From the best fans to star players, and the worst blunders to a shocking moment… SunSport’s World Cup awards revealed

IT’S been the longest and largest World Cup on record. Just the 104 games, played in 16 stadiums in three countries. SunSport has revealed its World Cup awards Credit: Alamy Lionel Messi was once again the World Cup’s best player after dragging Argentina to the final Credit: Getty Unprecedented in scale. But now the dust has settled, with the final played out last night in the MetLife, Sun Sport brings you our official World Cup awards. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Best player Only one contender. Even at 39 he single-handedly dragged Argentina to the Final. The greatest: Lionel Messi. Best goal Definitely a few in the mix, moments of genuine quality. But, in the end, our top three were: 1 Sidney Lopes Cabral (Cape Verde v Argentina) – Amazing strike from somewhere in the vicinity of Miami Beach. 2 Vinicius Jr (Brazil v Morocco) – A shimmy, a jink and a finish of pure quality. Brazil’s only highlight. 3 Erling Haaland (Norway v Brazil) – Soaring header after towering above Gabriel. Stay humble. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Sidney Lopes’ stunner for Cape Verde was the goal of the tournament Credit: AFP Best miss that deserved to have been a goal Michael Olise’s stunning scissor kick from the edge of the box that thumped against the Sweden post in the last 32. Best save Australia’s Patrick Beach from Ramy Rabia’s header to earn a shoot-out versus Egypt, then he was subbed off and replacement Mathew Ryan didn’t get a hand on any of them. Michael Olise’s overhead kick against Sweden would have been a stunning goal Credit: Getty The Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was the best venue at the tournament Credit: Getty Worst keeper blunder USA’s Matt Freeze against Belgium. Maybe that’s just footballing karma. Gianni Infantino prize for appearing everywhere Winner: David Beckham. Runner-up: Gianni Infantino. Best Stadium Plenty of support for the SoFi in Los Angeles and the AT&T in Dallas, as well as the Azteca. But the stand-out winner was the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the heart of Atlanta. Simply gorgeous. Shame about the other stuff (see below). David Beckham outshone Gianni Infantino in seemingly turning up everywhere at the World Cup Credit: Splash Every city that SunSport visited was amazing Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Worst stadium The MetLife. Sure it must have been great when it was built. But it’s time to knock it down and erect something worthy of the Big Apple. Maybe with some shade. Most hospitable city All of them. It was an absolute blast. Thank you, America and Canada (I didn’t go to Mexico). Best fans (extended stay) Norway – you will never forget them: Row! Best fans (short stay) Scotland – drank Boston dry with a smile and a stagger. Scotland fans drank Boston dry and endeared themselves to the city Credit: EPA Norway had the most iconic chant at the World Cup with their rowing celebration Credit: Getty Best unexpected moment Curacao briefly equalising against Germany. Sheer joy Schadenfreude moment Germany going out on penalties against Paraguay. Come on, you HAD to enjoy that. Biggest disappointment Thomas Tuchel deciding defence was the best form of defence against Argentina. It wasn’t. Biggest disappointment (non-England) Portugal, closely followed by Uruguay. Best off-pitch surprise That Americans can get into “soccer” if they realise how important it is. Every bar TV screen had the games on (and I went into a lot of bars…..) and the locals wanted to hear about the matches and the stars. Best match Just for the drama of it, Portugal 2 Croatia 1. A second half with four disallowed goals, a VAR penalty, countless chances and utter chaos at the end. Closely followed by the heroic Alamo stand in the Azteca. Shame England tried to repeat it. American fans proved they can get into football if they choose to embrace it Credit: Shutterstock Editorial But Gianni Infantino bowing to Donald Trump’s demand to get a red card overturned was a disgrace Credit: Getty Worst match England 0 Ghana 0. Long journey out to the middle of nowhere to watch a game that nearly died of shame. Best lookalike Clement Turpin (French ref) /Leandro Trossard (Belgium). Biggest off-pitch gripe Realising that when things don’t go as planned, the USA has more Jobsworths per square foot than any other nation on earth. What happened to showing initiative? Most maddening experience Spending an hour to get into the Mercedes Benz Stadium for the England v Argentina semi-final because there was only one security scanner and they then ran out of bag tags. Swiftly followed by no working WiFi inside. Apologies to those who read my first edition report. Shameful moment Fifa bowing to the demands from the White House to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card ban. Utterly disgraceful. What’s the point in having rules if you can ignore them when your mate picks up the blower? Comment now