia and Belgium, with Amrabat playing a significant role in that achievement.

If his impressive tackle, interceptions and passing stats weren’t enough, his monumental tackle on Kylian Mbappe in the narrow defeat to France will go down as one of the most iconic moments of Qatar 2022.

CM: Jude Bellingham (England)

Football may not have come home this winter, but England’s future is incredibly bright with 19-year-old Bellingham already looking like the complete package.

A player who excels both offensively and defensively, Bellingham makes it in this team ahead of Croatia captain Luka Modric who continues to perform at the highest level even at the age of 37.

CAM: Antoine Griezmann (France)

Bruno Fernandes deserves a mention after his five goal contributions for Portugal went completely unnoticed, but without Griezmann France would not have made it to back-to-back finals.

The Atletico Madrid man has played in 74 consecutive games for Didier Deschamps’ side and while his creativity has once again been on display, the 31-year-old’s work-rate and defensive output has really caught the eye in Qatar.

RW: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Whether he won or lost the final, this was Messi’s World Cup, with the Greatest Of All-Time showing everyone why he has earned that title.

Whether he was scoring, assisting or leading Argentina back from their humiliating defeat to Saudi Arabia, the little magician was THE player of the tournament from start to finish.

ST: Julian Alvarez (Argentina)

OIivier Giroud may feel hard done by, especially after breaking Thierry Henry’s record, but Alvarez was the striker nobody, not even himself, saw coming in Qatar.

A brace in the semi-final capped off a brilliant breakthrough tournament for the Manchester City youngster who epitomised all that was good about Argentina’s campaign.

LW: Kylian Mbappe (France)

The heir to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s throne, Mbappe bounced back from an awful Euro 2020 to stake his claim as the best forward in the world right now.

Little more can be said about him, only that Pele’s record of three World Cup triumphs really might be under threat from the sensational 22-year-old.