2018 World Cup: The Guardian Team of the Tournament | Soccer

T The World Cup in Russia is over and we can go back to a tournament with only a 0-0 draw among the 64 matches. Our readers voted diligently at the end of the games and we used these votes to compile our tournament team.

Players must have played in at least four games to be selected

Goalkeeper

] Thibaut Courtois, Belgium (7.57)

The Chelsea goalkeeper is superbly behaved throughout the tournament. He never gave anything less than a seven and scored a nine in Belgium's quarter-final win against Brazil, in which he produced one of the judgments of the tournament to prevent Neymar from evening towards the end. Alireza Beiranvand of Iran also scored heavily but only played three games while Danijel Subasic Yann Sommer, Guillermo Ochoa and Jordan Pickford were also given good grades.

Defenders

Sime Vrsaljko, Croatia (7.5)

The back of Atletico Madrid secures the place to the right of our four backs, taking advantage of Croatia's run to the finals but also of his relentlessness throughout the tournament. He was selected as a back but played more like a winger, supporting Ivan Perisic as the team attacked, but never seemed to neglect his defensive duties. Thomas Meunier (7.4) and Kieran Trippier (7.33) can both play on the back and on the back and get closer to him. Team but have not quite mastered it. .

Domagoj Vida, Croatia (7,33)

Personified co-operation in Russia, the defender of Besiktas was the chief of defense of Zlatko Dalic, directing not only his central defender Dejan Lovren but also his defenders, Vrsaljko and Ivan Strinic. He wooed the controversy with a video on which he was seen shouting "Glory to Ukraine" after Croatia's victory over Russia, but on the pitch he was pretty much clear. In the final, he produced a superb sliding challenge to stop Kylian Mbappé and produced the finishing touch to set up Ivan Perisic's goal.

Diego Godín, Uruguay (7.2)

Uruguayan overcomes some high-quality contenders for the team's second half-center, Raphaël Varane (7.14) closest to 32 years old with Dejan Lovren, Thiago Silva, Harry Maguire, Toby Alderweireld, Andreas Granqvist and Victor Lindelöf all have an average of 7.0. Godín has collected two eighths and two seven and finally six in the elimination of Uruguay in France in the quarterfinals.

Lucas Hernandez, France (7.0)

The back of France sneaks into the team with the lowest score of 11 players, indicating that there was not as much competition for the left rear slit as elsewhere in the field. Hernandez, in all fairness, made a superb tournament with Didier Deschamps who trusted the defender of Atletico Madrid, aged 22, to be able to perform on the biggest stage. Hernandez repaid it generously, especially in the final with his diligent defense while establishing the goal of Mbappé. Russia Yuri Zhirkov also scored an average score of seven, but played only three games.

Midfielder

Ivan Perisic, Croatia (7.57)

The indefatigable Internazionale player did not deserve to be on the losing side of the final, having produced another superb example of wing play at his best. Never stopped running but also, more importantly, always looked for a final product, whether it's a goal or a help. He scored a nice goal in the final but was also severely judged guilty of handling his own card, leading to France's penalty. Will not run out of suitors if Inter allows him to leave.

Kevin De Bruyne, Belgium (7.67)

Always a pleasure to watch, his ability to pbad and shoot with both feet is probably unmatched in world football. The fact that he was part of a successful Belgium team of course helped, but it was one of the main reasons why they did so well. Could play better once Marouane Fellaini played next to him, and scored two seven, two eight and one nine – the latter against Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Luka Modric, Croatia (8.0)

Won the Golden Ball for the tournament player and our readers gave him the highest average rating of all players (with Eden Hazard). The playmaker of Real Madrid never seems troubled and almost never pbad the ball. He may not have been able to influence the final as he would have liked, but he was wonderful to watch during the four and a half weeks spent in Russia.

Denis Cherysev, Russia (7.4)

Not a newbie for the hosts when the tournament started but announced to a wider audience after scoring and scoring two goals against Saudi Arabia in the first match. His first was a rocket in the roof of the net and the second a wonderful effort on the outside of the foot just inside the box. He scored four goals in total, with his efforts curved to give Russia the lead against Croatia in the quarterfinals and a contender at the goal of the tournament.

Attacking midfielder

Eden Hazard, Belgium (8.0)

The Chelsea striker takes the place of the only attacking midfielder of our 4-4-1-1 formation. The playmaker made an exceptional tournament, scoring three goals and offering two badists in third place in Belgium. He could not really knock France down in the semifinals but it was not for lack of a try. Always tried to stay on his feet, despite the sometimes brutal attempts to remove the ball. The Russian Aleksandr Golovin was one of the leading contenders for this position with an average score of 7.5.

Attacker

Kylian Mbappé, France (7.43)

The first teenager to score in the World Cup final since Pelé, crowning a brilliant four and a half weeks in Russia with this goal against Croatia at Luzhniki. We were all aware that he had the ability to perform at the World Cup but it was still a little surprising to witness the ease with which he took the biggest step of all. Was preferred to players such as Romelu Lukaku (7.33), Mario Mandzukic (7.33) and his own teammate Antoine Griezmann (7.14)

Tournament Team (4-4-1-1)