ITV pundits Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ian Wright name their World Cup Team of the Tournament with EIGHT stars from finalists Argentina and France – but there is NO room for any of Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions
Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright could find no room for a single England player as they named their World Cup team of the tournament.
The ITV trio put their heads together to come up with an agreed XI after Argentina edged one of the greatest World Cup finals ever, in the eyes of many, by beating France 4-2 on penalties.
When it came to naming their team of the tournament some of the picks, such as Player of the Tournament Lionel Messi and Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappe, were easy. But any ideas that they would find room for one of Gareth Southgate‘s England stars was soon put to bed.
Lionel Messi (left), Emi Martinez (middle) and Kylian Mbappe made ITV’s team of the World Cup
Roy Keane (left), Gary Neville (middle) and Ian Wright (right) landed on an XI after the final
Neville, Keane and Wright chose eight players that were involved in Sunday’s epic final, with five selections from Argentina.
Goalkeeper Emi Martinez leaves Qatar with a winner’s medal and the Golden Glove award, handed to the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
Still, his antics during the shootout didn’t sit well with Keane or Neville.
‘The games he was playing, we don’t like to see that,’ former Manchester United captain Keane said on ITV.
Keane was eager to see ‘outstanding’ Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat earn a place in it
‘But we always thought Argentina were favourites if it went to penalties because of him.’
Neville added: ‘He always seems to go the right way. He was messing with the France players’ heads unbelievably to be fair, and the referee should have stamped it out. But this Argentina team will do anything to win.’
Marcos Acuna was selected at right back and Cristian Romero was one of the two centre backs – although Keane felt uneasy with both Argentinians making the cut.
‘Shove them in there,’ Keane said, less than convincingly. ‘I’m sure they’ll do a job for the team.’
Joško Gvardiol, Croatia’s 20-year-old phenomenon, occupies the second centre back spot, while Morocco star Achraf Hakimi is rewarded for his nation’s run to the semi-finals with the right back berth.
Ian Wright felt Jude Bellingham (right) was in contention, missing out to Aurelien Tchouameni
In a 4-2-3-1 formation, Keane was eager to see the ‘outstanding’ Sofyan Amrabat rewarded for his brilliant tournament for Morocco, while beaten French finalist Aurelien Tchouameni slots in alongside him.
Wright accepted Tchouameni making the cut but did make the case for England’s Jude Bellingham, a player he would ‘not be averse’ to seeing in the XI.
From there many of the picks were indisputable with Messi wide on the right, Golden boot winner Mbappe on the left and Antoine Griezmann, who starred in each game bar the final, plays off the striker.
The pundits agreed to go with Manchester City and Argentine forward Julian Alvarez as the striker, ahead of the likes of Olivier Giroud and Richarlison.
‘Alvarez ran himself into the ground,’ Wright said, with the City youngster playing a key role in guiding his nation to their first World Cup success since 1986.
ITV’S TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT IN FULL
Here is the ITV trio’s team of the tournament in full for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
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