Six weeks, 104 matches, 32 knockout ties and one third-place playoff in the books. With Netherlands taking bronze in Miami on Saturday and England and Spain meeting for the trophy on Sunday, the tournament's statistical picture is close to complete — the final can move a few names, but not many. Here is the Scorelisto Team of the Tournament, position by position, plus the players who came close and the ones whose stock still moves on the final whistle at MetLife.
Goalkeeper: Jordan Pickford (England)
A tournament that will be remembered as goalkeeping's quiet renaissance — Bijlow, Unai Simón, Nyland and Diogo Costa all had big weeks — but the pick is Pickford. Six starts, four clean sheets, one saved penalty in the shootout that never actually decided a knockout because England won them all in 90 minutes anyway. The Everton man's distribution has become an underrated part of Tuchel's build-up; the England shape starts with him. Push comes to shove, no keeper in the field has had a bigger single-match impact than his semifinal save from a Xavi Simons free kick that would have made it 2-2 in the 89th minute.
Close: Diogo Costa (Portugal) for a run of stops in the round of 16; Bijlow (Netherlands) for his one-match cameo Saturday.
Right-back: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
Morocco went out in the round of 16 to Spain and Hakimi still makes this team. Two assists, one goal, and a tournament-leading 34 progressive carries per 90 from full-back. The PSG man remains the best attacking full-back of the modern era, and the numbers say the gap over the next Right-Back on the list widened rather than narrowed in the last twelve months.
Close: Dani Carvajal (Spain), whose game management from right-back at 34 has been the tournament's quiet story.
Centre-back: Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)
Playing his last World Cup, Van Dijk led a Dutch back-line that gave up five goals across seven matches and looked, until the semifinal, like the tournament's most solid defensive unit. Six aerial duels per 90 won at an 82% clip; more clearances than any player at the tournament; and, on Saturday, a lap of the Hard Rock Stadium pitch with the bronze medal round his neck. A perfect send-off for a player who probably deserved a better ending than a Foden 88th-minute strike.
Centre-back: William Saliba (England)
The reason England have conceded four goals in seven matches. Saliba turned 25 in March and is now, on any honest reading, the best centre-back on the planet — three tackles per 90, 92% passing accuracy under pressure, and the kind of one-versus-one recovery pace that lets Tuchel play a genuinely high line without Bellingham having to sprint back to help. If England win Sunday, Saliba is on the shortlist for the Golden Ball.
Close CB: Aymeric Laporte (Spain) for his composure in build-up; Waldemar Anton (Germany) for a group-stage that felt unbeatable before Germany went out.
Left-back: Nuno Mendes (Portugal)
Portugal exited in the round of 16 to Belgium, but Nuno Mendes was the tournament's most consistent attacking left-back. Four assists in four matches, 91% of his crosses reaching a teammate, and the reason Portugal's left half of the pitch always looked like it had one extra player. The pick over Luke Shaw is close and probably reverses if England win on Sunday.
Defensive midfielder: Rodri (Spain)
As certain as anything on this list. Rodri has played every minute of Spain's seven matches, is the tournament's leader in pass completion under pressure, and has drifted from a pure six into a hybrid role that lets Fabián Ruiz push higher. Spain's midfield control is the reason they are in the final, and Rodri is the reason Spain have midfield control. A second consecutive Ballon d'Or feels closer than it did a month ago.
Central midfielder: Jude Bellingham (England)
Three goals, four assists, and the semifinal winner that put England into the final. Bellingham has played a hybrid ten-role under Tuchel — dropping deep to receive, pushing high when Rice covers behind him — and has been the most influential player on any English team at a men's World Cup since 1990. The Real Madrid midfielder turns 23 next month. This is his peak; it might also be his baseline.
Central midfielder: Pedri (Spain)
The purest passer at the tournament and the reason Spain's build-up looks the way it does. Ninety-four per cent passing accuracy, five assists, and a stretch in the Norway semifinal where he completed 78 consecutive passes without a turnover. Barcelona's midfield metronome has spent a decade being called the future of Spanish football; he is, more or less openly, the present of it now.
Close CM: Declan Rice (England); Fabián Ruiz (Spain); Warren Zaïre-Emery (France) for the group stage before injury.
Right wing: Lamine Yamal (Spain)
Eighteen years old. Five goals. Six assists. The tournament's most consistent one-versus-one dribbler, the most creative player from open play, and the individual most likely to hit a moment on Sunday that swings the final. If Spain win, Yamal wins the Golden Ball; if Spain lose, he might still. The generational-talent question has an answer now, and it is: yes.
Striker: Erling Haaland (Norway)
Five goals, three assists, and — in Norway's run from a Group I second-place finish to a fourth-place trophy presentation — the reason Norway have a semifinal appearance to their name at all. Haaland scored in the round of 32, the round of 16, the quarter-final, the semifinal, and again on Saturday. The Manchester City striker is one goal shy of the Golden Boot going into a final he is not playing in; his fate on that trophy depends on what Kane and Yamal do at MetLife tomorrow.
Left wing: Cody Gakpo (Netherlands)
Six goals across the tournament, scoring in five straight knockout matches, and Saturday's early opener in Miami. Gakpo has spent this World Cup being told by every English broadcast crew that his Liverpool form does not translate to international football, and answered with the most productive left-wing tournament run since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018. He probably ends the tournament as its most efficient goal producer per shot on target.
Close Wingers: Phil Foden (England), Antonio Nusa (Norway), Bukayo Saka (England).
How the final can change this XI
Sunday matters. A Yamal masterclass locks him in as the Player of the Tournament; a Kane hat-trick pushes Harry Kane into the striker slot ahead of Haaland; a clean sheet by England confirms Saliba and Pickford; a Spain win might pull Fabián Ruiz onto the midfield three at Bellingham's expense. The XI above is our best read as of the third-place playoff. Ask again after MetLife.
Honourable mentions
- Kylian Mbappé (France): Four goals in five matches before France fell to Spain in the quarters. Still France's standard.
- Harry Kane (England): Three goals and Tuchel's reference point up top. A big final vaults him into the XI.
- Álvaro Morata (Spain): Two knockout goals including the semifinal winner. Spain's off-the-bench matchwinner.
- Vitinha (Portugal): The tournament's most under-appreciated deep-lying playmaker.
- Weston McKennie (USA): Best American at a home World Cup that finished in the round of 32.
- Achraf Dari (Morocco): A tournament-defining performance in Morocco's round-of-16 loss to Spain.
The three trophies still to be handed out
The Golden Ball (best player) is the biggest individual prize and, on current form, a three-way race between Yamal, Bellingham and Rodri. The Golden Boot (top scorer) is Yamal, Kane and Haaland at five, with the final still to come. The Golden Glove (best goalkeeper) will most likely go to whichever of Unai Simón or Pickford is on the winning side. All three are presented on the pitch at MetLife immediately after the trophy lift.
FAQ
How is the official Team of the Tournament decided? FIFA runs a Technical Study Group that publishes an official XI in the week after the final. Ours is an editorial pick — informed by data, but a call, not a vote.
Why no Kylian Mbappé? France went out in the quarter-finals and Mbappé, though excellent, played one fewer knockout match than every other name in the front three. Close call.
What formation is this XI? A 4-3-3, which is roughly the modal shape of the eight teams that made the quarter-finals.
When is the World Cup 2026 final? Sunday July 19, 3 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium. England play Spain. Live scores on our soccer page and full match coverage on the blog.
How could Sunday change the XI? Kane or a Foden man-of-the-match performance moves an England forward into the front three; a Yamal-led Spain win probably locks the current lineup exactly as it stands.