World Cup 2018: Who you have rated the best & worst players so far in Russia?
2018 Fifa World Cup on the BBC Host: Russia Dates: 14 June – 15 July Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Thirty-eight goals, a winning start for England, the defending champions beaten and a thriller between Spain and Portugal […]
Story at a glance
2018 Fifa World Cup on the BBC Host: Russia Dates: 14 June – 15 July Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Thirty-eight goals, a winning start for England, the defending champions beaten and a thriller between Spain and Portugal […]
Section
Sport
Published
20 June 2018
Source
News on Africa
| 2018 Fifa World Cup on the BBC |
|---|
| Host: Russia Dates: 14 June – 15 July |
| Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. |
Thirty-eight goals, a winning start for England, the defending champions beaten and a thriller between Spain and Portugal in Sochi – it was been quite a start to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
With the first round of group games over, we have now seen every team play during the tournament and plenty of players have caught the eye.
During every game you have been rating the players using the BBC Sport player rater.
Here is a look at the players who have stood out, those who had an opening game to forget and the team of the tournament so far.
The best players
Lionel Messi? No. Neymar? Nope. Cristiano Ronaldo? Still no.
You rated Mexico’s Hirving Lozano as the best player in the opening round of matches after he scored one of the most dramatic goals of the tournament so far – his side’s winner in their victory over defending champions Germany.
The forward had an average rating of 8.35 to lead the way, while Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Spain was only good enough for a rating of 8.13 and fourth place.
Spanish playmaker Isco has received the second-highest rating for his role in the draw with Ronaldo’s Portugal.
The two remaining places in the top five are taken by Iceland players following the team’s 1-1 draw with Argentina.
Goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson, who saved Messi’s second-half penalty, is third and goalscorer Alfred Finnbogason fifth.
The team of the tournament so far
Iceland’s impressive performance against Argentina has resulted in their players featuring most often in your team of the tournament so far.
Halldorsson and Finnbogason are joined by Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson and defender Ragnar Sigurdsson.
Uruguay and Atletico Madrid centre-back Diego Godin is the highest-rated defender following the South American side’s 1-0 win over Egypt.
Aleksandar Kolarov’s stunning free-kick for Serbia against Costa Rica also helps him join Godin in your team’s defence.
Midfielder Shinji Kagawa is also included after scoring a penalty in Japan’s win over Colombia, while Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye sneaked into the team with a strong showing in Senegal’s win over Poland – the final match in the first round of fixtures.
And some who didn’t fare so well
Look away now, Luis Suarez!
The Uruguay and Barcelona striker was given the lowest rating of any player to have played the majority of the match after his wasteful performance against Egypt.
Only two players to feature at all so far in Russia scored lower than Suarez’s 3.42.
They were Colombia defender Carlos Sanchez, who was sent off in the third minute, and Saudi Arabia striker Mohannad Aseri, who came on in the 85th minute of his side’s defeat by Russia.
The Saudis ‘dominate’ the list of the worst-ranked players, taking up six of the 10 places on the list.
France full-back Benjamin Pavard and Poland defender Thiago Cionek join Suarez and Sanchez as the other players in the ‘top 10’.
Other players you have been less than kind to are England forward Raheem Sterling, who had an average rating of 4.11, and Spain goalkeeper David de Gea (4.12) whose mistake gifted Ronaldo a goal in Sochi.
Mario Gomez (3.92), Sami Khedira (4.13), Mats Hummels (4.51) and Mesut Ozil (4.68) all paid the price for Germany’s defeat by Mexico.
The surprising successes
So Saudi Arabia and Germany have plenty of room for improvement and Iceland and Mexico have been stealing the show, but which other players are ones to keep an eye on?
A couple of lesser-known goalkeepers, Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa and South Korea’s Cho Hyun-woo, both scored highly.
Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who has been widely linkedwith a big-money transfer away from Lazio, scored a very respectable 7.37 in the win over Costa Rica.
Russia winger Denis Cheryshev also scored highly for his two goals in the opening match of the competition, while Japan winger Takashi Inui only just missed out on a place in your team of the tournament so far, as did Australia midfielder Aaron Mooy despite his side losing their opener to France.
England’s highest-ranked player was Harry Kane with 7.09.
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