WORLD CUP BRIEFS

TOP FIVE PLAYERS OF GROUP STAGES

THE Round of 16 fixtures at the Fifa World

Cup have been drawn up with a couple of powerhouses missing the cut.

The group stages have seen outstanding individual performances, beautiful goals, and shocking upsets.

IOL Sports football writer Smiso Msomi picks the top five players of the group stages:

Kylian Mbappe – France

The mercurial Frenchman was touted to be one of the players of the tournament before the first kick-off and he has certainly lived up to the bill. Mbappe, who lit up the 2018 edition as Le Bleus powered to the title, seems to have taken his game a notch up in terms of quality.

The energetic speedster at 19 years has matured into a more controlled, instinctive and powerful dribbler with his three goals and an assist testament to the levels he’s playing at.

Bruno Fernandes – Portugal

The 28-year-old midfield dynamo has lived up to the pre-tournament billing with near-ridiculous performances in his first World Cup.

The Portuguese has four goal involvements in two matches following his two assists against Ghana on the opening day and a brace against South American side Uruguay.

He had rapidly shown himself to be Portugal’s most important figure in the World Cup, a symbol of excellence as he shares a changeroom with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cody Gakpo – Netherlands

The doubts over the fitness levels of Dutch number 10 Memphis Depay presented Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal with quite a conundrum ahead of the global showpiece. However, 23-year-old Cody Gakpo stepped in and stepped up to shoulder the responsibilities. Gakpo has scored a goal in each of his first three World Cup matches and his consistency has seen him nail down a place in his nation’s starting 11 in the biggest event of his career.

Mohammed Kudus – Ghana

With the two Ayew brothers in the twilight years of their national team careers, the Black Stars were in desperate need of a spark for the next decade, and Ajax man Mohammed Kudus is dead set on becoming that for Ghana.

The 22-year-old forward has produced sparkling performances in the group stages of his first World Cup.

Wojciech Szczęsny – Poland

Szczesny has saved two penalties in Qatar, one of them from Argentina’s Lionel Messi.

His five saves against the Albiceleste, added to his five against Saudi Arabia, saw Poland reach the Round of 16 on goal difference.