Commentary
SA's World Cup Best XI: From Courtois to Mbappe
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Arlo Moore-Bloom @ArloMBloom, Mike Woitalla @MikeWoitalla, Jul 16, 2018
Thibaut Courtois (goalkeeper) Belgium
We might be
talking about Brazil or England if it wasn't for his saves.
Benjamin Pavard (defender) France
The 22-year-old, whose golazo against Argentina set France on
the path to the title, turned out to be a key late addition to the French backline.
Diego Godin (defender) Uruguay
Chief of the La Celeste defense that gave
up zero goals in the group stage and beat Portugal before falling to the eventual champs.
Raphael Varane (defender) France
Marshaled French central defense
and scored go-ahead goal against Uruguay.
Lucas Hernandez (defender) France
Like Pavard, a 22-year-old late addition to the French backline, also sparked
attacks, setting up goals against Argentina and Croatia.
Paul Pogba (midfielder) France
The world champion's midfield orchestrator put an exclamation mark on
his performance with a goal in the final that started with his 50-yard pass.
Kevin De Bruyne (midfielder) Belgium
Scored the winner against Brazil and set up
the winning goal against Japan.
Luka Modric (midfielder) Croatia
The playmaker for the most surprising World Cup finalist ever.
Eden
Hazard (midfielder) Belgium
The creative force behind the third-place finisher.
Kylian Mbappe (winger) France
Most successful teenager at
a World Cup since Pele in 1958.
Mario Mandzukic (forward) Croatia
Spearheaded Croatia's run the final with his winner against England and also struck in big
win over Argentina.
Here was my starting eleven (4-4-2:
Fwds: Hazard (Bel), Mbappe (Fra)
Mids: Coutinho (Brz), Griezmann (Fra), Modraic (Cro), De Bruyne (Bel)
Def.: Marcelo (Brz), Granqvist (Swe), Varane (Fra), Pavard (Eng)
G/K: Courtois (Bel)
Not much argument from me on any of the selections.
If you didn't have Godin on your list I really question if you were watching the tournament.