Vini Jr decisive, Muslera disastrous and Haaland terrifying: the best and worst of the group stage
ge assembled the best and worst XIs of the 2026 World Cup group stage. Vini Jr, Messi and Haaland lead the attack; Muslera and Valverde make the blacklist.
The 2026 World Cup group stage is behind us — and it left unlikely heroes, massive disappointments and star players living up to the hype. ge assembled the best and worst XIs of the tournament so far, and the list says a great deal about what lies ahead in the knockout rounds.
In goal for the best XI, Mexico's Raul Rangel was a wall: he kept a clean sheet in all three matches and made a decisive save against South Korea. In defence, the standout comes from the most unexpected place — Diney, from Cape Verde, was so impressive against Spain that he made ge's team of the round, then repeated the feat against Saudi Arabia to help send the Cape Verdeans through.
In midfield, Frenkie de Jong was the engine of the Netherlands, while Gustavo Puerta earned his way into Colombia's starting line-up ahead of Richard Ríos — on merit. But it is in attack that the World Cup has truly shown its face: Messi became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history during the group stage, netting six goals in three games. Mbappé was lethal against Senegal, repeated the trick against Iraq and still performed well against Norway. Haaland scored four times in his first two matches. And Vini Jr was involved in five of Brazil's seven goals in the competition, according to ge — utterly decisive in every single game.
On the other side, the worst XI is a painful read. Muslera, at his fifth World Cup, made glaring errors against Cape Verde and Spain and became the face of Uruguay's elimination — one of the tournament's biggest disappointments. Valverde, far below the level he shows at Real Madrid, and McTominay, anonymous with Scotland, complete a nightmare midfield. Robertson was so poor that Scotland actually improved whenever he was off the pitch.
Golmetria's model gives Argentina a 20.9% chance of lifting the trophy — the highest of any side still in the competition. Brazil stand at 5.44%. The knockout stage kicks off this Sunday, and the group phase has already made one thing crystal clear: whoever fails to fix their problems now will be heading home sooner than they think.