Soucek stars from Premier League midfield trio in World Cup qualifying best XI
West Ham and Manchester City fans will be thrilled to see some familiar names make the World Cup qualifying team of the round as their representatives impressed against San Marino, Estonia and Iceland. Elsewhere, Norway, Italy and Turkey all have players make the cut as we run through the best XI from the first round of games.
Dayle Edward Coleing (Gibraltar) - 8.43
Gibraltar may have lost 3-0 to Norway on Wednesday evening, but it would have been worse had it not been for Dayle Edward Coleing between the sticks. Norway managed 14 shots on target in the victory, however, Coleing's 11 saves was the second most in the opening round of World Cup qualifying fixtures and helped the 24-year-old to a WhoScored rating of 8.43.
Hovhannes Hambardzumyan (Armenia) - 8.64
Armenia kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win at Liechtenstein with right-back Hovhannes Hambardzumyan putting in a man of the match display. The 30-year-old defended well, making four tackles and two interceptions, and got forward impressively as he completed three dribbles and made three key passes to yield a WhoScored rating of 8.64.
Ioannis Kousoulos (Cyprus) - 7.85
Cyprus held Slovakia to a 0-0 draw in their Group H opener with Ioannis Kousoulos putting in a solid rearguard showing in the stalemate. Kousoulos was proactive in his approach to defending the Cyprus goal as he made five interceptions and four clearances to feature at the heart of the defence in this XI.
Giorgio Chiellini (Italy) - 7.88
Partnering 24-year-old Kousoulos at the back is Italy's Giorgio Chiellini, who landed a WhoScored rating of 7.88 in a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland. The experienced Juventus star maximised a strength of 'passing' as he found a teammate with 95% of his 119 passes and defended the Azzurri goal well, making five clearances, to contribute towards his inclusion.
Risto Radunovic (Montenegro) - 8.28
Rounding off the backline is Montenegro's Risto Radunovic. While the left-back was unable to have a direct hand in a goal in their 2-1 win over Latvia, it wasn't for want of trying as the 28-year-old managed one shot and three key passes. An additional three tackles saw Radunovic return a WhoScored rating of 8.28.
Jesse Lingard (England) - 9.07
Jesse Lingard tried desperately to mark his return to the England setup with a goal having managed 10 shots against San Marino on Thursday night. The on-loan West Ham star at least provided an assist for one of Dominic Calvert-Lewin's two goals at Wembey, that coming from one of three key passes, as Lingard features with a WhoScored rating of 9.07.
Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic) - 10.0
The WhoScored World Cup qualifying player of the round, Tomas Soucek returned a perfect 10 rating as the Czech Republic romped to a 6-2 win in Estonia. The West Ham star bagged a hat-trick in the resounding victory, netting from five shots, and excelled off the ball, too, having made five interceptions and four tackles to cap an exceptional evening.
Ilkay Gundogan (Germany) - 9.09
Ilkay Gundogan scored for the fourth game running for club and country as Germany secured a 3-0 win over Iceland to get their qualifying campaign off to a winning start. Only two players managed more passes than Gundogan (147) in the midweek round of games, returning a pass success rate of 95.9% in the process. The Manchester City midfielder was unlucky not to register an assist, too, as he managed four key passes in a man of the match display.
Alexander Sorloth (Norway) - 9.87
Only Sargis Adamyan (8) completed more dribbles than Alexander Sorloth (7) in this round of World Cup qualifying matches with the RB Leipzig star featuring on the frontline. Sorloth netted one of Norway's three goals in their 3-0 win over Gibraltar as he found a way past Dayle Edward Coleing with one of four shots. In addition, Sorloth made three key passes to garner a WhoScored rating of 9.87.
Burak Yilmaz (Turkey) - 9.53
Along with Tomas Soucek, Burak Yilmaz was one of two players to score a hat-trick in qualifying this week as Turkey secured an impressive 4-2 win over the Netherlands. Frank de Boer's start to life as Oranje boss has been poor, with Yilmaz's putting in an inspired performance to pile further misery upon this downtrodden Netherlands side. The experienced Lille man scored with three of four shots in a prolific display at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
Patrik Schick (Czech Republic) - 9.62
Completing the XI is the second Czech Republic representive in the side. Patrik Schick had a direct hand in three of their six goals against Estonia, netting once and providing two assists, those for Jakub Jantko and Tomas Soucek to score, from four shots and three key passes, respectively, to round off the team with a WhoScored rating of 9.62.
