{"id":15326,"date":"2026-07-20T07:29:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/?post_type=news&#038;p=15326"},"modified":"2026-07-20T07:32:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T11:32:01","slug":"team-of-the-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Our Best XI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The World Cup 2026 is complete, and Spain are champions &mdash; so here is our <strong>Team of the World Cup 2026<\/strong>: a best XI drawn from the whole tournament, lined up in a 4-3-3. It leans on the champions but makes room for the tournament&#8217;s biggest forces. Here is the side, and the reasoning behind every pick. For the bigger picture, see our <a href=\"\/us\/world-cup-2026\/\">World Cup 2026<\/a> hub.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The Team of the World Cup 2026: our best XI<\/h2>\n<ul><li><strong>GK:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/us\/news\/unai-simon-stats\/\">Unai Simon<\/a> (Spain)<\/li><li><strong>DEF:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/us\/news\/pedro-porro-stats\/\">Pedro Porro<\/a> (Spain), <a href=\"\/us\/news\/pau-cubarsi-stats\/\">Pau Cubarsi<\/a> (Spain), <a href=\"\/us\/news\/cristian-romero-stats\/\">Cristian Romero<\/a> (Argentina), <a href=\"\/us\/news\/marc-cucurella-stats\/\">Marc Cucurella<\/a> (Spain)<\/li><li><strong>MID:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/us\/news\/rodri-stats\/\">Rodri<\/a> (Spain), <a href=\"\/us\/news\/pedri-stats\/\">Pedri<\/a> (Spain), <a href=\"\/us\/news\/enzo-fernandez-stats\/\">Enzo Fernandez<\/a> (Argentina)<\/li><li><strong>ATT:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/us\/news\/lamine-yamal-stats\/\">Lamine Yamal<\/a> (Spain), <a href=\"\/us\/news\/kylian-mbappe-stats\/\">Kylian Mbappe<\/a> (France), <a href=\"\/us\/news\/will-lionel-messi-play-at-the-2026-world-cup\/\">Lionel Messi<\/a> (Argentina)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<h2>Goalkeeper and defence<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"\/us\/news\/unai-simon-stats\/\">Unai Simon<\/a> (Spain)<\/strong> takes the gloves &mdash; no goalkeeper had a better tournament, conceding just once in eight games as Spain won the title. In front of him, <a href=\"\/us\/news\/pau-cubarsi-stats\/\">Pau Cubarsi<\/a> anchored that record at 19, partnered by Argentina captain <strong><a href=\"\/us\/news\/cristian-romero-stats\/\">Cristian Romero<\/a><\/strong>, superb throughout the runners-up&#8217;s run. <a href=\"\/us\/news\/pedro-porro-stats\/\">Pedro Porro<\/a> takes the right-back berth after two goals, including the strike that beat France in the semi-final, while <a href=\"\/us\/news\/marc-cucurella-stats\/\">Marc Cucurella<\/a> keeps the left-back spot after a tireless tournament.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Midfield<\/h2>\n<p>The engine room is built around <strong><a href=\"\/us\/news\/rodri-stats\/\">Rodri<\/a><\/strong>, our player of the tournament. The metronome at the base of the champions&#8217; midfield, he controlled the biggest games and was immense in the final. Alongside him, <a href=\"\/us\/news\/pedri-stats\/\">Pedri<\/a> pulls the strings, with Argentina&#8217;s <a href=\"\/us\/news\/enzo-fernandez-stats\/\">Enzo Fernandez<\/a> completing the trio after the decisive knockout goals that dragged the beaten finalists all the way to the final.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Attack<\/h2>\n<p>The front three is loaded. <a href=\"\/us\/news\/lamine-yamal-stats\/\">Lamine Yamal<\/a>, the teenager who lit up the tournament for the champions, starts wide. Through the middle, Golden Boot winner <a href=\"\/us\/news\/kylian-mbappe-stats\/\">Kylian Mbappe<\/a> (10 goals) and <a href=\"\/us\/news\/will-lionel-messi-play-at-the-2026-world-cup\/\">Lionel Messi<\/a> (eight) &mdash; the two deadliest forces of the World Cup 2026.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Player and manager of the tournament<\/h2>\n<p>Our <strong>player of the tournament is <a href=\"\/us\/news\/rodri-stats\/\">Rodri<\/a><\/strong>: the heartbeat of a Spain side that conceded just one goal on its way to the title. Our <strong>manager of the tournament is <a href=\"\/us\/news\/luis-de-la-fuente\/\">Luis de la Fuente<\/a><\/strong>, who added the world crown to the Euro 2024 title, his side blending youth and control as convincingly as anyone.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Honourable mentions<\/h2>\n<p>Plenty pushed for a place. Spain&rsquo;s <a href=\"\/us\/news\/mikel-oyarzabal-stats\/\">Mikel Oyarzabal<\/a> (five goals, including the semi-final penalty) and <a href=\"\/us\/news\/alexis-mac-allister-stats\/\">Alexis Mac Allister<\/a> were unlucky to miss out, as was final matchwinner Ferran Torres. Of those who fell short, England&rsquo;s <a href=\"\/us\/news\/jude-bellingham-stats\/\">Jude Bellingham<\/a> (seven goals) and Norway&rsquo;s <a href=\"\/us\/news\/erling-haaland-stats\/\">Erling Haaland<\/a> (seven) starred, while France&rsquo;s <a href=\"\/us\/news\/michael-olise-stats\/\">Michael Olise<\/a> led all players with seven assists.<\/p>\n<p><em>Must be 21+ and present in a state where betting is legal. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-totWus1\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Who is in the Team of the World Cup 2026?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Our 4-3-3 best XI is: Unai Simon; Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsi, Cristian Romero, Marc Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri, Enzo Fernandez; Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-totWus2\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Who was the player of the World Cup 2026?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Our player of the tournament is Rodri, the midfield anchor of champions Spain, who conceded just one goal all tournament.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-totWus3\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Who was the top scorer at the World Cup 2026?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Kylian Mbappe won the Golden Boot with 10 goals, ahead of Lionel Messi on eight and Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland on seven.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-totWus4\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Which team had the best defence at the World Cup 2026?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Champions Spain, who conceded just one goal in the entire tournament.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament&#8217;s meanest defence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3588,"featured_media":15328,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Team of the World Cup 2026","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Best XI | Squawka","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament's meanest defence.","footnotes":""},"tags":[303,302,273],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-15326","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-usa","tag-usmnt","tag-world-cup-2026"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Best XI | Squawka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament&#039;s meanest defence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Our Best XI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament&#039;s meanest defence.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Squawka | US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T11:32:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/29094630\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-29-2026-at-02_45_15-PM.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"941\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Squawka\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"WebPage\",\"FAQPage\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/\",\"name\":\"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Best XI | Squawka\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/sites\\\/13\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/29094630\\\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-29-2026-at-02_45_15-PM.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T11:29:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-20T11:32:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament's meanest defence.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"mainEntity\":[{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus1\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus2\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus3\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus4\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/sites\\\/13\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/29094630\\\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-29-2026-at-02_45_15-PM.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/sites\\\/13\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/29094630\\\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-29-2026-at-02_45_15-PM.jpg\",\"width\":1672,\"height\":941},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Our Best XI\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/\",\"name\":\"Squawka US\",\"description\":\"Soccer News and Predictions | Stats, Betting\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Squawka US\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/sites\\\/13\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/23072352\\\/Squawka-Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/media.squawka.com\\\/images\\\/sites\\\/13\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/23072352\\\/Squawka-Logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Squawka US\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SquawkaFootballNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/Squawka\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/squawkafootball\\\/\"],\"description\":\"Squawka is a football editorial site covering the Premier League, Champions League, MLS, Liga MX, FIFA World Cup 2026 and the wider international game. We publish match previews, tactical analysis, player and team stats, outright odds, betting tips, streaming guides and long-form features for a committed football audience. Founded in the UK and part of OneTwenty Group, Squawka now runs localised editions for the UK (squawka.com\\\/en\\\/), United States (squawka.com\\\/us\\\/), Mexican-Spanish (squawka.com\\\/us-es\\\/), Ireland, Netherlands, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana. Each edition is editorially tailored to its market, with locale-specific competition focus, operator compliance and commercial partnerships. Traffic skews toward high-intent football readers \u2014 supporters researching fixtures, form, odds and where to watch \u2014 making Squawka a strong fit for sportsbook, prediction-market, DFS, streaming and sports-merchandise brands across the UK, Europe and North America.\",\"foundingDate\":\"2012-06-11\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus1\",\"position\":1,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus1\",\"name\":\"Who is in the Team of the World Cup 2026?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Our 4-3-3 best XI is: Unai Simon; Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsi, Cristian Romero, Marc Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri, Enzo Fernandez; Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus2\",\"position\":2,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus2\",\"name\":\"Who was the player of the World Cup 2026?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Our player of the tournament is Rodri, the midfield anchor of champions Spain, who conceded just one goal all tournament.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus3\",\"position\":3,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus3\",\"name\":\"Who was the top scorer at the World Cup 2026?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Kylian Mbappe won the Golden Boot with 10 goals, ahead of Lionel Messi on eight and Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland on seven.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus4\",\"position\":4,\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.squawka.com\\\/us\\\/news\\\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\\\/#faq-question-totWus4\",\"name\":\"Which team had the best defence at the World Cup 2026?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Champions Spain, who conceded just one goal in the entire tournament.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Best XI | Squawka","description":"Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament's meanest defence.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Our Best XI","og_description":"Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament's meanest defence.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/","og_site_name":"Squawka | US","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/","article_modified_time":"2026-07-20T11:32:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1672,"height":941,"url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/29094630\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-29-2026-at-02_45_15-PM.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Squawka","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["WebPage","FAQPage"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/","name":"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Best XI | Squawka","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/29094630\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-29-2026-at-02_45_15-PM.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-20T11:29:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-20T11:32:01+00:00","description":"Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament's meanest defence.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"mainEntity":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus1"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus2"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus3"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus4"}],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/29094630\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-29-2026-at-02_45_15-PM.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/29094630\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-29-2026-at-02_45_15-PM.jpg","width":1672,"height":941},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Our Best XI"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/","name":"Squawka US","description":"Soccer News and Predictions | Stats, Betting","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#organization","name":"Squawka US","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/04\/23072352\/Squawka-Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/04\/23072352\/Squawka-Logo.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"Squawka US"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Squawka","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/squawkafootball\/"],"description":"Squawka is a football editorial site covering the Premier League, Champions League, MLS, Liga MX, FIFA World Cup 2026 and the wider international game. We publish match previews, tactical analysis, player and team stats, outright odds, betting tips, streaming guides and long-form features for a committed football audience. Founded in the UK and part of OneTwenty Group, Squawka now runs localised editions for the UK (squawka.com\/en\/), United States (squawka.com\/us\/), Mexican-Spanish (squawka.com\/us-es\/), Ireland, Netherlands, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana. Each edition is editorially tailored to its market, with locale-specific competition focus, operator compliance and commercial partnerships. Traffic skews toward high-intent football readers \u2014 supporters researching fixtures, form, odds and where to watch \u2014 making Squawka a strong fit for sportsbook, prediction-market, DFS, streaming and sports-merchandise brands across the UK, Europe and North America.","foundingDate":"2012-06-11"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus1","position":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus1","name":"Who is in the Team of the World Cup 2026?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Our 4-3-3 best XI is: Unai Simon; Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsi, Cristian Romero, Marc Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri, Enzo Fernandez; Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus2","position":2,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus2","name":"Who was the player of the World Cup 2026?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Our player of the tournament is Rodri, the midfield anchor of champions Spain, who conceded just one goal all tournament.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus3","position":3,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus3","name":"Who was the top scorer at the World Cup 2026?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Kylian Mbappe won the Golden Boot with 10 goals, ahead of Lionel Messi on eight and Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland on seven.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus4","position":4,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/team-of-the-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-totWus4","name":"Which team had the best defence at the World Cup 2026?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Champions Spain, who conceded just one goal in the entire tournament.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"yoast_title":"Team of the World Cup 2026 So Far: Best XI | Squawka","yoast_description":"Our Team of the World Cup 2026 so far: a data-driven 4-3-3 best XI featuring Messi, Mbappe, Vinicius and the tournament's meanest defence.","yoast_keyword":"Team of the World Cup 2026","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3588"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26259,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15326\/revisions\/26259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15326"},{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=15326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}