CaughtOffside columnist Fabrizio Romano has named his World Cup Dream Team as we edge closer to the 2022 tournament in Qatar, but only one England player made his line up!
Writing in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside’s Substack, Romano selected a truly stunning line up of his pick of the players who’ll be featuring in the World Cup, with West Ham midfielder Declan Rice the only player from Gareth Southgate’s side to make it into his first XI.
Rice is a superb talent and a top defensive midfield player, with his form proving key for England as they reached the final of Euro 2020 last summer, but England fans might also feel it’s a tad harsh leaving out Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Still, it’s also hard to argue with the quality of Romano’s line up, with so many of the world’s best players set to feature in this year’s competition.
One player Romano regretted he could not include was Erling Haaland, as Norway won’t be taking part, but Karim Benzema, this year’s Ballon d’Or winner, is still a pretty decent option to have up front alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe!
See below for the line up in full…
Explaining a few of his choices, Romano described Man City and Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne as “the best in the world in his position”, while he also had big praise for his City team-mate, Portugal’s Joao Cancelo, saying: “he’s more than just a right-back – we’ve seen his skills, the quality of his passing. He’s a top, top player.”
On his centre-back pairing, he said: “I think Ruben Dias and Virgil van Dijk would be a great duo at the back – both have quality, leadership and international experience. Two top players who will surely be crucial for their national teams in Qatar.”
What do you think of Romano’s XI, and what would you change? Let us know in the comments!
Haaland as CF
? Allison as GK