The 22 starters in the World Cup final, ranked

The World Cup final is Sunday between France and Croatia, and barring any surprises, we’re pretty sure who the 22 players starting in the match will be. So let’s rank them, eh?

This is a totally silly exercise, but whatever, we’ve got two days to the final and this banter isn’t going to bant itself, now is it?

To the ranking!

Olivier Giroud is a wonderful striker who I have defended for years. He didn’t finish that pass from Mbappé in the semifinal, however, so I will never, ever forgive him. And I’m ranking him last here purely out of spite.

Brozović is just 25, the young gun in Croatia’s central midfield, but his versatility has made him someone they had to get in the lineup. He runs around and frees up space for Rakitic and Modric, and that’s good!

Dejan Lovren told media after the semifinal that he’s one of the best defenders in the world. If “best” means “doing everything short of killing an attacker while somehow not getting sent off,” he is absolutely correct.

Matuidi is a fine defensive midfielder who is being asked to play out of position on the left wing, and to his credit he’s doing a fine enough job of it. Again, everyone in the World Cup final is extremely good. This is hard to do.

I actually love Rebic, and it’s an underrated thing to have someone on your side who’s just going to run around a shitload and cause trouble. Paulinho’s made an entire career out of it. Rebic is great at that.

Umtiti has scored a huge goal for France this tournament, and his calming presence at the back has been vital. He’s overshadowed by his other central defender partner, Rafael Varane, at times, but that shouldn’t undercut how good he’s been.

The blonde ponytail. The first name out of Stranger Things. Vida is as iconic visually as any player we’ve seen in this tournament, but his excellent play in the back has been what’s kept Croatia in a lot of games.

Strinic has been fantastic at left back for this Croatia side, playing above and beyond what I thought he was capable of for much of the tournament. I’m not sure how his legs haven’t fallen off with all the running he’s had to do, but that’s true of everyone on this Croatia side.

Hernandez has been fantastic for France, and while he doesn’t have an iconic moment like Benjamin Pavard had with that wonderstrike of a goal, he’s been arguably just as important.

Looking at this France lineup coming into the World Cup, Benjamin Pavard stuck out. Like, all these names, and what the hell was he doing there? He’s only gone and become arguably the best right back in the tournament.

Remember when I said Pavard went and was maybe the right back of the tournament? Uh, he might not even be the best right back in this game. It doesn’t make sense, I realize, but again, at this point, everyone has been brilliant. Vrsaljko plays for Atletico Madrid, so it should be no surprise he’s excellent in defense, but I didn’t think he was this good.

I didn’t think Perisic was having all that great of a tournament compared to what I know he can do, to be honest, but then he went and got Croatia’s first goal in the semifinal against England and played one of the games of his life. He’s special.

I don’t know how Subasic is playing at this point. I thought he pulled his hamstring against Russia. Then he went and won the penalty shootout, and was brilliant against England, and I will never doubt him again.

Varane is a special, special defender, and has been the rock at the back for France en route to this final. It’s telling that someone clearly in my Best XI for the tournament can only get in as the ninth best player in this game, but I’m telling you, these are two extremely good soccer teams.

My pick for goalkeeper of the tournament, Lloris has somehow managed to get better as the tournament has gone on and the competition has gotten fiercer. It’s easy to say when you have that defense and midfield in front of you that you don’t have to do much, but Lloris has had to do plenty, and answered the call every time.

He’s often overshadowed by the brilliance of his midfield partner Luka Modric, but that shouldn’t undercut just how good Rakitic has been. It’s hard to play simply. Rakitic has done just that, playing multiple roles depending on what’s been needed and doing all of it brilliantly.

Griezmann has had to push a little farther back this tournament to fit into Didier Deschamps’ plans, but he’s done so admirably, filling in as a support striker and dropping back into midfield to help his team in possession.

My vote for most underrated player of the last decade, Mario Mandzukic is the do-everything striker that dreams are made out of. Plus, no player alive takes better photos.

Pogba is the player that you can ascribe whatever feelings you want onto. If you desire, you can see him as a breathtaking box-to-box player with a generational passing touch and brilliant vision. Or you can see him as a gifted but frustrating player who wastes too many opportunities and settles for long shots too often. I go with the first option, but the choice is yours.

The breakout star of the tournament is showing us, at age 19, what is possible on a soccer field. Watching him gain confidence as the tournament went on, from being excited to be there and fit in with this squad, to the slow realization he made that no one on Earth can stop me, has been one of the best things about watching this World Cup.

Your likely Golden Ball winner, Modric has been so devastatingly brilliant this World Cup it’s kind of hard to put it into words. It’s not just the distance he’s run (40 miles this tournament, the most of any player) but the way he’s been just everything for Croatia — their creative spark, their midfield engine, their security blanket, their calming presence. It all goes through him. If they win, he’s going to be the biggest reason why.

I already wrote a long ode to Kante this week, so I won’t do it again. But there’s a reason soccer heads all geek out about this player. He’s taken the defensive midfield position, which I thought was perfected by Claude Makelele, and improved upon it. He’s the best I’ve ever seen, and the reason, I believe, France will win the World Cup final.