Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Bukayo Saka headline our World Cup 2022 team of the tournament in Qatar

Updated 19/12/2022 at 15:54 GMT

Grab a hankie, it’s time to look back on a thrilling World Cup. We’ve reminisced on an action-packed month of football to pick our team of the tournament for Qatar 2022. Unsurprisingly, it features three players from newly-crowed world champions Argentina. Surprisingly, it is also features two of Gareth Southgate’s nearly men. So who made our team and did we get the big decisions right?

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The curtain has fallen on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after a tournament packed with drama.

Argentina are the champions for the first time since 1986, Lionel Messi finally has the medal that for so long eluded him, Kylian Mbappe is the first player since 1966 to score a hat-trick in the final, Morocco are the first African team to reach the semi-finals in history and Belgium let everyone down again.

So who makes our team of the tournament? Perhaps surprisingly, two England players feature despite their tournament ending in the quarter-finals to eventual runners-up France, while Argentina have three spots in the XI. Let's take a look at who has made the cut. Imagine if Messi doesn't get in... (he does, don't panic).

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Let's dive in...

GOALKEEPER: EMI MARTINEZ (ARGENTINA)

Emiliano Martínez (Argentina)

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Argentina will be toasting one left foot for generations to come… that of Emi Martinez. In future editions of Latin America dictionaries, under the entry “clutch” there will simply be a picture of Martinez at full-stretch, denying Kolo Muani in the 123rd minute of the 2022 World Cup final.

His penalty antics were incredible – most notably his “go and fetch the ball” mind games with Aurelien Tchouameni – but without one of the greatest saves in football history, none of the rest was possible. In an ideal world, we would be allowed to play two goalkeepers as Croatia’s Dominik Livakovic really shouldn’t miss out. But alas, we can't and he does.

RIGHT-BACK: ACHRAF HAKIMI (MOROCCO)

Achraf Hakimi

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Achraf Hakimi comfortably won the coldest penalty of the World Cup competition as Morocco ousted Spain, his most delicate of panenkas and subsequent penguin dance set to live long in the memory.

Hakimi was brilliant throughout the tournament at right-back, keeping his good friend Mbappe quiet in the semi-finals and marauding forward with menacing glee at every opportunity. He made the most tackles of any player in Qatar and was the standout player in a Moroccan defence that conceded just once – an own goal – in the opening five games as they made history for Africa.

CENTRE-BACK: CRISTIAN ROMERO (ARGENTINA)

Cristian Romero | Argentina | World Cup 2022

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It feels like Nicolas Otamendi has been in his late 30s for at least a decade, so it’s surprising to learn he’s actually only 34. It was his hapless defending that belatedly reminded France they were playing a World Cup final and not Messi’s testimonial, so it’s therefore only right to salute the man who kept the ship afloat alongside him: Cristian Romero.

Romero’s no-nonsense style, flying into crunching tackles and even perfectly happy to land a blow on club team-mate Hugo Lloris, was a key pillar of Argentina’s success. With Messi set to retire from international duty soon, we’re close to seeing the most unlikable team in world football – and it promises to be glorious.

CENTRE-BACK: JOSKO GVARDIOL (CROATIA)

Josko Gvardiol

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He might not get a January move after Messi rinsed him about 17 times in one memorising dribble in the semi-finals, but Josko Gvardiol was still the outstanding young defender in Qatar. Not only did he make Dejan Lovren look presentable on the global stage, but he put in an immense display at the back as Croatia humbled Brazil in the last eight.

If he can find a way to delete the fan footage of Messi’s run from the internet, he may have a future at the very top.

LEFT-BACK: LUKE SHAW (ENGLAND)

Luke Shaw v Ousmane Dembele

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Help, our team needs a left-back! But in truth, there were no outstanding candidates from Qatar. Everyone is queuing up to put Theo Hernandez in their XIs, but they obviously didn’t watch the England quarter-final.

Marcos Acuna is another option, but he wasn’t even trusted to start there by Lionel Scaloni in the World Cup final. Borna Barisic was solid for Croatia, if unspectacular, while Morocco rotated on their left side. So that leaves us looking elsewhere – and where better to look for a sympathy prize than England? Luke Shaw had a pretty decent tournament, effective going forward and in defence. And “pretty decent” is enough to scoop this role in our team…

CENTRAL MIDFIELD: LUKA MODRIC (CROATIA)

Croatian star Luka Modric

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This Croatia side rocked up at the World Cup with a huge Mandzukic-shaped void and still managed to carve a path to the semi-finals, under the flawless instruction of their captain, Luka Modric.

Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic produced arguably the finest collective midfield display of the tournament against Brazil, knocking it around between them, glancing up, realising there was no one to pass it to ahead of them, and continuing to keep it amongst themselves. Modric gets the nod in our team for showing you can still press at 100mph aged 37. We’re not ruling out a 40+ Modric running the show again in 2026.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD: SOFYAN AMRABAT (MOROCCO)

Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)

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It’s a coin flip between Sofyan Amrabat and Azzedine Ounahi. But the more defensive-minded Amrabat just gets the nod, given Morocco’s run to the last four was built on defensive resolve (until they decided to squeeze in as many injured players as possible to play against France).

Amrabat was the perfect shield to the tournament’s best defence, while he also set the tempo for Morocco’s attacks. Our highlight though? His 60-yard sprint to crunch Mbappe in the semi-finals. Magnifique.

CENTRAL MIDFIELD: ANTOINE GRIEZMANN (FRANCE)

Antoine Griezmann of France gestures during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 semi final match between France and Morocco at Al Bayt Stadium on December 14, 2022 in Al Khor, Qatar

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He may have played a starring role in France’s disasterclass early on Sunday, and was hooked long before the final got exciting, but Antoine Griezmann was his nation’s player of the tournament (sorry Kylian) until the semi-finals.

In his new role in midfield, he magnificently stitched the play together – one moment making an uncharacteristic recovery tackle, the next creating a golden chance for a team-mate. His cross to Olivier Giroud in the quarter-finals will be in our nightmares for years to come.

RIGHT WING: BUKAYO SAKA (ENGLAND)

Bukayo Saka of England celebrates after scoring the team's third goal during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Round of 16 match between England and Senegal at Al Bayt Stadium on December 04, 2022 in Al Khor, Qatar.

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The reason Hernandez is nowhere near our XI. Bukayo Saka was electric throughout the tournament, from his opening brace against Iran through to the 79th minute against France when he was inexplicably taken off for Raheem Sterling.

Such a capable player and immensely likable too, especially when stitching up his team-mates with spelling tests. If England are going to win Euro 2024, as it now seems they have to do to avoid a tabloid meltdown, then Saka is going to play a key role.

LEFT WING: KYLIAN MBAPPE (FRANCE)

Kylian Mbappe walks past the World Cup trophy after France lost in the 2022 final to Argentina in Qatar

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It’s basically been forgotten that from kick-off against England in the quarter-finals to the 80th minute against Argentina in the final, Kylian Mbappe was pretty anonymous.

But you can't keep greatness quiet forever. After lashing home his first penalty, he managed to contort his body to meet a looping ball majestically and find the bottom corner just minutes later. Then to step up and dispatch another penalty, won by his good self, against the same goalkeeper Harry Kane had completely crumbled against – and then do it again in the shoot-out – was incredible.

Mbappe is still a moments player, partly because he is restricted to one side of the pitch, but at 23, he is on course to rival Pele as the greatest World Cup player in history. We suspect Miroslav Klose will be scrubbed from the record books in 2026.