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

#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.