SAMUEL UMTITI

Age: 24 Position: Centre-back Club: Barcelona Injury to Laurent Koscielny meant coach Deschamps was forced to team-up Varane and Umtiti in the centre of the defence.

Nobody was sure how they would gel. But six matches into the tournament, they have emerged as the best centre-back pairing in Russia, which will serve France for years to come. On top of their clearances. tackles and blocks, they scored crucial goals in round of 16 against Uruguay and in the semi-final against Belgium respectively, which saw their team to victory.