Well, that was fun. Apart from almost the entire final. Hayden Meikle reflects on the World Cup and offers some rewards and ratings. Overall World Cup rating: Has to be an A. Put aside the lingering nausea over some of the less enjoyable aspects of the event (see below), and think about the football we just witnessed over the past five weeks. And it was wonderful. Lots of goals — nearly three per game, in fact — and plenty of fearless, free-flowing action. Colour and excitement, drama and despair, something to relish every day. Magnificent kick-off times for New Zealand fans, too. Another mega upset or two might have been nice, and the jury is out on the expansion to 48 teams, but this has to be considered almost as good a World Cup as any in 96 years. Final rating: F. Yes, an F. A seriously dreadful finish to a cracking tournament. Spain were clearly the better team, and would have been flat-out robbed had the game gone to penalties and they lost. But Argentina were oddly limp. It is technically possible to have a 0-0 thriller after 90 minutes but this was not one of them. All Whites rating: Generously, a C-plus. They did perhaps as well as could be expected. Grabbed a draw, played some nice football, unearthed a future star. But again failed to make it to the knockout rounds, and the collapse against Belgium was deflating. Player of the tournament: Kylian Mbappe. While the French superstar is perhaps not the obvious choice for some, given his team did not even make the final, he could hardly have done much more. Scored 10 goals, contributed four assists, always looked capable of magic. Honourable mentions: Rodri, the winner of the Golden Ball for official player of the tournament, was utterly immense for a Spanish team that did not know how to concede a goal. Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele had some wonderful moments for France. Pedro Porro was a surprise Spanish star at fullback, and Lionel Messi was Lionel Messi. Jude Bellingham did everything he could to bring it home for England. Distinguished flops: Neymar made just two appearances off the bench for Brazil, tootling around for 38 pointless minutes. Old stager Cristiano Ronaldo became the first to score at six World Cups but basically walked around for Portugal. The whole German team flattered to deceive. Christian Pulisic underwhelmed for the host nation. REUTERSEngland players Harry Kane (left) and Marc Guehi celebrate after their dramatic win over Mexico at the Azteca. Photo: Reuters Games of the tournament: Paraguay knocking out Germany was gripping. England v Mexico at the Azteca sent chills down the spine. Belgium’s comeback against Senegal, and Argentina’s comeback against Egypt, were top-class thrillers. And the goal-fest between England and France in the third-fourth playoff was highly entertaining. But the winner has to be the epic round of 32 game between Argentina and Cape Verde, when the plucky Africans nearly pulled off the biggest upset in World Cup history. Goals of the tournament: 1. Sidny Lopes Cabral (Cape Verde) — a simple, sublime curler from the edge of the box against Argentina. 2. Elijah Just (New Zealand) — just brilliant against Iran. 3. Jude Bellingham (England) — the game was relatively meaningless but his goal against France was one for the ages. Lowlights: Hydration breaks, Trump stepping in to create an overturned red card controversy, England’s retreat against Argentina, VAR as usual. Team of the tournament. — IMAGN IMAGES via ReutersCape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha - at 40 - was one of the stars of the World Cup. Photo: Reuters Goalkeeper: Vozinha (Cape Verde) Defenders: Marc Cucurella (Spain), Lisandro Martinez (Argentina), Pau Cubarsi (Spain), Pedro Porro (Spain) Midfielders: Rodri (Spain), Ayyoub Bouaddi (Morocco), Jude Bellingham (England) Forwards: Michael Olise (France), Kylian Mbappe (France), Lionel Messi (Argentina) Bench: Unai Simon (Spain), Dayot Upamecano (France), Nuno Mendes (Portugal), Enzo Fernandez (Argentina), Dani Olmo (Spain), Leandro Trossard (Belgium), Erling Haaland (Norway) Far too early power rankings for the 2030 World Cup: France 1, England 2, Spain 3, Netherlands 4, Portugal 5, Japan 6, Argentina 7, Morocco 8, Netherlands 9, Germany 10, New Zealand 37 Shameless plug for a pre-tournament prediction: Four members of our ODT tipping panel went for France, one for Portugal, and just one for Spain. I can provide proof. hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz
