The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will come to an end today and out of 10 Arsenal players who were called up by their respective nations, only one has the chance to win it – France’s William Saliba.
Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale and Ben White made it to the England squad, while Brazil called up Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli. Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Matt Turner represented Ghana, Switzerland, Japan and the USA respectively.
Here are our ratings.
Rating every Arsenal player’s World Cup
Matt Turner: 8/10
Turner had a fantastic World Cup for the USA. The American conceded just one goal and kept two clean sheets in his first three games. Sadly, his campaign ended following a 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the knockout stages.
The Arsenal goalkeeper, however, should be very happy with his performances – he was excellent.
Aaron Ramsdale: N/A
Ramsdale is Arsenal’s undisputed number one and in our eyes, he’s the best English goalkeeper in the world.
Unfortunately, Gareth Southgate doesn’t see it that way, and the 24-year-old didn’t get a minute on the pitch.
Takehiro Tomiyasu: 7.5/10
Tomiyasu was carrying an injury when he went to the World Cup, but he still put the Japan shirt on and fought for his country. He came on as a substitute against Germany and Spain and was brilliant in both games as Japan shocked the world.
Sadly, his performance against Croatia – in the game they got knocked out – wasn’t great, with Tomiyasu admitting himself that it was a ‘disaster’.
William Saliba: 6/10
Saliba has been absolutely phenomenal for Arsenal this season, but France boss Didier Deschamps has preferred Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate over our 21-year-old.
The Arsenal defender has only played 27 minutes of football in the entire tournament so far. Hopefully, he gets a chance in the final this afternoon and shines against Lionel Messi.
Ben White: N/A
Even though Ben White has arguably been the best right-back in the Premier League since the start of the season, he didn’t get a game for England, which is really sad.
He withdrew from the squad and returned home for personal reasons much before England were knocked out.
Thomas Partey: 6/10
Partey had a mixed World Cup in Qatar. He didn’t have a great game against Portugal in Ghana’s 3-2 defeat, but he was much better against South Korea.
However, his display against Uruguay received immense criticism, with Ghanaian media outlets having a real go at him following their elimination.
Granit Xhaka: 8/10
Like he has been for Arsenal since the start of the season, Xhaka was solid for Switzerland as well. The nation’s captain was arguably their best player in the tournament and even won the Man of the Match award against Serbia in what was a fiery clash.
Switzerland suffered elimination following a 6-1 battering by Portugal, but Xhaka was still one of the better players in that game, with the Swiss media praising his display.
Gabriel Martinelli: 7/10
Martinelli impressed every time he came on as a substitute, but his best performance came against Cameroon in his only start at the World Cup in Qatar. The young Brazilian could’ve easily scored a hat-trick in that game, but Devis Epassy’s brilliance in Cameroon’s goal denied him.
For whatever reason, Tite refused to bring Martinelli on against Croatia, and that cost them the game. The Arsenal man should still be very happy with what he did in Qatar.
Gabriel Jesus: 6/10
It was a heartbreaking tournament for Jesus. The joy of representing his country was dampened by a serious injury in his first start, and he has now undergone surgery.
It’s a real blow for Jesus and Arsenal that he will not be available for a while now – hopefully, he can recover quickly and come back even stronger.
Bukayo Saka: 9/10
Arsenal’s star boy became a superstar at the World Cup this year. Saka was England’s best player in Qatar, and only four other players have managed to score more goals than him in the entire competition – Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe are two of them.
Saka, still only 21, has the world at his feet, and now everyone knows why Arsenal fans rate him so highly. Hopefully, he’ll maintain the same kind of form for us in the second half of the season.
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