World Cup 2018: Premier League XI of the tournament

Forward: Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)

Romelu Lukaku has always been a prolific goal scorer for club and country. He was amongst the goals yet again in this World Cup, with four goals under his belt. However, it was Lukaku’s work off the ball and his ability to link up with his fellow attackers which caught a lot of people’s attention in Russia. Lukaku display attributes of his game that we haven't seen too much of before, and that'll surely aid his progress. An integral member of the star-studded Belgian attacking unit, Lukaku’s speed and power up front helped to propel the Red Devils’ dream run to the semi-finals.

Lukaku was the perfect foil for Hazard and de Bruyne, and he began the tournament with consecutive braces in demolitions of Panama and Tunisia. He had a terrible game against Japan in the second-round clash, yet it was his important fake that led to Chadli's last minute winner. He couldn't find the net in the knockout stages, but his overall play showed a marked improvement in this tournament.

Forward: Harry Kane (England)

Belgium v England : Play-Off for Third Place - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

Harry Kane was surprisingly named as England captain ahead of the more obvious choice of Jordan Henderson. Kane was named as the skipper to carry his team from the front, much like Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski do for their respective countries. Kane had an extremely strange tournament, where he ended with the Golden Ball, despite not influencing the game too much in the knockout stages of the tournament.

Kane began in devastating fashion with a brace against Tunisia, which included a minute in the dying stages of the game. He then scored a hattrick in a hammering over Panama, to finish with 5 goals in the group stages.

He scored the crucial penalty in the second round clash to put England in front against Colombia, and also converted another one in the penalty shootout that followed. But, that sadly was the end of it all. England sneaked through over Sweden but then fell in the semi-final hurdle against Croatia, with Kane drawing blank. He failed to find the net in the third place game against Belgium too, and left the World Cup with the feeling that he failed to deliver in the moments where it actually mattered.