With this year’s World Cup almost home and hosed, it’s time to start taking stock of the wondrously frustrating and delightful spectacle. There’s a part of me that’s almost relieved that it’s coming to an end (too much of a good thing and all that).
But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t going to miss the drama. In any event, here is my list for the five most disappointing players at this year’s tournament. These are not the worst five players per se (or else we would just have obscure Uzbeki players and Darwin Nunez). No, these are the guys who overpromised but underdelivered.
5. Son Heung-min (South Korea)
Son Heung-min’s severe underperformance was probably the key factor behind South Korea’s failure to squeak out of the group stages. Son was far from his effervescent best during the last MLS campaign, losing the explosive burst of pace that would see him slide past Premier League players like a demented Dominic Toretto. And he failed to score from an xG haul of 1.05 (the highest without scoring at the tournament). Only one of his seven total shots was on target. Manager Hong Myung-bo has caught a lot of deserved flak for failing to capitalize on their brilliant Matchday 1 win over the Czech Republic. But perhaps we wouldn’t even be having those conversations if Son had performed at 65% of his best level.
4. Federico Valverde (Uruguay)
Federico Valverde was a man-mountain for Real Madrid last season, almost single-handedly carrying their midfield amidst a plethora of injuries. But the box-to-box machine looked shattered during Uruguay’s ill-fated run, falling victim to Marco Biesla’s tactical miscalculations. Bielsa deployed him in a deeper lying role and then as a second striker, completely negating his box-to-box ability. Bielsa controversially subbed the Real Madrid player off in the 57th minute during their 1-0 loss to Spain. He wasn’t as bad as Darwin Nunez, but nobody thought that Darwin was going to magically turn into Mbappe this tournament. Valverde was supposed to be the engine that kept this Uruguayan machine in motion. Too bad the engine stalled.
3. Leroy Sane (Germany)
Someone from the German camp had to represented here. And we had no shortage of viable options. Kai Havertz divided opinion as usual, scoring three goals despite struggling to really assert himself. Florian Wirtz’s misery continued (he needs to go sit on a beach for a few weeks). But ultimately, I had to opt for Leroy Sane. The 30-year-old winger is simply not the same man who used to terrorize defenders at City and Bayern (he currently plays for Galatasaray). He scored a goal against USA but that was his only goal contribution in four matches. He was particularly dreadful in their humbling Round of 32 defeat at the hands of pugnacious Paraguay, failing to complete a single dribble or successful cross in 88 minutes of plodding wing-play.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
There’s not much more to say about this one. Portugal’s 2026 World Cup journey is a cautionary tale about what happens when you sacrifice the good of the team to satiate one man’s ego. We all knew that CR7 couldn’t realistically lead the line for Portugal in this tournament (we saw him try to do that in Qatar four years ago). And yes, there were plenty of other players who underperformed (Neves, Vitinha and Fernandes spring to mind). But let’s be honest; those guys look to play the ball in behind at club level. Ronaldo’s lack of mobility means he’s just coming short all the time. Roberto Martinez was the ultimate enabler, doubling down on Ronaldo despite reaping the benefits of taking him off against Croatia (Ramos’ late header saw them through in that tight Round of 16 clash). The most embarrassing moment of all came after he proclaimed that he was back after scoring a brace against an abject Uzbekistan. Sad.
1. Christian Pulisic (USA)
The ‘LeBron James of soccer’ just gave American audiences a painful reality-check. Pulisic’s World Cup debacle is intimately connected to his country’s footballing naivete. The brash American footballing public were under the erroneous assumption that Pulisic was one of European football’s most dynamic players. Yeah, ok. The utility forward has enjoyed spasmodic success over the years, failing to score a single goal for AC Milan in the 2nd half of last season’s Serie A campaign. Pulisic injured himself prior to their opener against Paraguay but would return for both of their knockout games, failing to score or create an assist in two lifeless showings. He went off injured in the 2nd half during USA’s embarrassing Round of 16 exit at the hands of Belgium. He looked emotionally disconsolate on the sidelines, perfectly symbolizing USMNT’s delusions of grandeur. It also felt like sweet justice following the entire Trump-Balogun saga (that’s one of the crazier sentences I have written in some time).
