Impressed: Dayot Upamecano (France)
Dayot Upamecano is often overshadowed in France's three-win campaign in the group stage by the amount of talk the front three have received.
But Upa has quietly been Les Bleus' best defender and easily one of Deschamps' first names on the team sheet. There is a reason why he is the only French centre-half to have started in all three games.
Playing without a creative midfield outlet, France relies heavily on Dayot Upamecano's ability to bring the ball out of the defence, break lines through his dribbles and long passes and get the ball to the frontline.
His best passing performance came against Iraq when he completed 96% of his passes, including 5/8 accurate long balls and one big chance created.
Defensively, Upamecano was as solid as he was in the Bayern kit last season. Against Senegal, he effectively shut down all counterattacks and balls in behind with his speed and timing. Six tackles, three interceptions, five recoveries and winning 7/8 of his ground duels, what a monster!
Is Upamecano comfortably in the conversation for the top 3 centre-backs in the world right now?
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