To exit the World Cup at the round of 16 is stark consolation for a team that progressed to the knockout stages of the competition. There are those who didn’t deserve to leave Russia so early, but such is the way of tournament football, one team had to lose, be it in normal time, after extra time or, cruelly, via the medium of penalties.
Here, WhoScored.com run through a best-rated XI of those to be knocked out at the last-16 stage of Russia 2018…
Kasper Schmeichel - Denmark
A man of the match showing from Kasper Schmeichel wasn’t enough to see Denmark past Croatia and into the quarter-finals. The game started at a million miles per hour, but quickly slowed and eventually meant penalties would be the deciding factor. It go so far because of Schmeichel, who saved a Luka Modric spot kick at the death of extra time and saved two more penalties in the shootout. He made seven saves in total to earn a WhoScored.com rating of 8.47, but it wasn’t enough for Denmark to set up a quarter-final meeting with Russia.
Henrik Dalsgaard - Denmark
Another Dane to make the cut is Brentford right-back Henrik Dalsgaard, who earned a WhoScored.com rating of 7.32 against Croatia. The 28-year-old didn’t pull up any trees with his performance, yet was solid at the back as he made two tackles, one interception and seven clearances. He pressed forward well too, chipping in with one key pass and one successful dribble, but it just wasn’t to be for Dalsgaard and the Danish Dynamite.
Yerry Mina - Colombia
England were seconds away from a 1-0 win over Colombia, only for Yerry Mina to crop up with a later header to force the game to extra time and then penalties. While the South American side eventually crashed out, Mina impressed on the international stage. He is one of only three players to score in three different World Cup matches so far, with the defender maximising his height to head in goals against Poland, Senegal and England. The 23-year-old made 10 clearances and returned a pass success rate of 91.4% to gain a WhoScored.com rating of 8.32 as Colombia crashed out on Tuesday night.
Sergio Ramos - Spain
La Liga defensive counterpart Sergio Ramos partners Mina at the heart of the defence having earned a WhoScored.com rating of 7.56 in Spain’s eventual penalty shootout defeat to Russia. The centre-back made more accurate passes (174) than any other player in a World Cup match, with that figure alone just 18 fewer than the entire Russia team managed as a whole in the encounter. Ramos scored his penalty in the shootout and made three tackles and four clearances to contribute towards a WhoScored.com rating of 7.56.
Most accurate passes in a 2018 #WorldCup match
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 2, 2018
🥇S. Ramos -- 174 vs Russia #ESP
🥈Koke -- 149 vs Russia #ESP
🥉Jordi Alba -- 138 vs Russia #ESPhttps://t.co/BINmTwPN2C pic.twitter.com/E57xQnsFZ8
Raphael Guerreiro - Portugal
Rounding off the defence is Portugal left-back Raphael Guerreiro with a WhoScored.com rating of 8.15. He provided the assist for Pepe’s header, that coming from one of his four key passes in the 2-1 defeat to Uruguay, and completed two dribbles in the loss. He was defensively solid, too, as he made one tackle and three interceptions as Portugal exited the competition at the last-16 stage. A Selecao may have flattered to deceive in their bid to hold both the European Championship and World Cup at the same time, but Guerreiro was impressive in their quest to ease past Uruguay.
Genki Haraguchi - Japan
Japan came close to a World Cup upset, but an inspired Belgium comeback saw the Samurai Blue crash out of the competition after a 3-2 loss to the Red Devils. Genki Haraguchi put Japan ahead against the run of play in Monday’s defeat and made an additional one key pass and one successful dribble to help return a WhoScored.com rating of 7.77. While it wasn’t to be for Japan, Haraguchi, with two tackles and one interception, impressed against Belgium having already exceeded expectations by securing a knockout spot from Group H.
Thomas Delaney - Denmark
The third Dane to make the cut, Thomas Delaney provided the assist for Zanka’s opener in the 1-1 draw with Croatia and was a busy performer during his 98 minutes on the pitch in the eventual penalty shootout defeat, making four tackles and registering one assist. His assist came from the sole key pass he played, while two successful dribbles helped earn a WhoScored.com rating of 7.79 to secure his spot in the midfield.
Koke - Spain
Partnering Delaney in the middle of the park is Spain midfielder Koke. The 26-year-old came in for criticism at the World Cup, yet he kept things ticking over against Russia as he made 149 accurate passes and created four goalscoring chances, more than any other player in Russia’s shootout win over Spain. He made four additional tackles in the last-16 encounter to gain a WhoScored.com rating of 7.29.
Isco - Spain
Isco completed more dribbles (9) than any other player in the last-16, but he lacked the cutting edge to really pry apart the staunch Russia defence. Indeed, he managed just two key passes across 120 minutes, yet to his credit, was fouled nine times, with the hosts identifying the Real Madrid man as Spain’s creator in chief and they minimised his impact impressively. Nevertheless, with nine accurate long balls and one tackle, Isco did enough to secure a WhoScored.com rating of 8.50.
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Juan Cuadrado - Colombia
Juan Cuadrado started alongside Radamel Falcao in a 4-3-1-2 formation for Colombia against England and while they changed shape once Carlos Bacca came on, the Juventus man was tasked with pegging the Three Lions defence back and utilising his speed to break down the right. He provided the assist for Yerry Mina’s goal, that coming from one of his four key passes, while the speedster chipped in with three successful dribbles. All in all, Cuadrado’s performance returned a WhoScored.com rating of 8.05.
Lionel Messi - Argentina
Completing the XI is Argentina forward and captain Lionel Messi. The Barcelona star may not have been at his best, in part due to Jorge Sampaoli’s tactical ineptitude at this level, but he gave Argentina a fighting chance having provided assists for two of the three goals they scored in the entertaining 4-3 loss to France, those coming from his three key passes. Messi also completed three dribbles and was fouled five times as he earned a respectable WhoScored.com rating of 7.91 in the last-16 loss.
