That's the group stage all wrapped up. Not going to lie, it was a pretty good World Cup thus far. Many of us thought it wasn't going to be that good, but it ended up being really good after the games began with several 0-0 results. Since however, we have had a lot of entertaining games.
We're going to take a look at the winners and losers of the group stages. First up for the losers. and when we say losers, we are talking about those who hurt their stock in this world cup. Starting with Nikola Vlasic for Croatia who ended up only playing 63 minutes throughout the three games.
Vlasic was very ineffective and did not do much offensively. He came in at halftime in one game and also in relief in another. He rarely did anything better than the players he came on for. He didn't contribute offensively like we expected him to. Nothing like we have seen him perform for his club team Torino, where he does really well. He struggled mightily. I'm going to give him a 5.5 rating out of 10. He was one of the lowest-rated guys with significant minutes.
Another guy who did not make a key contribution to his team. Michael Aebischer of Switzerland played 59 minutes total in three games.
Yeah, he didn't do much for his team, like Vlasic. He came on in relief mostly and didn't do anything really noteworthy. His play was so poor that he didn't play in the last game. A big crucial game for Switzerland, which they had to win to make it to the second round. I'm going to give him a six out of 10 in the group stages.
Wrapping up the losers, this time we're going to another Croatian. Mario Pasalic played 75 minutes throughout the three games.
He did not feature as much as we expected him to and did not contribute at all to Croatia's successes. We expected this guy to produce goals and assists like we have seen him do at Atalanta so many times for a few years now, yet he's done nothing for Croatia. Yes, there are likely some players who may be a higher priority for Croatia over Pasalic. But when he comes into matches, he should be producing and he's not doing that. It's a very big disappointment for me and Croatia. I'm going to give him a six out of 10 as well in the group stages.
Now moving on to the winners. Players stock that rose during the group stage. First up, is left-back from Juventus, Alex Sandro. The left-back for Brazil had a fantastic tournament thus far.
He played two of three games thus far and sat out the third game due to an injury. Hopefully, he's back for the round of 16 games because Brazil will need him. He performed like the vintage Alex Sandro that we remember seeing three years ago. Offensively being a menace to defend against, producing chances, producing shots, and making passes. Defensively being very stout and not letting anything go by him. Brazil did not allow the opposition to register a shot until the third game honestly, one which he didn't even play. So that shows how good Alex Sandro has been. He was even the man of the match versus Switzerland. Switzerland by the way finished second in the group. Just a fantastic performance and a vintage classic performance by Alex Sandro. We haven't seen him play this well since the days of Juventus winning scudetto after scudetto under Max Allegri. We haven't seen this level from him in the last couple of years. It's been a steady decline. But playing for Brazil, he's really amped up his game during the group stages. I will give Alex Sandro 8.5 out of 10. He's easily been one of the highest-rated players in the tournament so far.
We're going to stick with left-back on the second choice here. I'm going to go to Milan and Theo Hernandez.
Theo Hernandez has been everything we expected and more. Offensively he has just been constantly going down the pitch producing offensively, giving ammunition to his attackers and setting up passes, getting assists, and getting close to goals a couple of times. Defensively, he has been a shutdown defender. Not much has gotten past Theo Hernandez in the two games that he played.
He played two of three games and sat out the last game because France had such a good lead at the top of the group. He didn't play France and they didn't need him. Okay, maybe they DID need him. He has been fantastic on the front end and the back end very much like Alex Sandro, and like Alex Sandro, I'm going to give him an 8.5 out of 10 rating from the group stages.
My biggest winner from the group stages, and I don't know how he did not win any man of the matches, for me he was one of the best players in the tournament thus far. This player has played all three games and we're talking about a goalkeeper. I'm talking about Wojciech Szczęsny, Juventus' and Poland's goalkeeper.
What a performance he's done so far in the tournament. He saved two penalties in the group stages, including one against Lionel Messi, tying a 20-year-old record with Brad Friedel for most penalty saves in a tournament. He broke the saves record for a single game against Argentina, in which he recorded 12 saves in the loss. He was fantastic in the game as well, in all three games really he was stellar. He outperformed other goalkeepers in every situation.
I don't know what more to say other than he's been superb through three games, even in the defeat to Argentina. He made some stellar saves in every single game. Wojciech Szczęsny has been fantastic thus far in the tournament. We won't forget him giving his Juventus teammate Angel Di Maria a little wink after he stopped him on a corner-kick goal attempt, better known as the Olimpico. Also, how can you not love him chirping with Messi before the penalty betting him that it wouldn't be called a penalty. After losing that bet he said he wasn't paying Messi because he doesn't need 100 euros.
Wojciech Szczęsny has been one of the best players for me so far in this tournament. I'm going to give him a rating of nine out of 10 from the group stages.
Those are my winners and losers for the group stages. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. I'm excited for the round of 16. We'll be back with more ratings after the round. The games are picking up and getting more intense. Enjoy the round of 16!