The World Cup has long been a breeding ground for talent – as well as a stage for the best players on the planet to showcase their ability – but not everyone managed to flourish in Qatar.
The Premier League was highly-represented in the Middle East with 133 stars from 26 different nations and it was a memorable tournament for the likes of Manchester United trio Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Bruno Fernandes.
However, the same cannot be said for a handful of stars who either crashed out in the groups or struggled to deliver.
Sportsmail has gone through the list of top-flight players who underperformed at the World Cup and will therefore have a big point to prove when they return to Premier League action this month.
Belgium’s Youri Tielemans struggled to show off his quality in Qatar, as did Kevin De Bruyne
Son Heung-min – South Korea and Tottenham
Son was expected to be one of South Korea’s leading lights in Qatar this winter and, while playing all four games to help his side reach the last-16, he failed to get on the scoresheet in a frustrating tournament.
He played every single minute of the World Cup as the team’s captain and highly-influential figure – but he did not have the impact they might have hoped from him as he watched Paik Seung-ho, Kim Yong-gwon, Hwang Hee-chan and Cho Gue-seung get on the scoresheet instead.
The Tottenham man did grab an assist in South Korea’s best result of the competition – a 2-1 win over Portugal – as he set up Wolves star Hwang to score a last-minute winner.
Tottenham’s Son Heung-min will have a big point to prove after failing to score in Qatar
Son is a massive celebrity in South Korea and he is revered as a hero by supporters – who showed their solidarity to him by wearing the same protective goggles after the eye injury he picked up while playing for Tottenham last month.
In truth he was lucky that he even took part in the World Cup – and perhaps his injury meant that he couldn’t quite give his best performance for his country.
Son has had a difficult season overall and hasn’t had the best of luck in the Premier League either – scoring just three times and laying on two assists for Spurs this campaign.
When he returns to north London, all eyes will be on him to see if he can recapture his incredible form from last season.
Darwin Nunez – Uruguay and Liverpool
A lot of pressure has fallen on the shoulders of Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez since he completed an £85m switch to Liverpool from Benfica in the summer – and it’s fair to say repaying that fee has been a challenge so far.
Jetting out to link up with his Uruguay team-mates was an opportunity to put a slow start to the season behind him – having netted just five times in the league so far while his rival Erling Haaland has wheeled away with 18 since joining Man City.
But he was unable to find the sort of form that was turning heads while he was at Benfica last season as he banged in 26 goals in the Portuguese top flight.
Liverpool’s £85million signing Darwin Nunez endured a World Cup to forget for Uruguay
Nunez returned to action in the Reds’ 3-2 defeat away at Manchester City on Thursday night
He started every game for Uruguay but was largely anonymous – with manager Diego Alonso opting to sub him off in the team’s final two games against Portugal and Ghana after he failed to deliver the goods.
On both occasions, Nunez was taken off for Maximiliano Gomez, with Uruguay eliminated in the group stage having lost out to South Korea on goals scored.
Unfortunately there were not enough goals scored by Nunez, who has returned to Liverpool bidding to show that his huge price tag was not a mistake.
And his domestic side Liverpool are also in need of a regular supply of goals from him – with Jurgen Klopp’s team currently seven points off a top-four place, now occupied by Tottenham.
Nunez returned to action for the Reds on Thursday night, playing the entirety of their 3-2 defeat away at Manchester City and failing to get on the scoresheet as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup.
Kevin De Bruyne – Belgium and Manchester City
Arguably one of the biggest surprises from this World Cup was that we didn’t see the magic we know De Bruyne can produce.
Belgium’s dismal group stage exit was a huge shock and the whole squad were affected by infighting – and it appears the Man City magician was one of those hindered as he couldn’t manage to get his creative juices flowing.
He failed to score or provide any assists in Belgium’s three group games against Croatia, Morocco and Canada – but in truth none of the team seemed like they were on the same page throughout the tournament.
It seems almost a guarantee that when De Bruyne returns to Manchester City and is lifted up by his superstar team-mates – and connection with forward Erling Haaland – he will be back to his best, pinging incredible balls over the top and splitting defences in half with his fantastic vision.
Kevin de Bruyne’s sluggish tournament was one of the biggest shocks of the World Cup
Youri Tielemans – Belgium and Leicester City
The midfielder was another star who was unable to shine in Belgium’s divided squad and he received plenty of stick from his country’s media for underperforming.
Like De Bruyne, Tielemans – one of Belgium’s most important players for the future as their ageing group begins to decline – played in all three games but also had an off-tournament.
It didn’t help the 25-year-old that his club Leicester haven’t started the season well either, with the Foxes initially having to fight their way out of the relegation zone after picking up eight defeats and with Brendan Rodgers under pressure.
Youri Tielemans also struggled to show his best quality in Qatar amid a divided Belgium squad
Tielemans still managed to score three times and pick up one assist – but the topsy-turvy campaign can’t have done his confidence any favours going into the World Cup.
He will now put all of his focus into Leicester’s season and ensuring they continue their upward trajectory after two straight wins before the World Cup.
Christian Eriksen – Denmark and Manchester United
It was an emotional return to the national team at a major tournament for Eriksen as he made his incredible comeback after suffering a cardiac arrest during the first game of Euro 2020.
However, while he has excelled since making his way back into football with Brentford and Manchester United, Eriksen could not translate that form to the national stage as the Danes failed to win a game, with the playmaker unable to work his magic.
He played all three games – and all 90 minutes – but couldn’t influence games in the way he’d like as they drew 0-0 to Tunisia and then lost 2-1 to France and 1-0 to Australia to crash out in the group stages.
Now it’s back to United where he has a huge task to drive Erik ten Hag’s men forward and help them pick up more results as they bid to turn their fortunes around.
Eriksen has two goals and six assists in all competitions for the Red Devils since signing on a free transfer and will be eager to show that he can give much more than his efforts in Qatar.
Christian Eriksen was unable to work his usual magic as Denmark failed to make the last-16
Kai Havertz – Germany and Chelsea
He finally showed up at the World Cup with two strikes in Germany’s 4-2 win over Costa Rica in their final group game, but Havertz left it too late as Die Mannschaft missed out on the last-16 on goals scored.
The Chelsea playmaker only played 24 minutes of that game but netted twice in 12 minutes to level it, and he then put his side in front before Niclas Fullkrug added a fourth for Germany.
Havertz had been dropped after starting their 2-1 defeat by Japan, but played no part whatsoever in their 1-1 draw to Spain.
It was not the impact the former Leverkusen star was hoping for having started the season with four strikes for Chelsea – three in the Premier League and one in the Champions League.
Kai Havertz scored a late double for Germany against Costa Rica but it was too little too late