Iran’s Beiranvand in World Cup 2018 Best Team So Far
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - With the group stage in Russia done and dusted, The Guardian reveals the best XI, as voted by its readers.
All the 48 group-stage matches in Russia have now been played and after each of them we have asked our readers to hand out their player ratings.
The verdicts have then been inputted into our guide of all the 736 players at the 2018 World Cup – and we have now gone through them to see who makes our team of the tournament so far.
According to our readers, Iran’s Alireza Beiranvand gets the nod in goal and it is difficult to argue with that selection. Had a difficult upbringing and was at one stage sleeping rough in Tehran. He worked in a carwash and as a pizza delivery driver before becoming a professional footballer.
He has been brilliant in Russia. Saving a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty against Portugal was only one of the highlights as he has produced several high-caliber stops and started Iran’s attacks with his long and accurate throws.
Before the tournament he said: “I want to shine in the World Cup, then maybe I can join a European big club. I’d like to play at Liverpool or PSG.”
He will not be short of offers. After the three games he had an average rating of 8.67, the highest of all the players in Russia.