The Biggest FLOPS of the 2026 World Cup...
This year’s edition of the World Cup has been sprinkled with star quality from across the teams in the competition. Big names have stepped up and dragged their countries over the line. Even the lesser-known minnows like Cape Verde have served the watching public with fascinating encounters and captivating stories. But not everyone has lived up to the hype. Some stars have melted in the baking heat of the Americas. We all know that the race for the Golden Boot is heating up, but the real battle is for who makes our World Cup Flop XI. Leaking goals at the back, the midfield parting like the Red Sea, and a forward line with a combined age of 112, this flop XI would certainly make for entertaining viewing… WorldCup Football
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It's safe to say the majority of big stars have really stepped up at the World Cup this summer with the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, and Harry Kane all delivering on the big stage. However, what about the players who have really underwhelmed? In today's video, we'll be compiling a starting 11 of the biggest disappointments from the World Cup this summer. Any players that you think we've missed out, get them in the comments down below. Starting in goal, we'll have to go for Uruguay's Fernando Muslera. And unfortunately for the Uruguayan legend, this one was a bit of an easy pick. As during his side's defeat to Spain, it was his absolute clanger which led to his nation's early exit from the tournament. To make matters worse, Muslera himself reportedly requested to be substituted at half-time, but by that point the damage was already done. A hugely disappointing end to his international career given just how good he's been for Uruguay in the past. At right back, we're going to go for Germany's Joshua Kimmich. Given he's Germany's captain, he's got to take quite a bit of the criticism for his side being dumped out in the round of 32 by Paraguay. Not that the early exit was entirely his fault, but it's safe to say that Kimmich was nowhere near the levels that he was at previously in the season with Bayern Munich. And Germany's disappointing performance in the United States now means they've not won a single knockout match at the World Cup since lifting the trophy all the way back in 2014. Given that Kimmich is now 31 years old, there was a realistic chance that that was his last game at the World Cup and what a disappointing way to go out that would be. As our first center half, we're going to go for Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly who put in one of the worst individual performances of the entire World Cup during Senegal's 3-2 loss against Norway in the group stages. It was a calamitous performance from the former Chelsea star as he looked labored and slow at the back. He looked so sluggish in that match that he was dropped for Senegal's final group game against Iraq which they won 5-0. And he was also sat on the bench for their round of 32 tie against Belgium which definitely didn't go to plan. Partnering him at the back, we're going to go for Sweden's Victor Lindelöf. Manchester United fans probably won't be too surprised about this inclusion. Towards the tail end of his career at Old Trafford, he definitely became more error-prone. But in fairness, he seems to have turned a bit of a corner whilst playing for Aston Villa. However, his World Cup performances definitely weren't anything to shout about. With undoubtedly his worst performance of the tournament coming during Sweden's 5-1 loss against the Netherlands in the group stage. He's still probably going to be having nightmares about some of Cody Gakpo and Brobbey who absolutely tore him to shreds. At left-back, we'll go for Qatar's Homam Ahmed. By no means a household name, but he gets his place in this team surely for the absolute stinker of a performance that he had against Canada. Where he managed to win zero tackles, produced zero clearances, registered zero blocks before being sent off. Not a performance to shout about to the grandkids that one. As our first central midfielder, we've got to throw Bruno Fernandes in there given the expectations on the Manchester United playmaker coming into the tournament this summer. He was coming off the back of one of his most productive seasons ever, certainly from a creative standpoint, and people were frothing at the mouth at the prospect of Bruno playing alongside the likes of Vitinha and João Neves, two of the best central midfielders in the world right now. On paper, Portugal should have absolutely dominated with that midfield trio, but in reality, things just didn't transpire that way. After a record-breaking season in the Premier League, Bruno only managed to register one assist at the tournament this summer and looked nowhere near his usual self. And for that reason, we've got to throw him into this 11. Alongside Fernandes in midfield, we're going to go for one of his former Manchester United teammates. It's Scott McTominay. The hopes and dreams of the Scottish nation rested on his shoulders, but ultimately, he didn't really deliver the goods like we all know he's capable of. In Napoli and for Scotland previously, McTominay has made a bit of a name for himself as being Mr. Clutch. But Scotland's three group games just seemed to pass him by a little bit. And in Steve Clarke's system, he was largely pretty ineffective. He'll now face an agonizing 4-year wait to see if Scotland qualify for the next World Cup and he can potentially wrong the rights of this year. And to finish off the midfield trio, we're going to go for Federico Valverde of Uruguay, someone who's viewed as one of the best midfielders in the world, certainly for his performances over the past 5 or so years for Real Madrid. But as Uruguay's captain, he's got to take a fair share of the responsibility for that uninspiring performance during the tournament this summer, particularly in the group stages where they were so underwhelming. Uruguay were painfully slow to watch at times and unfortunately for Valverde, he offered very little before his side were knocked out. As our first forward, we're going to go for Ecuador's Enner Valencia, a very effective player in years gone by, but he looked past his best at the World Cup this summer. The guy just couldn't finish his dinner. Unfortunately, the 36-year-old is going to end the tournament as one of the biggest xG underperformers, having had 10 shots but failed to score a single goal despite racking up an xG of 1.6. Nine of his 10 shots came from inside the box, but you never really fancied him to score any of them given how sluggish he looked at times. On the opposite flank, and it pains me to do this as a big name off fan, but we're going to have to throw the Brazilian in there as one of the biggest disappointments from the tournament this summer. Now, Neymar's inclusion in the Brazilian squad in the first place was highly disputed coming off the back of an injury-hit season. And it immediately became clear that the guy wasn't fully fit. He was having to build up his fitness during Brazil's group stage matches and when he did finally get on the pitch, the guy unfortunately did just look like a shadow of his former self. Of course, he did manage to get on the scoresheet, scoring that consolation goal against Norway from the penalty spot in what transpired to be the last kick of the game. But retrospectively, his inclusion in the Brazil squad will probably go down as a bit of an error on Carlo Ancelotti's part, especially considering he took the place of someone like Ezri Konsa Pedro, who probably could have had a more substantial impact. But regardless, Brazil still underwhelmed at the tournament, and you can't put that all down to the hands of Neymar. Other players within the squad definitely have to take their fair share of blame. But Neymar being the big star man is bound to attract plenty of flak because of that. And to finish the team off with the striker, we're going to have to go for Cristiano Ronaldo. Now, at 41 years old, we definitely should be giving Ronaldo some leeway, but unfortunately, Roberto Martínez and Ronaldo him- self have left him open for criticism, given he played practically every minute of the tournament because of his reluctancy to come off. Even when he was substituted against Croatia, on the one occasion, he looked miffed at coming off with just 10 minutes to go. While Ronaldo did manage to hit the back of the net three times, including a brace against Uzbekistan and a penalty against Croatia, which was his first ever knockout goal at the World Cup, he still managed to underperform his xG and was one of the top shot he still managed to underperform his xG, which highlights just how wasteful and perhaps selfish he was at times. His performances against DR Congo and Colombia, and particularly in the group stages, were particularly frustrating to watch. And ultimately, those were the games that cost Portugal from finishing top of their group, which would have guaranteed them an easier route to the final. But what do you guys think? Have we been harsh on any of the stars here? Get your thoughts in the comments down below, and any other players that you think should be thrown into the squad as well. Get your comments in. Apart from that, thank you very much for tuning in, guys, and we'll see you all in the next vlog.