Football fans around the world can enjoy the World Cup between November 20 and December 18. On the global stage, the players of the 32 participating countries can put themselves in the spotlight and Voetbalzone looks at each round using statistics and facts from Opta who does it best. These are the eleven players who are in the Team of the Round with their country after the second match.
A Dutch election for the Team of the Round is not possible after the disappointing 1-1 against Ecuador, but the Moroccan team does provide a delegation. Hakim Ziyech was already popular with the fans of the Lions of the Atlas, but made himself immortal with an assist, a disallowed goal and very dominant play. If the Chelsea stylist’s goal had counted, it would have been the first player to score from a direct free kick this World Cup. Moments later, that honor was reserved for Abdelhamid Sabiri, Ziyech’s teammate.
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Jordi Alba has been awarded a spot in the Team of the Round at the World Cup for the second consecutive time. The Spanish left back already provided an assist during the 7-0 win against Costa Rica and also prepared Alvaro Morata’s goal against Germany (1-1) with a flawless low cross from the left. In his first seven games at a World Cup, Alba failed to deliver an assist, but in Qatar the Barcelona defender has already succeeded twice.
Ivan Perisic’s stats over the past few years look a lot better. With two assists against Canada, he has 16 goals involved (nine goals and seven assists) in European Championships and World Cups, placing him well at the top of Croatia’s MVP rankings. In addition, Perisic became the third oldest player to prepare two goals from a teammate in a World Cup match. Aging has no hold on Tottenham Hotspur’s left leg, just like Lionel Messi doesn’t care. He scored against Mexico for the sixth consecutive international match for Argentina and he only succeeded once before.
The Team of the Round: Wojciech Szczesny (Poland); Harry Souttar (Australia), Lisandro Martínez (Argentina), Jordi Alba (Spain); Mohammed Kudus (Ghana), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Ivan Perisic (Croatia); Hakim Ziyech (Morocco), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Kylian Mbappé (France).
