For a league some consider to be the strongest in the world, Spanish football’s top flight, you won’t be surprised to hear this stat: nearly a third of the total players involved in Sunday’s unforgettable World Cup 2022 final between France and Argentina ply their trade in La Liga.
That was more than any other league the world over.
Atletico Madrid had four players in the respective squads (more than any other club) – Nahuel Molina, Antoine Griezmann, Rodrigo de Paul and Angel Correa, all bar the latter was involved.
Interestingly, Barcelona still own Griezmann’s permanent contract ahead of his permanent move in January, which means they will receive the compensation from FIFA for his time with France.
Talking of Barca, they also had Jules Kounde and Ousmane Dembele involved in the final, although Dembele was one of two France players hooked off before the break after an underwhelming start by Les Bleus.
Sevilla had the next highest number of players in the final (along with Bayern Munich and Juventus): Marcos Acuna, Gonzalo Montiel and Alejandro Papu Gomez all competing for eventual champions the Albiceleste. Again, all bar the latter featured.
Spanish champions Real Madrid were represented by summer signing Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga in the final, incidentally. Camavinga was a substitute and one of the catalysts for France’s second-half comeback, even though he came on in the unfamiliar position of left-back.
So, with so many La Liga players involved in the tournament, which ones impressed this SBOTOP observer.
Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid/Spain)
Spain may not have lived up to the World Cup betting odds but that was not down to Morata who proved their most reliable marksman.
He scored in all three group matches and didn’t even get to take a spot kick as they were knocked out by Morocco in the last 16 following a goalless draw.
Pre-tournament, one of the main concerns surrounding this Spain team was the lack of a consistent goalscoring threat.
Well Morata has done his bit, leading Spain’s attack since Luis Enrique’s return to the bench with 27 goals in 57 appearances for his country.
Enrique has now departed and been replaced by the manager of Spain’s under-21 team, Luis de la Fuente.
Like his predecessor, de la Fuente will probably keep Morata as his spearhead and, only requiring two goals, it shouldn’t be too long before he joins the top-five leading scorers of all time for Spain.
Yassine Bounou and Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla/Morocco)
Bounou was immense in goal.
In the quarter-final victory against Portugal, he earned his 50th cap for his country and was named man of the match.
Three of the back four that finished that match were deputies which showed just how important Bounou’s contribution was.
There’s nothing fortunate about defeating Belgium, Spain and Portugal without conceding a goal – Sevilla’s Bono helped see to that.
His team-mate for club and country, En-Nesyri, was actually the last player to be called up for the 2018 World Cup.
Then, En-Nesyri scored a memorable goal that almost cost Spain a place in the last 16, jumping and heading over Sergio Ramos and Gerard Piqué.
Despite being the joint Moroccan top scorer in the Champions League and the only international to score in four consecutive major competitions, En-Nesyri is an easy target for critics due to his no-frills style and patchy form.
He deserves much better based on his showings in Qatar and his quarter-final winner created history as Morocco became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid/France)
In the absence of N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, 22 year-old Tchouameni was handed the reins of France’s midfield by manager Didier Deschamps.
He certainly did not disappoint, playing a team-high 411 minutes in five starts and completing a tournament-high 93.2% of the 335 passes he attempted.
Every team needs an engine and Tchouameni is France’s. I expect him to be involved in many World Cup highlights for his country in the years to come.
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