Marcotti's best XI of World Cup group stage: Messi, Mbappé and who else? - ESPN

PHILADELPHIA — The group stage is done, which means we've played 72 games (with 32 to go!) and whittled 48 teams down to 32.

It's almost as if a whole other World Cup starts up now, one with as many participants as the sort of World Cups many of us have had for most of our lifetime. The difference, of course, is that it's now mano a mano, win or go home from here, with no room for error.

Some will say it's absurd to play 70% of the games to get rid of just one third of the teams. Me? I like football, so I enjoyed it.

We've had quality to go with the quantity, we've had drama, we've had intensity (so much for those who feared that the long and congested club season would mean tired and weary players) and, of course, with a few exceptions, we've had good vibes just about everywhere. And we've had upsets and surprises, from Cape Verde, DR Congo and South Africa getting through to Uruguay, South Korea and Türkiye going home early.

And of course, the stars have shown up — whether it's record-breaking older ones (yes, that's you Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring in six straight World Cups, and you, Lionel Messi, breaking Miroslav Klose's mark) or their next-gen heirs apparent (Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland), or the guy who won the Ballon d'Or (Ousmane Dembélé), along with the guy who thought he should have won the Ballon d'Or (Vinícius Júnior).

— World Cup match schedule: All fixtures, results, features
— World Cup Power Rankings: Who's No. 1 after group stage?
— O'Hanlon: Grades for every eliminated team

How do you make a coherent group-stage best XI out of all that? You don't really. It comes down to personal preference, moments that stood out and, most importantly, making sure your team was actually good, because this is a