Whether it be by protecting their defence, supplying their attack or a bit of both, some midfielders are making their mark in Qatar.
Here are 90min’s top performing midfielders from matchday 1 at the 2022 World Cup.
De Jong made some really sloppy errors against Senegal, but some excellent runs too, and delivered when it mattered most, setting up the Netherlands’ first goal with a glorious pass.
Up against a star-studded Argentina midfield, Kanno more than held his own at both ends of the pitch to help his team pull off a shock result.
Fernandes was really poor in the first half of Portugal’s opening match against Ghana but more than made up for it in the second, setting up two of their three goals with lovely assists.
We’re willing to bet that commentators said Eustaquio’s name more than anyone else’s in Canada’s match with Belgium. The Porto man ran the show, dominating the Belgian midfield.
Endo produced an absolute masterclass in doing the dirty work in Japan’s win over Germany, winning pretty much every 50-50 he went in for and covering every blade of grass.
His midfield partner may have stolen the show but Pedri wasn’t half bad himself against Costa Rica, creating a number of openings for his team-mates.
With how attacking their side is, Brazil need Casemiro at his best, and he was against Serbia. He looked as good as ever defensively and even got invovled in attacks, producing one glorious through ball and hitting the woodwork with a great effort.
Many were excited to see what Bellingham could do at this World Cup, and if his performance against Iran, which saw him open the scoring, is anything to go by, we’re in for a treat.
On paper, Rabiot doesn’t seem a worthy replacement for Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, but he looked it against Australia, getting a goal and an assist while doing his defensive job too.
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