VAN DIJK

A defender good enough to come second for the Ballon d'Or, and yet the World Cup has shown him only once, at thirty-one, because his country kept failing to turn up. He led that 2022 side cleanly to the last eight, then watched his own penalty saved in Lusail. The finals owe him more appearances than they have granted; the ledger reads one tournament, no goals, and a shootout that got away.

• The Netherlands missed the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, which is why one of the era's finest centre-backs reached his first finals only in 2022.
• He captained the Dutch through every minute of their 2022 campaign and his back line kept two clean sheets before the Argentina tie.
• His first kick in the Lusail shootout was saved by Emiliano Martínez — the opening miss in a 4-3 defeat that ended the Netherlands' run.