France and Argentina will meet in the final of the 2022 Fifa World Cup [kickoff Monday 4am NZ time].
Ahead of the decider, Stuff football writers Andrew Voerman, Phillip Rollo, Tony Smith and Sam Wilson have put their heads together to select their team of the tournament.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’ Kylian Mbappé are obvious inclusions, but we’ve also gone for a couple of their team-mates as well as players from four other teams.
Croatia needed wins in penalty shootouts to advance past Japan in the round of 16 and Brazil in the quarterfinals and they did so thanks to great efforts from their goalkeeper.
Livaković made crucial interventions in both matches before they went to kicks from the penalty mark, where he then made three saves against Japan and one against Brazil.
The Dinamo Zagreb stopper’s efforts against Brazil earned him a rare 10 out of 10 rating from French sports newspaper L’Equipe – just the 15th it has ever handed out.
Right back: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
The Paris Saint-Germain fullback was one of the outstanding performers during Morocco’s fairytale run through to the semifinals.
Morocco’s defence had been rock solid for most of the tournament, conceding just the one goal (an own goal) prior to their semifinal loss to France.
Hakimi’s most memorable moment came in their stunning penalty shootout win over Spain, when he produced a cheeky Panenka to send Morocco through to the quarterfinals for the first time in their history.
Centre back: Harry Souttar (Australia)
The towering Stoke City defender returned from a long-term knee injury in the nick of time to play an integral role for Australia’s Socceroos, featuring in every minute of their history-equalling run to the round of 16.
Souttar’s last-ditch tackle in their 1-0 win over Tunisia will go down as one of the defensive plays of the World Cup and may well have been the difference between qualifying for the knockout stages or not.
He was also a key figure as they kept a clean sheet against Denmark to advance.
Centre back: Joško Gvardiol (Croatia)
It wasn’t just his mask that made Gvardiol stand out in Qatar as Croatia’s defensive lynchpin produced a series of commanding performances for the semifinalists to further enhance the reputation of a player his coach, Zlatko Dalić, described as the best defender in the world.
At just 20, the sky’s the limit for the ball-playing RB Leipzig centre back who looks destined for a big money move to one of Europe’s elite clubs in the not-too-distant future.
He was tied up in knots by Lionel Messi in the semifinal, but that one blip should not take away from an otherwise dominant debut.
Left back: Marcos Acuña (Argentina)
The Sevilla fullback came off the bench in Argentina’s shock first-up loss to Saudi Arabia, but was a fixture in their lineup for the 2-0 wins over Mexico and Poland that followed and sent them through to the knockout stages.
Acunã retained his starting spot in their round of 16 win over Australia and the penalty shootout win over the Netherlands that followed and was a strong performer on the left side of their defence.
A yellow card against the Dutch meant he missed the semifinal win over Croatia, and there is an air of intrigue as to whether he will return to Argentina’s starting XI for the final.
Midfielder: Antoine Griezmann (France)
Everyone’s talking about the World Cup final being Messi v Mbappe, but Griezmann has rightly been reaping plenty of praise.
The 31-year-old Atlético Madrid midfielder has always excelled on the big international stage – he got the Golden Boot at Euro 2016 and starred in France’s 2018 World Cup win. But Griezmann – so often used effectively behind the front two – has excelled in a new deeper, box-to-box role this year.
His three assists in four games, and 17 chances created are second only to Messi’s 18. Little wonder former French World Cup winner Christophe Dugarry is ranking him alongside Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini.
Midfielder: Luka Modrić (Croatia)
Qatar 2022 has been the year of the vets, and Croatia’s creative spur has been up with the best.Now 37, Modrić shows no signs of waning powers, and while the Real Madrid maestro has hinted at retirement, his Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić said “the world will miss him’’ when the fateful day comes.
The Croatia captain’s precision passing and clinical penalty take played a major part in the quarterfinal win over Brazil and his excellence was again evident in the semifinal exit against Argentina.
Forgive his post-match spray about the semifinal referee, Modrić’s still the classy guy that bought his teammates and support staff a Rolex watch each after making the 2018 final.
Midfielder: Jude Bellingham (England)
Like Griezmann, Bellingham is equally adept in a deeper role or pushing forward and has the power of Paul Pogba.
Stamped his mark on the cup with a commanding performance in the 3-0 win against Senegal and was still going strong in the quarterfinal exit to France.
Forward: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
No player has had a bigger impact in Qatar than Messi.
Playing in his final World Cup, the 35-year-old has contributed five goals and three assists in Argentina’s run to the final, putting him in the running for both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball award for the tournament’s best player.
But he would no doubt forego those individual accolades to get his hands on the World Cup, the one major trophy that has eluded him in his legendary career.
Don’t bet against him making the decisive contribution against France in what will be his last appearance on the world stage.
Forward: Richarlison (Brazil)
Brazilians won’t look back too fondly on this World Cup after crashing out in the quarterfinals, but Richarlison enhanced his reputation with some sparkling displays upfront.
The Tottenham striker got the Seleção‘s campaign up and running with a double against Serbia, including a stunning bicycle kick that will surely be in the conversation for goal of the tournament.
He also started and finished off a sweeping team move during Brazil’s round of 16 rout of South Korea that had football connoisseurs purring.
Sadly, he was unable to find a way through Croatia’s well-drilled defence as the pre-tournament favourites fell in the last eight
Forward: Kylian Mbappé (France)
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar is one game away from winning his second World Cup – at the age of 23.
Mbappé has been at his devastating best in Qatar, scoring five goals and laying on two assists to fire reigning champions France into the final.
When in full flow, he is nigh impossible to stop and he will be the man Argentina fear most in the decider.
