PSG Paris Saint-Germain trio of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar Junior all feature in the team of the round of 16 after their vital contributions ensured their respective country’s passage into the last eight of the competition.
Many of the players in the selection had a stellar individual performance, one they will relive for most part of their career while some for others, it would not count as it was not enough to see their nation through to the next round.
Croatia goalkeeper, Dominik Livakovic deserves a spot as much as Yassine Bonou of Morocco as both were the match-winner for their respective countries but only one of them can make it to this XI.
England’s Three Lions were fantastic against Cameroon. Joao Felix, Bruno Fernandes, Vinicius Junior and others were also impressive, not forgetting Daley Blind of the Netherlands and even Tyler Adams of the USA.
However, here is the set of players that have made it into our XI of the round…
Goalkeeper : Dominik Livakovic (Croatia)
The Goalkeeper made three saves in open play and was only beaten by a Daizen Maeda’s close range striker, which he obviously could not have saved.
Aside that, he helped Croatia stayed in the game and in the shootout, saved a hat-trick of penalties, becoming only the third Goalkeeper to do so in FIFA World Cup finals.
Right-back : Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands)
A performance for the ages from the inter Milan right-back as he was directly involved in all three goals (one goal, two assists) that helped The Netherlands see off the US to reach the semi finals.
Dumfries became only the third dutch player to be directly involved in three goals in a single FIFA World Cup game for the Netherlands after Johan Cruyff in 1974 and Rob Rensenbrink (twice in 1978)
Left Center Back : Romain Saiss (Morocco)
Morocco continued their invincibility in defence and maintained the fact that no opposition player has scored against them in Qatar 2022 to seal their place in the quarter finals after a shootout win over Spain in the Andalusia derby
Saiss was at the heart of that defence as they shut out Spain despite the persistent pressure from Luis Enrique’s men for most part of that game.
The Beşiktas Center Back made ten clearences and eleven recoveries in 120 minutes of play. It was a busy evening for him and his teammates but he helped them see it out unscratched.
Right Center Back : Rodri Hernandez (Spain)
Rodri Hernandez was very unfortunate to end up on the losing side but during open play, the Manchester City midfielder, who was deployed as a makeshift Center Back for Spain played his part to perfection.
Arguably the best player in the pitch until the Yassine Bonou heroics in the shootout. But the shootout is nothing he could influence so that will not take away the fact that he had a brilliant game.
Left-back : Raphael Guerrero (Portugal)
Rafael Guerrero was part of a Portugal side that ran riot against Switzerland and won 6-1 to seal their place in the last eight for the first time since 2006 and contributed to two goals.
Scored the fourth and assisted the sixth, the left-back also made notable contributions defensively, including winning 100 per cent of his attempted tackles and aerial duels.
Guerrero has so far impressed in Qatar and the performance against Switzerland is easily his best. He will be looking to recreate that when Portugal take on Morocco in the next round.
Center Defensive Midfielder : Wataru Endo (Japan)
It is never fair when you played so good but lost on penalties. This was the case for the Japanese midfielder, Endo against Croatia as they enjoyed everything but not a win.
They dominated the European country in good areas and Endo was pulling the strings in the middle of the park but it was not meant to be as Livakovic denied them with his masterclass in the shootout.
Won six of seven ground duels, made four key passes, created two big chances, won four fouls, completed two of three long balls a s made five defensive clearances, it was an overall good play from the Stuttgart midfielder.
Center Midfielder : Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia)
In the game against Japan, Marcelo Brozovic covered more ground than any player in the history of the FIFA World Cup, a record he previously owned but bettered this time by reaching 16.7 kilometers, which is more than 16.3 kilometers he set against England in 2018.
He was needed to be at his energetic best because of the speed of the Japanese and did well to help Croatia dealt with the dangers and in the shootout, he calmly dispatched his effort to have Croatia on their way.
Made four key passes, more than any Croatian player in the pitch, completed 100 per cent of long balls and won 100 per cent of his aerial duels, it was a needed performance and the Inter man delivered.
Attacking Midfielder : Neymar Junior (Brazil)
In the two games he missed, Brazil only scored once and suffered a defeat against Cameroon but back and so did the goods for Brazil as they literally had their quarter final ticket in the bag in the opening 30 minutes.
Neymar scored one and assisted another in a 4-1 win over South Korea on a night he was very much impressive. Should he and his teammates continued to play the way they did in the first half, there’s absolutely no stopping them in Qatar.
His goal moves him one close to equaling Pelé’s 77 goals and becoming Brazil’s all-time joint top scorer, an achievement he will surely have his sight set on when Brazil play Croatia in the quarter finals.
Right Wing Forward : Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Lionel Messi scored his first ever FIFA World Cup knockout goal to open the scoring in a 2-1 Argentina win to seal their place in the quarter final of the tournament.
The goal which is his ninth took him ahead of Maradona on most goals for Argentina in FIFA World Cup finals while only Gabriel Batistuta now has more than him, ten.
The seven time Ballon d’Or winner created four more chances to tee up his teammates and covered a lot of distance in midfield and attack. He is the man Argentina look up to for inspiration and he didn’t let them down.
In search of his first and only World Cup title in what will most likely be his final attempt, Messi is doing his best to bring his dream to reality and that is there to be seen as he has been named Man of the match in two of their three wins in the tournament.
Left Wing Forward : Kylian Mbappé (France)
Kylian Mbappé continues to shine as so does defending Champions, France as they eased into the last eight with a convincing win, masterminded by the PSG forward, over Poland.
Mbappé score two and assisted one in the 3-1 win, making him now the outright top scorer in the FIFA World Cup with five goals, already one more than he managed over four years ago in Russia.
He has arguably been the best player in the ongoing tournament and much of France’s hopes will be on him if they are to defend their title and to start, they face their biggest test yet in their next game against England.
Mbappé will be needed at his best again and Didier Deschamps will hope his talisman won’t be found wanting, but he rarely does anyways.
Striker : Gonçalo Ramos (Portugal)
Gonçalo Ramos becomes the first player to score a hat-trick in the ongoing FIFA World Cup, justifying his selection by Fernando Santos as Portugal thrashed Switzerland 6-1 to reach the FIFA World Cup quarter finals.
On his first ever international start, the Benfica striker becomes the first Portuguese player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup knockout round game since Eusebio in 1966.
The 21 year old, is also be player of the round, adding an assist to his blistering performance to help Portugal blow the Swiss away.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
What changes would you have to this XI ? Leave your responses and comments below!
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Cool selection