The round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup kicked off yesterday with the match between Canada and South Africa. One of the host nations celebrated a narrow 1-0 victory.
Turning to individual performances, who stood out as the best players during the group stage based on match ratings?
Topping the list is the tournament’s leading scorer and captain of Argentina, Lionel Messi, who has netted six goals. His average rating across matches is an impressive 9.03.
Joining him in the top three are forwards Erling Haaland of Norway and Ousmane Dembélé of France, with average ratings of 8.37 and 8.25 respectively.
Here is the full ranking of players by average rating:
Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 9.03
Erling Haaland (Norway) – 8.37
Ousmane Dembélé (France) – 8.25
Kylian Mbappé (France) – 8.19
Pedro Porro (Spain) – 8.18
Deniz Undav (Germany) – 8.02
Leandro Trossard (Belgium) – 8.00
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) – 8.00
Michael Olise (France) – 7.96
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