Atlético Madrid have 12 players currently representing their countries at the World Cup. We put together a guide to Atlético Madrid players at the World Cup ahead of the tournament. Consider this your in-tournament guide.
Spain
Results: 7-0 win over Costa Rica, 1-1 draw with Germany
Álvaro Morata
Morata has taken three shots so far at the World Cup. Two of them have been on target, and two of them have been goals.
The first one was late padding during a 7-0 rout of Costa Rica, but the second came in the second half against Germany, a goal that broke the deadlock between the two teams.
But Morata has not convinced everyone. Writer and tactics analyst Jon MacKenzie wrote an interesting thread on how Spain’s press collapsed when Morata came on against Germany.
To clarify this, I just want to do a short thread showing how the pressing changes after Morata comes on/Spain score: https://t.co/78qG7ckfFj
— Jon Mackenzie (@Jon_Mackenzie) November 27, 2022
Koke
Atlético’s captain has played 52 minutes across two games, coming in as a sub against both Costa Rica and Germany. Spain have not yet qualified for the knockout phase of the competition, but they’re almost there. The Analyst give them a 98.35% of making the last 16, which should mean more minutes for Koke.
Marcos Llorente
Llorente hasn’t played in the World Cup yet, with Luis Enrique preferring Chelsea’s Cesár Azpilicueta in the first game at right back before going with Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal in the second game.
The Barcelona midfield trio of Pedri, Gavi, and Sergio Busquets looks set in stone, so unless Llorente replaces Ferrán Torres or Marco Asensio in the attacking line, he might have to make do with a very small role in Qatar.
Argentina
Results: 1-2 loss to Saudi Arabia, 2-0 win over Mexico
Rodrigo de Paul
De Paul has become the whipping boy for Argentina’s lack of structure and coherence at the World Cup. They lost to Saudi Arabia in one of the biggest surprises in the history of the competition. He played a full 90 against Mexico and fared slightly better, but there remain doubts over his role and his ability to fulfill it.
Nahuel Molina
Molina was sacrificed after the Saudi Arabia game as Lionel Scaloni made a number of changes to his starting XI. The right-back started the first game but only came off the bench against Mexico.
Ángel Correa
Correa was a late inclusion in Argentina’s squad after Nicolás Gonzalez suffered an injury. He is yet to play a single minute.
Belgium
Results: 1-0 win over Canada, 0-2 loss to Morocco
Yannick Carrasco
Carrasco started against Canada and played poorly. Belgium won the game but they did not play well collectively. Kevin de Bruyne admitted as much after the game, when he said he wasn’t sure why he won the man of the match award. Carrasco was dropped for the following game against Morocco.
Axel Witsel
Witsel has played all 180 minutes for Belgium so far in his third World Cup. Roberto Martínez plays the 33-year-old in central midfield, but this has been a disastrous World Cup so far for Belgium. They were battered by Canada but somehow managed to escape with a victory. They weren’t as lucky against Morocco, who deservedly won 2-0. It’s hard not to see Witsel as, at least, part of the problem. Belgian’s Golden Generation is aging and their lack of dynamism in central areas is hurting them.
France
Results: 4-1 win over Australia, 2-1 win over Denmark
Antoine Griezmann
Griezmann might not be banging in goals like he used to, but he is playing some fabulous football. He looks like the glue linking an injury-depleted midfield to a world-class attack for France. He assisted Kylian Mbappé’s winner against Denmark, which secured the world champions’ place in the knockouts.
Uruguay
Results: 0-0 draw with South Korea, 0-2 loss to Portugal
José Giménez
Giménez played the full 90 against South Korea and followed that up with another battling performance against Portugal. He went up against João Félix and the pair had quite the tussle. Josema was unlucky to concede a late penalty in the Portugal defeat, which Bruno Fernandes put away to wrap up the result.
Portugal
Results: 3-2 win over Ghana, 2-0 win over Uruguay
João Félix
João has started both of Portugal’s games so far. We wrote about his displays so far. Portugal will play South Korea in the final matchday with qualification to the next round already secured.