Best of the 2026 World Cup - Football Extra's team of the tournament

Some picks are obvious - Rodri had to be in, and most of the Spanish defence too - but who else makes Football Extra's World Cup team of the tournament? Don't worry, it's not just a Spain XI. Find out below - and send us your thoughts to football.extra@bbc.com. Keeper [Getty Images] There is of course an official award for the 'best' keeper, with Spain's Unai Simon the winner. Many readers would have gone for Argentina's Emiliano Martinez, not least for keeping a clean sheet against Spain until extra time in the final. Whether any of his saves were out the ordinary can be debated. In any case, we went for Cape Verde's 40-year-old stopper Vozinha . Is the best keeper in the world? You'd say not given he was playing in the Portuguese second division, but he did put in the most memorable goalkeeping performance of the tournament in stopping Spain from scoring. That's world champions Spain. In time, when we come back to think of this tournament, he will be the keeper we remember. Defenders [Getty Images] We've gone for a standard back four – as did the majority of teams in the tournament – and Spain dominate. They only conceded once all tournament, so how could they not? At right-back, it's Pedro Porro , a man who played very much like a key cog in a champion team and not like a player who had his defending questioned at times for a Spurs side almost relegated from the Premier League. On the opposite flank is Marc Cucurella , this one of the easiest picks in the whole team. No winger had any great joy against him and he was arguably the man most responsible for Lionel Messi being so quiet in the final. Cucurella, only a regular in the Spain side since the summer of 2024, has become one of the best two or three left-backs in world football. In the centre, France's Dayotchanculle Upamecano and William Saliba came into consideration, so too England's Marc Guehi. However Pau Cubarsi had to be in, the 19-year-old Spaniard a worth winner of the young player award. We've paired him with Cristian Romero and not just because seeing how they combined would be fascinating. Romero defended well, but also posed at attacking threat - it was him who started Argentina's comeback from two down against Egypt. Central midfielders [Getty Images] Obviously Rodri goes in. No further discussion required. Up until the semi-finals, England's Elliot Anderson and France midfielder Adrien Rabiot were looking likely to make this team, but neither had a great game when it mattered. Argentina's Enzo Fernandez went a round further in contention, but it is hard to include someone who got sent off in the final. But for that, he would have been in. And so with other contenders ruling themselves out, it has to be one of Rodri's midfield partners, and Dani Olmo narrowly edges out Fabian Ruiz and Pedri. All three shone at different times, and Pedri is notable for making a high number of interceptions in midfield on top of top-class passing stats. However, Olmo started all the knockout games, becoming increasingly undroppable as the games got bigger. Forwards [Getty Images] Three of the biggest names with a combined 25 goals from this tournament alone occupy the three positions behind the central striker. They might be names you recognise. On the right, Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappe whose 10 goals moved him top of the World Cup's all-time scorers list with 22 (at a goal per game) and also led to him becoming the first player to be top scorer in successive tournaments. Mbappe also showed superb maturity in leading France past a Paraguay side relying almost entirely on gamesmanship in the last 16. On the left, we find the man second on the all-time scoring list, Argentina's Lionel Messi . His goals dried up in the latter rounds – after eight in his first five games he didn't score from the quarter-finals on, though he was instrumental to the semi-final fightback against England. Centrally, Jude Bellingham slots in . It is remarkable to think there were serious conversations around whether he would even make England's squad, let alone be the starting player in the number 10 position. The ridiculousness of both was quickly shown, Bellingham inspirational in scoring seven time, a record for an England player at a World Cup. Lone striker [Getty Images] Erling Haaland and Harry Kane were both in contention for this position when Norway and England met in the quarter-finals. It was England who emerged from that game, but Haaland who takes this slot in our team. He was the more consistent threat and had the more memorable moments, especially the brace to beat Brazil in the last 16. His seven goals also edge Kane by one, from a game less too (not counting the third place play-off, which Kane sat out) Haaland scored 16 goals across eight qualifiers and by the time Norway met England he had found the net in 14-consecutive internationals, spanning more than 600 days. Had Alexander Sorloth squared when they led 1-0, that run would have almost certainly been extended and Norway might have been heading to the last four. An honourable mention goes to Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal who scored five times and was a more consistent threat than many had expected.