In tribute to this totally unwelcome international break, The Independent’s sport desk decided to make its own world international XI just for the fun of it.
Eleven of our writers submitted their dream team of players currently playing international football, in a 4-3-3 formation. What made it a little trickier was the rule: only one player could be chosen from each country.
So do you pick Kylian Mbappe or N’Golo Kante? Cristiano Ronaldo or Bernardo Silva? Any English players at all?
Just two players made every one of our 11 writers’ teams, players from Slovenia and Senegal were surprisingly prominent, while not a single Uruguayan earned a vote despite Uruguay’s fifth place in the world rankings.
Take a look through the gallery below to see The Independent’s world XI, and let us know your line-up in the comments below or on Twitter @IndyFootball .
Here’s how our writers voted...
Goalkeepers
Jan Oblak (Slovenia) 5 votes
Alisson Becker (Brazil) 4
Ederson (Brazil) 1
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany) 1
Defenders
Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal) 9
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands) 9
Andrew Robertson (Scotland) 8
Joshua Kimmich (Germany) 6
Trent Alexander-Arnold (England) 4
Jordi Alba (Spain) 2
Sergio Ramos (Spain) 2
Dani Carvajal (Spain) 1
Leonardo Bonucci (Italy) 1
Milan Skriniar (Slovakia) 1
David Alaba (Austria) 1
Midfielders
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium) 11
N’golo Kante (France) 6
Luka Modric (Croatia) 5
Bernardo Silva (Portugal) 3
Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands) 2
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia) 2
Thiago Alcanthara (Spain) 1
Miralem Pjanic (Bosnia) 1
Rodri (Spain) 1
Fernandinho (Brazil) 1
Forwards
Lionel Messi (Argentina) 11
Mohamed Salah (Egypt) 5
Kylian Mbappe (France) 5
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 4
Raheem Sterling (England) 3
Neymar (Brazil) 2
Harry Kane (England) 1
Robert Lewandowski (Poland) 1
Sadio Mane (Senegal) 1
