After six weeks of blood, sweat and tears (from both players and fans), the curtain has fallen on the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Find out who made our team of the tournament.
Expanded from 32 to 48 teams, the 2026 FIFA World Cup was the longest in history, giving individual players a greater opportunity than ever before to leave their mark.
Across 104 matches, there were 308 goals. There were also 15 red cards, one of which played a crucial role in deciding the final. In the end, it was the Opta supercomputer’s pre-tournament favourites, Spain, who emerged victorious in front of 80,000 fans at New York New Jersey Stadium.
We analysed the performances of every player to take to the field in North America and have selected Opta Analyst‘s team of the tournament, highlighting 11 players who stood out according to our data.
Goalkeeper
Gregor Kobel (Switzerland)
Several goalkeepers excelled during the 2026 World Cup. Spain’s Unai Simón won the Golden Glove award after conceding just once, though such was the defensive solidity of the new world champions, he only had to make 10 saves in the whole tournament.
In our eyes, Switzerland’s Pau Cubarsí burst onto the international scene in style in North America as he was named Young Player of the Tournament.
After narrowly missing out on a place in Spain’s squad for the 2024 UEFA European Championship, he played every minute for La Roja in 2026 and was a key figure in their near-impenetrable defence.
Cubarsí formed an excellent partnership with Aymeric Laporte as Spain kept a record seven clean sheets at the World Cup. He was particularly important in limiting a star-studded French attack to just 0.31 expected goals (xG) in their semi-final, the lowest of any nation in a men’s World Cup semi since 1994.
The 19-year-old not only added value to his team defensively, but he was also excellent on the ball. No defender attempted more passes than Cubarsí (699), and 671 of these passes were successful, again, the most of any defender.
Cubarsí also created eight chances; quite impressive for a centre-back.
Centre-Back
Lisandro Martínez (Argentina)
Rodri injured his ACL against Arsenal in September 2024, people wondered whether he would ever get back to his best. Two years later, he led Spain to World Cup glory, and winning the Player of the Tournament award.
The midfielder was back to his controlling best this tournament. After the conclusion of the semi-finals, he had completed 655 passes at the World Cup, already the most by an individual player at a single edition since 1966.
He ended the tournament with a whopping 811 passes, truly acting as Spain’s metronome.
What makes this even more impressive is how incisive many of these passes were. Rodri completed 122 line-breaking passes in total during the World Cup, 76 of which came in the final third, the most of any player in both respects.
Rodri was also an excellent dueller in North America. He won 49 duels, the fourth-most of any player at the tournament, and 11 of these came in the semi-final win against France, where he won almost twice as many duels as any other player.
The 30-year-old must be one of the most understated, yet successful players of all time.
Central Midfielder
Jude Bellingham (England)
After a slightly tough season at Real Madrid, Lionel Messi cemented his status as the greatest footballer of all time during the 2026 World Cup. Now 39 years old, the Argentine maestro was arguably the standout attacker at the tournament.
Messi started the campaign in style, becoming the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick when he netted all three of Argentina’s goals against Algeria. Next time out, he became the all-time top goalscorer in World Cup history, leapfrogging Miroslav Klose, despite missing a penalty against Austria.
When his side looked dead and buried in the round of 16 against Egypt, it was Messi who turned the game around. He delivered an inch-perfect cross onto Cristian Romero’s head, before levelling the scores four minutes later.
Argentina looked in an even more impossible position in the semi-finals against England, but the little magician once again came to the fore. Messi assisted both of La Albiceleste’s late goals as he repeatedly delivered inch-perfect crosses from the right flank.
He ended the tournament with eight goals, behind only Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappé, while he also created the most chances at the tournament (25), at least seven more than any other player.
Messi is now the second-highest goalscorer (21) and top assist maker (12) in World Cup history. Superhuman stuff.
Left Winger
Kylian Mbappé (France)
Mr. World Cup, also known as
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