The Word Cup Russia 2018 ended in style with France being crowned as the champions after thumping the braved Croatians by 4 – 2 in Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.
However, a number of individual players were recognized with different accolades for the outstanding performance they showed in their respective aspects. Here is how they were decorated.
Golden Ball
Croatia’s Luka Modric was decorated as the best player of the tournament and awarded a golden ball with Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard being the second-best player and France forward Antoine Griezmann third.
The Former Tottenham midfielder, Modric, scored in Croatia’s opening two matches of a 2-0 win over against Nigeria and then the 3-0 victory against Argentina alongside making one assist as he guided his country to their first World Cup final.
Chelsea’s Hazard got two goals in the 5-2 win over Tunisia and also scored in his side’s 2-0 win versus England in the third-fourth play-off on Saturday while Atletico Madrid striker Griezmann who won the Golden Boot at the 2016 European Championships with six goals and scored four and made a further two at this World Cup.
Golden Boot
England captain Harry Kane won the Golden Boot after finishing as the World Cup’s top scorer with six goals (3 penalties). Anthony Griezman came in the second with four goals and two assists while Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku kept third with his four goals and a single assist.
Russia’s Denis Cheryshev, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku also scored four times.
Kane is the second Englishman to end as the top scorer in a World Cup after Gary Lineker scored six goals in 1986. Kane, the Premier League top scorer in two of the past three seasons, also became the first Englishman since Tommy Lawton in 1939 to score in six consecutive internationals, although he did not net in England’s last three matches in Russia.
Young Player Award
The 19-year old French youngstar, Kylian Mbappe was the winner of the Young Player Award. The Paris St-Germain forward enhanced his growing reputation with a series of fine performances that saw him awarded with a silver ball for winning the Young Player Award.
He scored the only goal in France’s 1-0 group win against Peru, netted twice in the 4-3 win over Argentina in the last 16 and grabbed France’s fourth goal in the final totaling to four goals in the tournament.
Golden Glove
Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois was awarded the for being the best leading goalkeeper. Chelsea’s first choice shot stopper helped Belgium finish third with a number of fine performances in goal to earn the Golden Glove Award. He kept clean sheets in the group win over Panama and the two matches against England and made a number of vital saves in the wins over Japan and Brazil.
Meanwhile, Spain was voted for the Fair-play Award and 18 goals are already out on the FIFA website for voting for which would be the Best Goal of the Tournament (Russia World Cup 2018).