The last in my series of World Cup reviews, recaps 2026 and the best players of the tournament. robfielder.substack.com/p/the-best-p...

The Best Players of the 2026 World Cup

Looking back at the best players of the 2026 World Cup we are immediately faced with a challenge.

robfielder.substack.com

New blogpost: Team of the World Cup 2026 Written together with the marvellous @robfielder.bsky.social A decent World Cup, one outstanding team, and at least two individual performances that will be remembered for a long time footballarguments.wordpress.com/2026/07/21/t...

I’ve reflected on the best player of the tournament and what the battle between Rodri and Messi tells us more generally about decisiveness and influence. robfielder.substack.com/p/player-of-...

Player of the Tournament: Rodri v Lionel Messi

The Difference Between Influence and Impact

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Always a great pleasure to contribute to this and great to see Harry Kane win a very deserved player of the year. The best player in the world at the moment.

Footballarguments@footballarguments.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Want to get some closure in regard to last season before the World Cup starts? New blogpost: Team of the Season 2025-2026 Featuring (on the page, not on the pitch) the brilliant @lgambrose.bsky.social , @justin-kraft.de and @robfielder.bsky.social! footballarguments.wordpress.com/2026/06/11/t...

Want to get some closure in regard to last season before the World Cup starts? New blogpost: Team of the Season 2025-2026 Featuring (on the page, not on the pitch) the brilliant @lgambrose.bsky.social , @justin-kraft.de and @robfielder.bsky.social! footballarguments.wordpress.com/2026/06/11/t...

Team of the Season 2025-2026

Manager: Mikel Arteta Bench: Courtois, Neuer, Maignan; Dimarco, Ruggeri, Cucurella; Marquinhos, Pacho, Tah, Upamecano, Senesi, Schlotterbeck; Timber, Hakimi, M. Llorente; J. Neves, Zubimendi, Pavlo…

footballarguments.wordpress.com

Catching up on some recent posts. The best players of the 1954 World Cup: robfielder.substack.com/p/the-best-p...

The Best Players of the 1954 World Cup

Moving on to 1954, we hit our stride with a lot more high-quality footage and a wealth of information about the competition (including the first English book focused on a single tournament).

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The first post-war World Cup. Who were the best players of the 1950 edition? Going back to something i looked at with @footballarguments.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

Today's selection comes from the 1938 World Cup. Italy retain their crown, but who were the best players of the tournament? open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

Moving on to the 1934 World Cup and another selection of the best players. Very interesting tournament and some tricky choices to make. robfielder.substack.com/p/the-best-pla…

Today we're going back, way back, to where it all began. Who were the best players of the 1930 World Cup? open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

You might have noticed that the World Cup will soon be upon us. So why not look at the greatest players in World Cup history, how we might select them and what might change from the top 100 I selected back in 2018. robfielder.substack.com/p/rating-the-w…

In my latest post I look at the strength of the Copa America over history. From 1916 to today, how meaningful a competition is it, how tough to win? How does it compare to a World Cup or Euros? open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

After yesterday's post considering the strength of the World Cup over time, today I turn to the European Championship. How has it changed over the years and how does it compare to a World Cup? open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

So far I've spent a lot of time asking questions, this time I actually supply some answers. How strong was each World Cup and how has this changed over time? open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

Follow up to this. Assessing tournaments using the Elo methodology. open.substack.com/pub/robfield...

Assessing the Strength of Tournaments Through History

As I’ve outlined previously, if we’re to assess history’s greatest footballers based on their performances, we need to work out what mattered and what didn’t.

open.substack.com

Rob Fielder@robfielder.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Today's post looks at how we value tournaments. What criteria should we use and how does that change over time? This is the lead in to a series of detailed posts about individual competitions. open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

Today's post looks at how we value tournaments. What criteria should we use and how does that change over time? This is the lead in to a series of detailed posts about individual competitions. open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

Underpinning all of my assessments is the importance of context. Today I look at the three broad eras of football history as an introduction to how we appraise achievements at different points in time. robfielder.substack.com/p/the-eras-of-…

Latest post looks at the art of creating a "top 100" listing of great players. How do we go about it, what is the process and what sort of balance do we need to consider? open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

Today's post is about players' peak, prime and longevity. How long do you have to be great for, in order to be counted among the greats? open.substack.com/pub/robfielder…

It’s a 5-4 in a semi-final of a major tournament between probably the two best teams in the world. Of course people are going to think it’s good.

Alex Stewart@afhstewart.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Obviously this game has been excellent and fun but I think the general reaction to it says more about the current state of the PL esp than it does about this game

Today's newsletter is on the subject of trophies and whether they matter in assessing great players robfielder.substack.com/p/do-trophies-…

Today's newsletter is about the separation between ability and performance in football and the relative importance (or lack of) around completeness and versatility. robfielder.substack.com/p/understandin…

After threatening to do it for a long time, I've finally created a newsletter/blog on Substack. Will be focused on football's greatest players and how we think about greatness in the game. Would be grateful if people subscribe. substack.com/home/post/p-19…

New blogpost: Team of the World Cup 1958 The beginning of the Brazilian empire - and its finest ever player. As always, with massive thanks to @robfielder.bsky.social ! footballarguments.wordpress.com/2026/04/06/t...

Team of the World Cup 1958

Manager: Vicente Feola Bench: Yashin, Gilmar; Axbom, Juskowiak; Gustavsson, Jonquet; De Sordi, Eckel; Szymaniak, Voinov; Liedholm, Bozsik; Skoglund, McParland; Gren, Hamrin; Altafini, Piantoni; Rah…

footballarguments.wordpress.com

The earliest “top 100 current players in the world” list that I’m aware of is World Soccer’s November 1991 version. Is anyone aware of an earlier list like this, either ordered or unordered?

Putting aside Messi and Ronaldo, what are the best individual seasons of the 21st century?

Don’t think @alimaxwell.bsky.social is fully taking account of the heat and altitude impacts of playing in a Mexican summer at midday but I do think this is an interesting question.

The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast@footballweekly.bsky.social · 6mo ago

‘I had quite a lot of fun wondering whether Brazil 1970 would beat Carlisle 24/25 who got relegated from League Two’ How has the role of the No 9 changed over time in the Premier League? @maxrushden.bsky.social @alimaxwell.bsky.social @georgeelek.bsky.social @sannyr.com

I’m interested in the type of books that those reading over 50 get through in a year. I try to read as broadly as possible, across subjects and genres.

David H. Montgomery@dhmontgomery.com · 7mo ago

NEW: How many books did you read this year? If it was more than 2, congrats: you read more than the median American. Read on for way more @today.yougov.com polling from me on America's book-reading habits in 2025. 1/

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to read more. 2024 was my best for probably 20 years and managed to roughly double that tally this year to average a book a week (combination of books and audiobooks). Hope to maintain that next year.

Ahead of the World Cup, am looking for some related reads. What’s the best World Cup connected book I might not have read?