6 Footballers Whose Reputations Took A Battering At World Cup 2018

Many would assume that Jerome Boateng should be in this slot due to his horrendous performance against Sweden in a crucial game for the Germans. However, it could be argued that Boateng wasn't anywhere near 100% coming in to this tournament, was let down by his midfield, and he could have salvaged his reputation if his teammates had beaten a South Korea side who had nothing to play for.

Instead, we've went with Hummels as the German defender who was the biggest let-down in Russia. We picked him for out World Cup Best XI and mentioned how Germany only conceded four goals in qualifying with him at the back. Die Mannschaft conceded four goals in three games and finished bottom of a group they were expected to coast.

Furthermore, despite losing to Mexico and scraping a win in the last-minute against Sweden, the Germans could have proven themselves to be the ultimate "Turniermannschaft" (tournament team) by snatching a late win against South Korea; the ball was crossed to Hummels in the 86th minute who simply needed to head home from six yards out.

He mistimed his header, the ball hit his shoulder and went wide, Germany conceded twice in injury time and failed to advance from first stage of the tournament for the first time since 1938.