FIFA have only selected one England player in their World Cup team of the tournament.
After six weeks of action in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, in which Spain ended up adding a second star to their crest after beating Argentina at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, the football governing body has announced their ‘Dream XI’.
The team of the tournament is selected based on votes from the fans, and only Jude Bellingham managed to sneak into the side from the Three Lions squad.
The 23-year-old midfielder netted seven goals, the most-ever by an England player in a single World Cup, as the Three Lions secured their best placing at the tournament since the triumph in 1966 by beating France 6-4 in the third-place play-off.
The majority of the team was completed by the fellow semi-finalists as three spots in the team were filled by Spain players, with three more from France, and two from the former champions Argentina.
Bellingham is joined by Rodri, who lifted the World Cup trophy aloft as Spain captain, and Michael Olise.
Jude Bellingham was the only England player voted to be in the World Cup ‘Dream XI’
40-year-old Vozinha was selected in goal after earning cult hero status for his role in Cape Verde’s run to the round of 32
The Spanish midfielder was back to his best at this tournament, and his performances in the spine of the champions’ side earned him the Golden Ball. Meanwhile, Olise secured the record for the most assists at a single World Cup with seven.
In front of them, the new all-time World Cup record goalscorer Kylian Mbappe, who won the Golden Boot, occupies the right wing, while the man he overtook in his final game of the tournament, Lionel Messi, is on the left.
Messi was the first to break the scoring record, netting five goals in his first two games of the tournament to surpass Miroslav Klose’s previous record of 16 goals.
However, the goals dried up after the round of 16 stage, and he has likely finished his World Cup career with an astonishing 20 goals.
In between them is Norway’s Erling Haaland, who spearheaded his country to a first-ever quarter-final by scoring seven goals in his first appearance at the competition.
The back four contained Spanish full-backs Marc Cucurella and Pedro Porro, while France’s Dayot Upamecano and Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez were selected in the heart of defence.
And at the base of the team, in between the sticks, was none other than Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha.
The 40-year-old was one of the heroes of his country’s remarkable run to the last-32 stage before they were beaten 3-2 by Argentina after extra-time.
As well as keeping a clean sheet against Spain and Saudi Arabia, Vozinha made 18 saves across the tournament and outperformed his xG against by 0.9.
The shot-stopper also hit the headlines for gaining an outrageous amount of Instagram followers throughout the World Cup.
At the start of Cape Verde’s World Cup opener with Spain, he only had 50,000 followers on Instagram. But after making a memorable seven saves, that number dramatically increased, with Vozinha now having 29.5million followers.
