World Cup 2018: 5 most outstanding players from the tournament
The World Cup 2018 in Russia will go down in history as the World Cup with the most surprising match outcomes. Even in the build-up to the World Cup, there were surprising outcomes in the qualifying series.
Italy missed out on their first World Cup in sixty years, ensuring players like Buffon, Chiellini missed the tournament. Holland also missed qualification, ensuring players like Van Persie and Robben miss the tournament.
Alexis Sanchez and Chile also missed out on qualifying to the World Cup in Russia. As if these surprises were not enough, the tournament in Russia has proved to be really surprising and unpredictable as the qualifying series.
Germany was kicked out of the group stage as the defending champions of the tournament. Croatia has been on an incredible run, Russia has shocked the World by eliminating Spain out of the competition.
Brazil has hugely underperformed, failing to meet the expectation as a tournament favourite. On the pitch, some players have announced themselves to the World with impressive performances, while others have exited the scene. Here, we bring you the most outstanding players of the tournament so far.
#5 John Stones
John Stones takes the No. 5 spot on our list. His performances in this tournament have been nothing short of outstanding.
As a ball playing defender, he has been influential in initiating attacks for his team. He has maintained an impressive average passing accuracy of 92% and has provided on average 2.4 interceptions in a match.
Also, he has been involved in 3.2 tackles averagely a match. He has provided on average 2.8 clearances in a match.
His influence has extended to the offensive aspect of his team, providing two goals in the tournament, the highest of any defender in the tournament.
He has won four aerials balls and has proved really effective in keeping his team's defence with as few as six conceded goals.