🌍 🏆 Best of the best! The OneFootball World Cup Awards

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OneFootball·19 December 2022

🌍 🏆 Best of the best! The OneFootball World Cup Awards

The 2022 World Cup is over! But we are not quite done talking about it, not after a final like that.

Here’s what our writers made of the tournament …

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👏 There’s only one place to start — who was the best player at the World Cup?

Alex Mott: As tempting as it is to name Lionel Messi, I’m going to pick one of the stars of this brilliant Morocco team. Bono in goal was stunning from start to finish but the best player of the tournament for me was Sofyan Amrabat. A stunning box-to-box midfielder who can do everything.

Chloe Beresford: Editor — Chloe did not get around to this in the excitement of the final took over!

Dan Burke: It’s hard to look past Lionel Messi for me. He delivered when Argentina needed him most and scored some goals that I don’t think any other player in the tournament could have scored.

Joel Sanderson-Murray: Antoine Griezmann deserves some plaudits. His transformation into a box-to-box midfielder is one of the main reasons France got to the final, knitting the midfield and attack together and also providing a vital defensive performance in the semi-final win over Morocco.

Lewis Ambrose: Lionel Messi, plain and simple.

Pádraig Whelan: As much as part of me really wants to say Antoine Griezmann for the transformation he gave in midfield in France’s hour of need, this is forever going to be known as Lionel Messi’s World Cup isn’t it?

👶 And the best young player?

AM: How good a piece of business does Manchester City’s €15m move for Julian Alvarez look now? The 22-year-old didn’t start the tournament for Argentina but has slowly forced his way into the XI to the point where he is almost guaranteed to play in Sunday’s final.

CB: The blow of England’s exit was definitely softened by the emergence of Jude Bellingham, not only for his play, but his leadership too. He was the first to go and console Harry Kane after his penalty miss, and surely represents the future of the Three Lions.

DB: Jude Bellingham was outstanding for England and I still can’t believe he’s only 19. What a future he has ahead of him.

JSM: It blows my mind that Joško Gvardiol is still only 20. He is built like a centre-back at his peak and was phenomenal as Croatia kept four clean sheets en route to the semis. I know he got torn to shreds by Lionel Messi, but come on it’s Messi.

LA: Germany went home early but the future is in safe hands with Jamal Musiala. He was breathtakingly good throughout all three group games and deserved to have a much longer stay in Qatar.

PW: Gvardiol was arguably the best defender of the tournament and one semi-final moment against a legend shouldn’t take the shine off a phenomenal month for the Croatian star.

🤯 What was the biggest shock or surprise of the tournament?

AM: It surely has to be Saudi Arabia’s win over Argentina in their first group game. This was a result no one saw coming and shows just how brilliant World Cup football can be.

CB: For a the briefest of moments, Germany and Spain were heading for a group stage exit as Costa Rica looked to be joining Japan in the knockouts. Germany’s turnaround ultimately provided a stay of execution for Spain, but we will always have those 85 seconds of shocking World Cup action.

DB: Saudi Arabia stunning Argentina in their opening game of the tournament still feels totally surreal, especially after what Argentina went on to do after it.

JSM: Obviously kudos to Morocco here but Japan beating Germany and Spain to finish top of that group was extraordinary.

LA: The announcement Cristiano Ronaldo was no longer a Manchester United, swiftly followed by him being dropped by Portugal. His time at the top has not ended the way he would have hoped.

PW: For those who remember the game, it is still hard to believe that a Croatia side who looked dead and buried against Brazil with just three minutes of extra-time remaining managed to bounce back and eliminate one of the favourites.

👔 This one might be unanimous … who would you pick for manager of the tournament?

AM: It couldn’t be any one else. Walid Regragui is the manager of the tournament, and has produced one of the greatest coaching performances the World Cup has ever seen.

CB: For their organisation, for defying their depleted and ageing squad, it had to be Croatia boss Zlatko Dalić. Their team-first ethic overcame a talent-laden Brazil, and their third-place finish is surely more than even they could’ve imagined before the tournament began.

DB: Walid Regragui’s ability to make Morocco the most well-drilled team at the tournament was so impressive and a nice reminder that there is more to football than pretty passing triangles.

JSM: Walid Regragui guiding Morocco to the final four and doing so having only been appointed two months before the tournament began is remarkable.

LA: It is unanimous, surely? Morocco were brilliantly drilled in defence and dangerous in attack. A superb team.

PW: Not enough has been made of the fact that Didier Deschamps overcame a ridiculous amount of adversity with injuries and illness and still steered France to within a whisker of retaining their crown.

⚽️ Who scored your favourite goal of the 2022 World Cup?

AM: Speaking purely as a one-eyed England fan, the goal that excited me the most at this tournament wasn’t any scored by the Three Lions but Takuma Asano’s late winner for Japan against Germany.

CB: I loved Richarlison’s scissor-kick against Serbia. Reminded me of the Panini logo!

DB: Kylian Mbappé lashing into the top corner against Poland was a great moment for me. Poor Wojciech Szczęsny had a great tournament but that shot nearly took his head off.

JSM: Wout Weghorst’s 101st-minute equaliser for the Netherlands to take Argentina to extra-time in the quarter-finals was the result of a genius bit of play from free-kick taker Teun Koopmeiners. The audacity to try that with the last kick of the game.

LA: That Vincent Aboubakar scoop against Serbia. Delicious.

PW: Olivier Giroud’s header to eliminate England was fun but Haji Wright’s unique, improvised and, let’s be honest, likely accidental flicked finish against the Netherlands is one that still beggars belief after repeat viewings.

🥳 And who gave us the best celebration?

AM: Roy Keane may have fumed but the best celebration at this tournament came from Brazil coach Tite, who busted out Richarlison’s pigeon samba during their win over South Korea. It was made instantly funnier by getting knocked out in the following game too.

CB: For me it was when Jack Grealish kept his promise to an 11-year-old boy called Finlay with Cerebral Palsy, when he did the dance that the pair had discussed when they had met up months earlier.

DB: The Morocco players bringing their parents onto the pitch to celebrate victories with them was so wholesome. The feelgood story of a not very feelgood World Cup.

JSM: Got a lot of time for the Argentina players and supporter sharing a moment together at the end of every knockout game.

LA: Aboubakar again, happily taking a second yellow card for taking his shirt off after a late winner against Brazil.

PW: Emi Martínez and his interesting use of his Golden Glove trophy during the post-final presentation was rather amusing.

🖼 Did anything stand out to you as instantly iconic?

AM: Sofyan Amrabat’s tackle on Kylian Mbappé in Morocco’s semi-final defeat to France. A single moment that summed up their entire campaign.

CB: Editor — Sunday’s madness means we’re short an answer here as well.

DB: I think we’ll be remembering Messi’s mazy run and assist for Julián Álvarez in the semi-final for a long time to come. Messi mania was in full flow after that game, and rightly so.

JSM: Cristiano Ronaldo heading down the tunnel in tears after his last chance of winning the World Cup faded away will become a video played over and over down the years, won’t it?

LA: Like Moore, Pelé and Maradona before him, the image of Lionel Messi lifted above the crowd with the trophy in his hands will live forever.

PW: Everything about the final. Kylian Mbappé’s hat-trick, Emi Martínez’s last gasp save shootout antics, Lionel Messi’s first kiss of the trophy … it was a decider for the ages.