CRISTIANO RONALDO has been named in the World Cup’s WORST team in the latest blow to the former Manchester United star.
The 37-year-old found himself reduced to a place on the bench in the knockout stages before Portugal were defeated by Morocco in the quarter-finals.
It comes after months of being out of favour at Old Trafford before leaving the club in bitter circumstances.
But Ronaldo was not the only shock inclusion in the statistically-led worst team of the tournament.
He was joined by the likes of Lautaro Martinez, who won the World Cup with Argentina, and Chelsea and Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Data provider Sofascore compiled the team based on a series of performance metrics and stats.
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Ronaldo was given a low score of just 6.46 for his World Cup efforts.
While he made history by scoring in the opening game against Ghana, the Portugal forward struggled as the campaign went on with his national side looking limp going forward.
He was also denied credit for a strike against Uruguay after a Bruno Fernandes cross was judged to have gone all the way in.
Departed manager Fernando Santos made the bold call of dropping Ronaldo for the last-16 game against Switzerland – and his side responded by winning 6-1.
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The ex-Real Madrid man found himself on the bench again for the quarter-final clash against Morocco.
This time Portugal lost and despite Ronaldo’s best efforts off the bench they could not find a way through the sturdy Moroccan defence.
A devastated Ronaldo was last seen disappearing down the tunnel in floods of tears.
To add insult to injury, his great football rival Lionel Messi would go on to lead Argentina to World Cup victory.
Mendy also faced the shame of being placed in the tournament’s worst team after an error-ridden campaign for Senegal saw him rated 6.30.
The goalkeeper is struggling with form and lost his place in the Chelsea line-up to Kepa Arrizabalaga in recent months.
Meanwhile, striker Martinez received a rating of just 6.35 despite being part of the World Cup winning team.
He came off the bench in all but two games and played for 148 minutes across Argentina’s matches.
But he failed to score or make an impact for the South American side.
Also featuring in the worst XI is American right-back Sergino Dest, Senegal defender Abdou Diallo and Poland pair Kamil Glik and Bartosz Bereszyński.
The statistics also reflected poorly on Australian duo Jackson Irvine and Mathew Leckie, Switzerland winger Ruben Vargas and Hwang In-beom of South Korea, all of whom made it into midfield.
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The Qatar tournament is being hailed as one of the best World Cups of all time.
And the final lived up to the billing on Sunday as Argentina and France served up an all-time classic.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
