World Cup 2018: 5 players that stood out in the group stage.

The group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup has come to an end and we've seen 32 teams play their hearts out in what is unarguably the most prestigious stage for football. The two weeks since the start of the world cup saw the group stage fixtures being carried out, with 16 teams qualifying into the knockout stages.

As much as they've played as a team, we have witnessed a few players standing out. Here are five of them:

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#5 Philippe Coutinho (Brazil)

The 26-year-old Barcelona midfielder has played a pivotal role in Brazil's World Cup campaign this year, playing as a right attacking-midfielder in their 4-3-3 formation. After scoring 4 goals and assisting 2 goals in 13 matches in the qualifiers, he was just behind Neymar and Gabriel Jesus, in terms of contribution to the team.

The World Cup has seen Coutinho leading the Seleção through to the knockout stages of the World Cup as he earns 2 wins and a draw for the team in Group E.

Coutinho scored the opener for Brazil against Switzerland in their first match of the group stage by shooting with his right foot from outside the box to the top-right corner of the goal, which earned the Brazilians a point as the match ended 1-1.

In the second match against Costa Rica, after 90 minutes of play sees a goalless draw, Coutinho scores a tap-in in the first minute of injury time to give them a lead, later to be joined by Neymar to earn them a 2-0 win.

The 3rd match of the group stage against Serbia was the decider for the entry of the Seleção into the knockout stages. In the 36th minute of the game, Coutinho gave a lob-cross to fellow Barca-man Paulinho from inside the attacking half to right outside the box beating 8 Serbian men, with Paulinho converting the cross.

Coutinho's World Cup performance of scoring twice and assisting once earns him the title of Brazil's main man over Seleção forwards Neymar and Gabriel Jesus.

#4 Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)

Belgium vs Panama: Group G - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

The 25-year-old Manchester United striker leads the Belgian attack as a centre-forward in their 3-4-2-1 attacking formation. Lukaku, being The Red Devils' all-time top goalscorer lead the goal-scoring tally in the World Cup qualifiers by scoring 11 goals and assisting once in 8 matches.

Lukaku takes his team to the knockout stages of the 2018 World Cup in Russia by gathering 4 goals to his name in the two matches he played, adding his name to the list of this year's FIFA Golden Boot candidates.

Belgium faced Panama in their opening match of the World Cup where Lukaku scored twice, a header in the 69th minute of the game and a chip-shot 6 minutes later.

In the second match, Tunisia posed no threat to the Belgians as they scored five goals against Tunisia's two. Lukaku scored his second brace of the tournament in his second match. He scored his first goal 16 minutes into the game with a shot to the bottom-right corner of the goal, followed by a chip shot 3 minutes into the first half's injury time.

Romelu was taken off in the 59th minute of the game against Tunisia in fear of an injury and was later confirmed by head coach Roberto Martinez that there is no injury, but Lukaku will take a few days of rest, denying him the chance to play against England in the final match of the group stage.

At the end of the group stage, Lukaku retains his spot in the list of FIFA Golden Boot candidates with 4 goals, alongside Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and below England's Harry Kane.

#3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Cristiano Ronaldo

The 33-year-old Real Madrid striker was written off way before he started his World Cup campaign because of his failure to score more than a goal each in the previous editions of the World Cups he played in (2010 and 2014).

Ronaldo scored a total of 15 goals and assisted 3 in the 9 matches he played for his country in the World Cup qualifiers, much ahead of anyone else in his team. He captains the Portuguese team for which he's part of the 2-strike attack involved in Fernando Santos' 4-4-2 formation.

Portugal faced geographical neighbours Spain in their first match of Group B. The match ended a 3-3 draw owing to Ronaldo's hattrick which started with a penalty in the 4th minute against David De Gea, followed by a shot in the 44th minute which slipped past the Manchester United goalkeeper's hands.

Later, in the dying moments of the game in the 88th minute where Spain was leading the match 3-2, Ronaldo scores a right-footed free-kick which bullet-ed past the Spanish defensive wall into the goal, ending the match in a 3-3 draw.

Cristiano Ronaldo lead his team to a victory in their second match of the group stage against Morocco, scoring the only goal in the 4th minute of the game.

Ronaldo failed to start out in their third match against Iran, failing to convert a penalty. He also earned a yellow card later in the game.

Ronaldo is the sole reason for earning 4 vital points for Portugal, being the only goalscorer in their first and second match, adding 4 goals to his tally sharing the second spot in the list of FIFA Golden Boot candidates.

#2 Luka Modric (Croatia)

Luka Modric

The 32-year-old Real Madrid midfielder captains the Croatian national team, playing a pivotal part in their midfield. He scored 1 goal and assisted 3 in the World Cup qualifiers. Modric usually plays alongside Ivan Rakitic in the central midfield position in Zlatko Dalić's 4-2-3-1 formation.

Luka Modric's Croatian squad faced Nigeria in their first match, where Modric converted a penalty in the 71st minute after Etebo's own-goal gave them a lead. The match ended 2-0.

Croatia faced 2014 World Cup runner-ups Argentina in their second match, which was expected to be their toughest fixture of the group stage, but they won by a 3 goal margin without conceding any.

Luka Modric shifted from his usual defensive midfield position in the 4-2-3-1 formation to an attacking midfield position in a 4-1-4-1 formation. He shot past Willy Caballero in the 80th minute from outside the box to earn his second goal of the tournament.

Modric stepped back into the defensive-midfield position against Iceland in the final match of the group stage, aiding the team into possession play holding the ball 62% of the time.

Luka Modric is credited with the success of the underdog team Croatia for being the only team apart from Uruguay to earn 9 points in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, winning all 3 matches.

#1 Harry Kane (England)

England vs Panama: Group G - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

Harry "HurriKane" Kane, the 24-year-old Tottenham Hotspur striker took the 2018 World Cup by a storm. He captains the English team, a decision that stirred talks even among fans but soon ended after the tournament started. Kane has 5 goals and 1 assist to his name from the 6 matches he played in the World Cup qualifiers. He plays as a centre-forward supported by a second striker in Gareth Southgate's 3-4-2-1 formation.

The Englishmen faced Tunisia in their first match of the tournament. An 11th-minute tap-in from Kane put them in the lead. A foul by centre-back Kyle Walker in the 33rd minute gave away a penalty-goal to Tunisia. One minute into injury time in the second half, Kane scores a match-winning header which bounced off Maguire's head from a corner-kick.

The second match against Panama saw Kane scoring his first ever World Cup hattrick. Kane successfully scored from the penalty spot twice, in the 22nd and 46th minute. Later in the match, he completed his hattrick as a shot at the goal by Loftus-Cheek deflected off Harry Kane's foot. The match ended 6-1.

The third match for England was perhaps their biggest hurdle in the group stage, but Gareth Southgate played Jamie Vardy alongside Marcus Rashford, resting Harry Kane for the knockout stages.

Harry Kane leads the race for the FIFA Golden Boot with 5 goals and has given hopes for his countrymen, with the phrase " It's coming home" being associated with the team's success and hopes of bringing the world cup to the country that invented the game.