QFs best XI

RobinLFC

On thin ice.
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How would you line up? I think my team would look like this:

Courtois
Hakimi Upamecano Saliba Cucurella
Rodri Rice
Bellingham
Messi Kane Mbappe
​
GK: no one left in the tournament comes close to Courtois imo, honourable mention for Bounou.
DEF: feels like you have to stick with the France CB pairing, perhaps someone like Cubarsi has a shout to be in. RB is a lock imo, feels like De Cuyper would be good for LB as well, potentially O'Reilly too, but went with Cucurella, have to have a Spanish player in defense given they've not conceded a goal yet.
MID: perhaps harsh on Pedri and definitely harsh on Olise not to include them, maybe a Rodri-Pedri pivot in the center of the field would make more sense than Rice who has looked tired at times.
ATT: impossible to only include three so Haaland the big omission here, but the other three have done as much for their country this tournament as he has.
 
Hammondo said:
Rice over Tchouaméni and Pedri?
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Spain hasn't impressed me so picking both their midfielders felt like overkill. But yeah, like I said it's perhaps harsh on Pedri.

If I were to choose anyone from the French midfield it would be Rabiot instead of Tchouaméni, not a big fan and has perhaps even lost his place to Koné. Only 3 out of 5 starts and didn't feature against Paraguay (although that was injury related).
 
Nyland
Ryerson - Ajer - Heggem - Mölller Wolfe
Berg - Berge - Ødegaard
Sørloth - Haaland - Nusa
 
Mazraoui has been better than Cucurella this WC, Rice hasn't been great either while Tchouameni has been very good. I think it should be Haaland > Kane too considering he's scored more for a team who is lower ranked than England
 
RobinLFC said:
Spain hasn't impressed me so picking both their midfielders felt like overkill. But yeah, like I said it's perhaps harsh on Pedri.

If I were to choose anyone from the French midfield it would be Rabiot instead of Tchouaméni, not a big fan and has perhaps even lost his place to Koné. Only 3 out of 5 starts and didn't feature against Paraguay (although that was injury related).
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Though Spain's midfield has carried them in a way.
 
RobinLFC said:
ATT: impossible to only include three so Haaland the big omission here, but the other three have done as much for their country this tournament as he has.
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In time gone by you'd put Messi where Bellingham is. Since he can't do that role anymore, at that level, I'd put Haaland in over him up front. Kane plays all over the pitch, often very deep, so feels like Haaland can play up top with Mbappe.
 
I haven't watched many games at all, but wondering if Spain deserves more than one defender in there, considering they haven't conceded a goal yet.
 
neverdie said:
In time gone by you'd put Messi where Bellingham is. Since he can't do that role anymore, at that level, I'd put Haaland in over him up front. Kane plays all over the pitch, often very deep, so feels like Haaland can play up top with Mbappe.
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Id put haaland over Kain tbh, even though Kane has been very good.
 
RobinLFC said:
How would you line up? I think my team would look like this:

Courtois
Hakimi Upamecano Saliba Cucurella
Rodri Rice
Bellingham
Messi Kane Mbappe
​
GK: no one left in the tournament comes close to Courtois imo, honourable mention for Bounou.
DEF: feels like you have to stick with the France CB pairing, perhaps someone like Cubarsi has a shout to be in. RB is a lock imo, feels like De Cuyper would be good for LB as well, potentially O'Reilly too, but went with Cucurella, have to have a Spanish player in defense given they've not conceded a goal yet.
MID: perhaps harsh on Pedri and definitely harsh on Olise not to include them, maybe a Rodri-Pedri pivot in the center of the field would make more sense than Rice who has looked tired at times.
ATT: impossible to only include three so Haaland the big omission here, but the other three have done as much for their country this tournament as he has.
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There’s no way Norway would be in the QF without Haaland. I think France probably would without Mbappe. I also think he’s been better than Kane overall.
 
Hammondo said:
Oh you are not just using world cup games? That wasn't clear.
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meh, even based on WC games, there's a good argument for Kane. But I can see others leaving him out. I think he's been good at this WC. That goal he scored, outside of box, was phenomenal.
 
neverdie said:
meh, even based on WC games, there's a good argument for Kane. But I can see others leaving him out. I think he's been good at this WC. That goal he scored, outside of box, was phenomenal.
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He has, it's just haaland has done better in a tougher situation.
 
Hammondo said:
He has, it's just haaland has done better in a tougher situation.
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Yeah I see that argument and wouldn't be offended if one went with Haaland instead who is phenomenal for his national team.
 
Massive Spanner said:
There’s no way Norway would be in the QF without Haaland. I think France probably would without Mbappe. I also think he’s been better than Kane overall.
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It would've been Mexico vs DRC if we're playing that game though... And Kane does much more in the overall England play than Haaland does for Norway. But yeah I get that it's almost impossible to exclude him, just that the same goes for the other three forwards imo. I considered putting Messi at #10 but you can't do that anymore given the way he approaches games these days.
Mike Smalling said:
I haven't watched many games at all, but wondering if Spain deserves more than one defender in there, considering they haven't conceded a goal yet.
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Their midfield usually has 99% possession without doing much so that takes a LOT of pressure off of their defense imo. Can't help but feel someone like Cubarsi would be absolutely bullied by Haaland and ran past by Mbappe. They also haven't played a capable attack imo, they even played a team without a striker last round.
 
Simón
Hakimi - Van Dijk - Schlotterbeck - Cucurella
Kimmich - Tchouameni
Bellingham
Messi - Haaland - Mbappe​
 
RobinLFC said:
It would've been Mexico vs DRC if we're playing that game though... And Kane does much more in the overall England play than Haaland does for Norway. But yeah I get that it's almost impossible to exclude him, just that the same goes for the other three forwards imo. I considered putting Messi at #10 but you can't do that anymore given the way he approaches games these days.

Their midfield usually has 99% possession without doing much so that takes a LOT of pressure off of their defense imo. Can't help but feel someone like Cubarsi would be absolutely bullied by Haaland and ran past by Mbappe. They also haven't played a capable attack imo, they even played a team without a striker last round.
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I think Rodri has done a fantastic job at shielding the defence also.
 
3-2-3-2

Courtois

Saliba
Upamecano
Cubarsi

Bellingham
Rodri

Dembele
Olise
Hakimi

Mbappe
Haaland

Get Messi on with 30 minutes to go, and rotate Kane with Olise or Haaland.
 
Based on the teams that are left and performances to date.

Bonnou
Hakimi Upamecano Saliba Cucurella
Rodri Bellingham
Messi
Olise Haaland Mbappe​
 
Front 4 of:

RW - Olise
10 - Kane
9 - Haaland
LW - Mbappe
 
Can't see how Kane warrants a starting spot at this point in the tournament. Mbappe, Messi, Olise, and (most likely) Bellingham are a must, and Haaland's form has certainly been no worse.

Spain's midfield has comfortably been the best in the competition again, but I don't think Pedri specifically has looked particularly good at all.
 
Querulous Megapode said:
Can't see how Kane warrants a starting spot at this point in the tournament. Mbappe, Messi, Olise, and (most likely) Bellingham are a must, and Haaland's form has certainly been no worse.

Spain's midfield has comfortably been the best in the competition again, but I don't think Pedri specifically has looked particularly good at all.
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England would be at home without Kane, France would be in the exact same spot without Olise, so that's why for me. Olise also hasn't played as a winger so far if I'm not mistaken, with Dembélé, Doué and Barcola in the picture. So he has to be considered for the CAM position where I'd much rather have Bellingham. I guess you could have a midfield three of Rodri, Bellingham and Olise but then you're disregarding the fact that England has two holding midfielders behind Bellingham this tournament.
 
Can’t really pick any other GK than the Spanish one when he hasn’t conceded a goal.

Simon

Hakimi
Saliba
Guehi
Cucurella

Tchouameni
Bellingham
Pedri

Messi
Haaland
Olise
 
Scotty Doesn't Know said:
Olise has to be in there. He makes the World XI, never mind the QF XI.
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That's irrelevant. If you want him in, you'd need to answer the question "has he been better or more influential to his team than Bellingham so far this tournament", given that they are both playing in the same position. Fair enough if you think he has, of course, he has a great shout, but it's not a "he HAS to be in there" case for me.
 
RobinLFC said:
That's irrelevant. If you want him in, you'd need to answer the question "has he been better or more influential to his team than Bellingham so far this tournament", given that they are both playing in the same position. Fair enough if you think he has, of course, he has a great shout, but it's not a "he HAS to be in there" case for me.
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The answer to the question is Yes. As impressive as Bellingham was vs Mexico (one of the performances of the tournament so far), Olise has been consistently good in every match, whereas Bellingham was quiet vs Ghana and DR Congo.
 
Oranges038 said:
Based on the teams that are left and performances to date.

Bonnou
Hakimi Upamecano Saliba Cucurella
Rodri Bellingham
Messi
Olise Haaland Mbappe​
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Good team that. Although some players out of position, which can’t be helped, I guess.
 
Scotty Doesn't Know said:
The answer to the question is Yes. As impressive as Bellingham was vs Mexico (one of the performances of the tournament so far), Olise has been consistently good in every match, whereas Bellingham was quiet vs Ghana and DR Congo.
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He was quite average against Paraguay, the only game France struggled in as a collective. They still steamroll every opposition team without him imo. Maybe I'm punishing him because his team is so good all around and Bellingham's isn't, but I stick with the latter.
 
Scotty Doesn't Know said:
The answer to the question is Yes. As impressive as Bellingham was vs Mexico (one of the performances of the tournament so far), Olise has been consistently good in every match, whereas Bellingham was quiet vs Ghana and DR Congo.
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Olise wasn't good against Norway and Paraguay.
 
Not sure if this is just looking at matches at the world cup, like a kind of team of the tournament, or if it is just 'the best team' from the quarter finals. But either way, Upamecano isn't in it.
 
Team (and soundtrack) of the world cup:

Bono - Beautiful day

Hakimi - Creep
Saliba - Spit in my face
Romero - Walk like an Egyptian
Cucurella - Umbrella

Rodri - Faded
Olisé - Smooth operator
Bellingham - Hey Jude

Mbappé - Mmmbop
Messi - As it was
Haaland - Machine
 
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