Izuchukwu Okosi
FIFA Best 11: The grand finale of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar comes up Sunday afternoon at the Lusail Stadium when current champions France will face Argentina.
From an African perspective, the continent’s campaign effectively ended after the third place playoff between Morocco and Croatia Saturday evening.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelMorocco became the first country from Africa to reach the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup, beating former champions Spain, and European champions Portugal, on the way to the semifinals.
Unsurprisingly the Atlas Lions have the biggest representation of players for the FIFA Best 11 in Qatar.
FIFA BEST 11 players for Africa
GK: Yaccine Bounou (Sevilla, Morocco)
Prior to Morocco’s 2-0 defeat against France in the semifinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Morocco had conceded only one goal.
The goal itself was an own goal conceded by their own player.
Sevilla’s Bounou was a rock in goal and his shot stopping ability including in the penalty shootouts was one key factor in the Atlas Lions’ run in the tournament.
RB: Ashraf Hakimi ( PSG, Morocco)
At right back is Ashraf Hakimi who is unarguably one of the players in contention for the Player of the Tournament award.
Hakimi offered defensive resoluteness and attacking impetus for his team.
Ultimately he didn’t stop PSG clubmate and friend Kylian, Mbappe in the semifinals from causing harm but overall performance was the best from his position among the African teams.
CB: Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea, Senegal) – FIFA Best 11
Chelsea and Senegal’s Kalidou Koulibaly is one of our central defenders after an outstanding individual performances for Senegal in Qatar.
Koulibaly defended stoutly for the Teranga Lions and scored one goal for the African champions.
CB: Romain Saiss (Wolverhapton Wanderers, Morocco) – FIFA Best 11
Despite a subdued performance in the semifinals against France due to fitness concerns, Saiss makes the cut in our combined XI.
The Wolverhampton Wanderers defender knitted the defence together and was his aerial presence was a menace at the opposite penalty box.
FIFA BEST 11: Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich, Morocco )
The Bayern Munich left back is on the left side of the back line beating off other competitors for the position.
Mazraoui played in five out of the six matches so far for Morocco at the tournament and is set to start in the third place final against Croatia.
DM: Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentona, Morocco)
Many clubs are already trying to outsmart themselves in a bid to sign the Morocco international, Amrabat, whose ability to break plays in front of the defence was world class.
The Fiorentina man was also able to make long bursting runs into the opponents’ territories.
In the third place final on Saturday, December 17, Amrabat played in central defence with injuries to defenders forcing the coach to deploy him at the back.
Amrabat made two tackles and one interception in the defeat to France in the semifinals.
Arsenal and Liverpool are being named in the English media, as the most likely destination in the January transfer window.
DM: Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City, Senegal)
Senegal’s Nampalys Mendy played in all of his country’s four games at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Mendy’s defensive shield was evidently helpful in the defending champions’ group stage campaign. However they boweed to the superior quality of England in the round of 16,
Mendy was booked once (yellow) in the tournament. He edges Morocco’s Addedine Ouhani for a place in the team.
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ATM: Mohamed Kudus (Ajax, Ghana)
Ghana exited the tournament in the group stage of the World Cup but in one player they had a memorable experience in Qatar.
Ajax midfield jewel, Mohamed Kudus continued from where he left off in the UEFA Champions League with a performance for the ages.
The Ghanaian scored twice against Korea and was yellow-carded in the game against Portugal.
LFW: Hakimi Ziyech (Chelsea, Morocco)
Chelsea forward Hakim Ziyech has been impressive for the Moroccan national team in the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The highlight of his performance was the round of 16 game against 2010 World Cup champions Spain where he made an assist and scored a brilliant goal.
Ziyech’s participation in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was a storied one. He fell out with the former Morocco head coach but a regime came to town and he found favours with Walid Reragrui
RFW: Sofiane Boufal (Angers, Morocco)
Former Southampton forward Sofiane Boufal was one of the Morocco front three that terrorised opposition defences in Qatar.
Direct with an eye for goal and pace to burn, Boufal was a key part of the team albeit he seldom concluded most of the games for the north African team.
He is expected to also be instrumental to the team’s third place chase.
STR: Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla, Morocco)
Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri completes our eleven players for the tournament ahead of Cameroon’s Eric Choupo-Moting.
The Bayern Munich striker Moting played in Cameron’s three Group G matches but really came alive in the 3-3 draw against Switzerland.
However towering Sevilla attacker En-Nesyri scored two goals for the Atlas Lions in Qatar – in the 2-1 win over Canada, and the 1-0 win against Portugal.
The latter goal against the Europeans will remain indelible in his mind and that of Moroccans.
En-Nesyri leapt high, shrugged off the attention of veteran defender Pepe as the ball floated into the six-yard box from a corner kick to nod it past the goalkeeper.
The overall performance aside the goals of the striker oozed class and he edges this.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
