World Cup 2018: Premier League XI of the tournament
The sporting spectacle that football fans were waiting for with bated breath for months has left us dazed. The FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia exceeded expectations as a mile, as we saw loads of everything to leave fans satisfied. We witnessed numerous upsets with some of the biggest teams and players failing to showcase their talents and we also saw young stars rise to stardom. The action on the pitch was thrilling as we saw records tumble with penalties and own-goals touching figures never seen before. The Video Assistant Referee caused its fair share of controversies, but in the end it was instrumental in enabling the game to carry on smoothly.
One major shock was the success of England and the English Premier League players. The English Premier League has often been criticized for not having the numbers to back in terms of performance, despite being the most popular and marketed league in the sport. The English team made it to the World Cup semi-final for the first time in 28 years, and a large contingent of 40 players from the Premier League represented the four nations that made it to the final four. That's way more than the La Liga, which had only 12 players representing the four teams in the semifinals.
The English national team bowed out of the World Cup with their heads held high and so do quite a few of the players playing in the English Premier League. In this article, we analyze the best playing eleven from the World Cup comprising of only Premier League players-
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
This is possibly the most difficult position to decide in this eleven. English keeper Jordan Pickford became a hero back in his country after his heroics in the penalty shootout and his solid keeping throughout the tournament. The World Cup was lifted by French and Tottenham's skipper Hugo Lloris. However, the Golden Glove was deservingly presented to Belgium shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois.
Courtois was spectacular throughout the tournament and his most exceptional performance came in that historic triumph over Brazil in the quarterfinals. The Chelsea man also kept 3 clean-sheets in the 7 matches. The 26-year old was excellent in the semifinal loss against France as well, and it was sad that he ended up on the losing side.
Courtois departed from Russia with his reputation enhanced even further and his displays along with David de Gea's mistakes mean that he's a strong contender to make the move from England to Real Madrid.