Best young player? Goal of the tournament? Messi among those praised in F365’s World Cup awards

Jason Soutar
World Cup trio Lionel Messi, Josko Gvardiol, Kylian Mbappe

What FIFA think really doesn’t matter, so we have decided who deserves each World Cup award, while making plenty of our own.

There’s a lot of praise for Morocco – as there should be – and we give an experienced Frenchman his flowers. And nobody has to wear a negligee to receive these awards.

 

Best player – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
What a tournament this little genius had. Lionel Messi finally won some international silverware last year and now has a bloody World Cup to his name. That GOAT debate just got even more interesting. If it’s even a debate at this stage. Messi scored seven in the 2022 World Cup finals, including two in the final against France. He also became the first player in men’s World Cup finals history to score in every knockout round match.

He was man of the match in the final – even though Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick – and Argentina’s best player by a country mile. But his teammates played their part, no more so than Emi Martinez, who stopped Randal Kolo Muani in the last minute of extra-time before saving a penalty in the shootout.

 

Best young player – Josko Gvardiol (Croatia)
No defender can make it in this world without having their arse ripped to shreds from Lionel Messi at least once. Going into the semi-final between Croatia and Argentina, Josko Gvardiol had arguably been the best defender at the tournament, but Messi made him look incredibly foolish to assist Julian Alvarez for his side’s third goal of the game.

Having said that, this is a time to praise the 20-year-old defender, who is expected to leave RB Leipzig next year. His performances were stellar as Croatia were hard to beat – except for that semi-final loss – and he looks like someone who has been playing at this level for ten years. You can see why the German club want around £100million for him…

Even though the impressive Enzo Fernandez was given this award, Gvardiol had a better tournament, not taking into account overall team success.

 

Best goalkeeper – Dominik Livakovic (Croatia)
There were some cracking goalkeepers at this World Cup. Argentina’s Emi Martinez was brilliant, as was France captain Hugo Lloris and Poland’s Wojciech Szczesny, and Morocco’s Yassine Bounou is a close second here, but Dominik Livakovic was the best ‘keeper in Qatar.

No goalkeeper made more saves in Qatar and Livakovic was the hero as Croatia beat Japan on penalties in the last 16, before helping his side win another shootout to upset Brazil in the next round. And he would never use an award as a makeshift penis (we hope).

 

Best defender – Romain Saiss (Morocco)
It felt wrong to hand this award to someone not representing the Atlas Lions. Their dogged defensive displays, alongside some excellent goalkeeping from Yassine Bounou, saw them reach the last four. Achraf Hakimi had a wonderful tournament as a marauding wing-back and was absolutely fantastic. But I have given this one to former Wolves defender Romain Saiss, who was a warrior as he battled through injury to lead his country as captain.

Across five games in the tournament, Saiss averaged 0.8 tackles per game, five clearances, 0.5 interceptions and 0.2 blocks.

 

Best midfielder – Antoine Griezmann (France)
Is this playmaking No. 10 version of Antoine Griezmann the best we have seen of him in his career? It could well be. Fingers crossed this was not his last World Cup.

 

Best forward – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Well, imagine my shock that our Golden Ball winner gets one of these four awards.

 

Most underrated player – Mateo Kovacic (Croatia)
Everyone rattles on about Luka Modric – who is absolutely brilliant, by the way – but nobody seems to mention his midfield partner Mateo Kovacic, who even has to live in the shadows of Marcelo Brozovic.

Kovacic is one of the best ball-carrying midfielders in the world and was crucial to Croatia reaching the semi-finals, where they were brushed aside by a brilliant Messi and Argentina.

People absolutely love Jude Bellingham for his marauding runs with the ball, but this is what Kovacic has been doing for years and years. It’s time to put some respect on his name.

Frenkie de Jong was also pretty underrated, as was John Stones and potentially even Aurelien Tchouameni and an out-of-position Jules Kounde.

 

Best Premier League player – Bruno Fernandes (Portugal)
Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech was brilliant, as was the aforementioned Kovacic. A quarter-final exit for Portugal was bitterly disappointing, but Bruno Fernandes was absolutely incredible prior to the defeat against Morocco. Fernandes notched two assists and scored twice in five games as the theory that he plays better without Cristiano Ronaldo was surely put to bed.

Fernandes also has the highest average rating (8.15) of every World Cup participant – barring the GOAT man himself – according to WhoScored.

 

Biggest letdown – Belgium
Not Germany, but Belgium let me down the most in Qatar. While they went to the Middle East with quite an old squad, I would not have said they were “too old”, unlike their best player. Red flags were waving before their opener against Canada.

The red flags didn’t go away despite a win against the Canadians. They were awful and did not deserve the three points. Morocco then beat them comfortably before Romelu Lukaku put a pair of Timberlands on for the crucial match against Croatia which saw Belgium crash out in the group stage, despite being ranked No. 2 in the world.

It is safe to say their golden era is over.

 

Biggest surprise – Morocco
What is there to be said that hasn’t been said already? A great team with amazing spirit who shocked everyone to become the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup.

None of us had Morocco down to be the dark horses of the tournament, but after their win against Belgium, people began to take notice and realised they actually have a really bloody good team.

Goal of the tournament – Luis Chavez (Saudi Arabia vs MEXICO)
What a strike this was. Luis Chavez’s stunning 75mph free-kick from over 30 yards out against Saudi Arabia in the group stage put his side 1-0 up in their 2-1 win.

There are obviously a few contenders here. Julian Alvarez’s goal against Croatia was potentially the worst wonder goal in football history. Bukayo Saka’s strike against Iran on matchday one made him an early contender. Then there was Richarlison’s bicycle kick against Serbia, Vincent Aboubakar’s cheeky lob against the same opponents, even Neymar’s goal against Croatia. But for me, it has to be Chavez for his wonder strike.

 

Best England player – Jude Bellingham
Bukayo Saka was incredible and England’s best player against France in their quarter-final defeat, but Jude Bellingham was wonderful throughout the entire tournament, and at just 19 years of age, he has made me pretty depressed with where I am in life.

Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City are fighting for his signature, and after seeing him I really hope he moves to the Premier League. Only if he joins Arsenal, though.

 

Best individual performance from an England player – Harry Maguire (vs USA)
He put that head of his to good use in this game as he helped his side keep their first clean sheet of the World Cup.

It is genuinely concerning how well Harry Maguire plays for England when he looks terrible far too often for Manchester United. Maybe he needs a fresh start – the environment and captaincy clearly isn’t good for you, mate.

 

Best manager – Walid Regragui (Morocco)
They might not have won the whole thing, but Morocco and Walid Regragui deserve an unlimited amount of praise after their tournament. The fans were absolutely brilliant too.

Regragui took on the job after August and brought Hakim Ziyech back into the squad after he didn’t play in the Atlas Lions’ horrific African Cup of Nations campaign last winter. He guided Morocco to wins against Belgium, Spain and Portugal, and topped a group including the Red Devils, Croatia and Canada with their only goal conceded scored by their own player.

 

Best pundit/co-commentator – Ally McCoist
Nobody comes close to the uplifting Scotsman. This award was included just to give him some kudos. What a man. Everyone wishes he was their uncle, don’t deny it.

 

READ MORE: Clive Tyldesley writes for F365 on a Disney World Cup that leaves him anaesthetised not hypnotised

 

Best European player – Kylian Mbappe (France)
That two-minute spell in the final saw Mbappe edge past his team-mate Griezmann. France looked down and out before Mbappe bagged twice in quick succession to take the game to extra-time. What a final. What a tournament.

 

Best South American player – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
No-brainer here, really…

 

Best African player – Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)
Basically, who was Morocco’s best player? There are plenty of options to choose from. Hakim Ziyech, Sofyan Amrabat, Achraf Hakimi, Yassine Bounou, Abdelhamid Sabiri, Azzedine Ounahi, or even Sofiane Boufal.

The choice here was Amrabat. A move to the Premier League looks written in the stars after being linked with a move to Tottenham before the tournament. His price has definitely increased, which is less than ideal for Antonio Conte.

What a World Cup he had. Every time he played, he was simply everywhere. Whether it be intercepting, tackling, heading, whatever it was, Amrabat was on call to snuff out any attack.

 

Best Asian player – Harry Souttar (Australia)
I had high hopes for Daichi Kamada of Japan going into the tournament, but he upset me by not scoring a bunch of goals. Then you’ve got Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Al Owais, who was scarily good against Argentina in his side’s historic victory, and Ritsu Doan was fantastic, wasn’t he?

However, Harry Souttar was probably the most important and consistent player for any of the three Asian sides to make it out of their group. The huge central defender was terrific as Australia reached the last 16 for only the second time in their history. Unfortunately for the continent of Asia, neither South Korea, Japan or the Socceroos could win to progress to the quarter-finals.

 

Best individual performance – Goncalo Ramos (PORTUGAL vs Switzerland)
Am I blinded by his goal contributions here? Was Messi better in the games against the Netherlands, Mexico, Croatia or Australia? Possibly. Have your say below and berate me for all I care. WhoScored gave Goncalo Ramos a perfect ten here, while SofaScore gave him a 9.8, making it the best rating out of any player in any game at this year’s World Cup.

Ramos came in for man-child Cristiano Ronaldo and couldn’t have made his captain look any worse if he tried. The 21-year-old scored a hat-trick (the only treble of the tournament before Mbappe got involved) and provided an assist, just because he could.

 

Best celebration – Richarlison (BRAZIL vs South Korea)
Some say it was disrespectful. Some just did not like it. But I personally loved it and think players should use the opportunity to celebrate to do just that. If they fancy a little jig, let them be.

After scoring a beautiful team goal, Richarlison did his trademark pigeon celebration, with Brazil boss Tite getting involved – superb stuff made even better by the amount of p*ss it boiled.

Jude Bellingham and Jordan Henderson looking close to either kissing or fighting after the latter’s goal against Senegal was also brilliant.

 

Best game – Argentina 3-3 France (4-2 after penalties)
Bloody hell. I still feel anxious a day after this match. Kylian Mbappe scored a f**king hat-trick. The first in a World Cup final since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966. The first 70 minutes were okay, but the last 20 and then extra-time. Wow.

There were some great games. The quarter-final between Argentina and the Netherlands for one, as well as Saudi Arabia’s win over the South Americans. But this World Cup saved the best for last.

 

Biggest country-over-club performer – Hakim Ziyech (Morocco/Chelsea)
Hakim Ziyech was incredible for Ajax, then went to Chelsea and it hasn’t really happened for him.

He did not get on with previous Morocco boss Vahid Halilhodzic but returned for the World Cup and was a man possessed. If Graham Potter doesn’t give him a chance now, or doesn’t cash in on Ziyech next month, he is a foolish, foolish man.

 

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