Gareth Bale and team-mate named in 'Worst Team of the World

Gareth Bale and team-mate named in 'Worst Team of the World Cup' as brutal ratings dished out



The World Cup is finally over after Argentina pipped France in a thrilling finale on Sunday afternoon



By Glen Williams

19 DEC 2022

After a month of intense competition and captivating football, the World Cup has reached its conclusion.

Lionel Messi-led Argentina pipped Kylian Mbappe's France in a final for the ages on Sunday afternoon, with the South Americans coming out on top in he penalty shootout following a 3-3 draw after extra time.

On the pitch, it has been a tournament to remember. While, of course, fans in this little corner of the world were delighted just to see their country represented on the biggest stage, there was some criticism over the disappointing performances which were put in during their group stage matches with the USA, Iran and England.


And some of Wales' players have not escaped the notoriously sharp pencils of French outlet L'Equipe, famous for their brutal analysis and player ratings.

L'Equipe have announced what they deem to be their 'Worst Team of the Tournament' in Monday's edition of the paper, just hours after France were declared runners-up to Argentina.


The XI comprises three players from Poland, two from Wales and one apiece from Belgium, Iran, Qatar, Costa Rica, Senegal and Denmark. Alongside each player is a rating which ranges from 2.5/10 to 3.5/10.

The two players from Wales are captain Gareth Bale, who received a 3/10, and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, who got a joint-top 3.5/10.



Bale, the scorer of Wales' only goal at the World Cup after converting the penalty he won against the USA, was named the official match sponsor's Player of the Match for the opening group game against the Americans. Clearly L'Equipe didn't see it that way, however Bale himself will likely have been disappointed with his overall output from across the tournament given his lofty standards and the special moments he is so capable of providing.

Hennessey is likely included due to his horror moment against Iran when he was sent off for a kung-fu kick on Mehdi Taremi late on. That moment preceded Iran's two goals, which practically sealed Wales' fate with such a mountainous task of overcoming England in the final game facing them.

Here are L'Equipe's worst tournament ratings in full. (Players had to have played a minimum of two matches.)

Wayne Henessey (Wales) - 3.5

Matty Cash (Poland) - 3.5

Hossein Kanaani (Iran) - 3

Boualem Khoukhi (Qatar) - 3.33

Yannick Carrasco (Belgium) - 3

Andreas Skov Olsen (Denmark) - 2.5

Krystian Bielik (Poland) - 3.33

Piotr Zieliński (Poland) - 3.5

Krépin Diatta (Senegal) - 3

Gareth Bale (Wales) - 3

Anthony Contreras (Costa Rica) - 3

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Gareth Bale and team-mate named in 'Worst Team of the World Cup' as brutal ratings dished out



The World Cup is finally over after Argentina pipped France in a thrilling finale on Sunday afternoon



By Glen Williams

19 DEC 2022

After a month of intense competition and captivating football, the World Cup has reached its conclusion.

Lionel Messi-led Argentina pipped Kylian Mbappe's France in a final for the ages on Sunday afternoon, with the South Americans coming out on top in he penalty shootout following a 3-3 draw after extra time.

On the pitch, it has been a tournament to remember. While, of course, fans in this little corner of the world were delighted just to see their country represented on the biggest stage, there was some criticism over the disappointing performances which were put in during their group stage matches with the USA, Iran and England.


And some of Wales' players have not escaped the notoriously sharp pencils of French outlet L'Equipe, famous for their brutal analysis and player ratings.

L'Equipe have announced what they deem to be their 'Worst Team of the Tournament' in Monday's edition of the paper, just hours after France were declared runners-up to Argentina.


The XI comprises three players from Poland, two from Wales and one apiece from Belgium, Iran, Qatar, Costa Rica, Senegal and Denmark. Alongside each player is a rating which ranges from 2.5/10 to 3.5/10.

The two players from Wales are captain Gareth Bale, who received a 3/10, and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, who got a joint-top 3.5/10.



Bale, the scorer of Wales' only goal at the World Cup after converting the penalty he won against the USA, was named the official match sponsor's Player of the Match for the opening group game against the Americans. Clearly L'Equipe didn't see it that way, however Bale himself will likely have been disappointed with his overall output from across the tournament given his lofty standards and the special moments he is so capable of providing.

Hennessey is likely included due to his horror moment against Iran when he was sent off for a kung-fu kick on Mehdi Taremi late on. That moment preceded Iran's two goals, which practically sealed Wales' fate with such a mountainous task of overcoming England in the final game facing them.

Here are L'Equipe's worst tournament ratings in full. (Players had to have played a minimum of two matches.)

Wayne Henessey (Wales) - 3.5

Matty Cash (Poland) - 3.5

Hossein Kanaani (Iran) - 3

Boualem Khoukhi (Qatar) - 3.33

Yannick Carrasco (Belgium) - 3

Andreas Skov Olsen (Denmark) - 2.5

Krystian Bielik (Poland) - 3.33

Piotr Zieliński (Poland) - 3.5

Krépin Diatta (Senegal) - 3

Gareth Bale (Wales) - 3

Anthony Contreras (Costa Rica) - 3

justified he was awefull

Gareth Bale and team-mate named in 'Worst Team of the World Cup' as brutal ratings dished out



The World Cup is finally over after Argentina pipped France in a thrilling finale on Sunday afternoon



By Glen Williams

19 DEC 2022

After a month of intense competition and captivating football, the World Cup has reached its conclusion.

Lionel Messi-led Argentina pipped Kylian Mbappe's France in a final for the ages on Sunday afternoon, with the South Americans coming out on top in he penalty shootout following a 3-3 draw after extra time.

On the pitch, it has been a tournament to remember. While, of course, fans in this little corner of the world were delighted just to see their country represented on the biggest stage, there was some criticism over the disappointing performances which were put in during their group stage matches with the USA, Iran and England.


And some of Wales' players have not escaped the notoriously sharp pencils of French outlet L'Equipe, famous for their brutal analysis and player ratings.

L'Equipe have announced what they deem to be their 'Worst Team of the Tournament' in Monday's edition of the paper, just hours after France were declared runners-up to Argentina.


The XI comprises three players from Poland, two from Wales and one apiece from Belgium, Iran, Qatar, Costa Rica, Senegal and Denmark. Alongside each player is a rating which ranges from 2.5/10 to 3.5/10.

The two players from Wales are captain Gareth Bale, who received a 3/10, and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, who got a joint-top 3.5/10.



Bale, the scorer of Wales' only goal at the World Cup after converting the penalty he won against the USA, was named the official match sponsor's Player of the Match for the opening group game against the Americans. Clearly L'Equipe didn't see it that way, however Bale himself will likely have been disappointed with his overall output from across the tournament given his lofty standards and the special moments he is so capable of providing.

Hennessey is likely included due to his horror moment against Iran when he was sent off for a kung-fu kick on Mehdi Taremi late on. That moment preceded Iran's two goals, which practically sealed Wales' fate with such a mountainous task of overcoming England in the final game facing them.

Here are L'Equipe's worst tournament ratings in full. (Players had to have played a minimum of two matches.)

Wayne Henessey (Wales) - 3.5

Matty Cash (Poland) - 3.5

Hossein Kanaani (Iran) - 3

Boualem Khoukhi (Qatar) - 3.33

Yannick Carrasco (Belgium) - 3

Andreas Skov Olsen (Denmark) - 2.5

Krystian Bielik (Poland) - 3.33

Piotr Zieliński (Poland) - 3.5

Krépin Diatta (Senegal) - 3

Gareth Bale (Wales) - 3

Anthony Contreras (Costa Rica) - 3

justified he was awefull

Can’t argue with that and exacerbated by Page not pulling him off in the Iran game . Polish inclusion seems harsh given they made the last 16

Not surprised about Gareth, with hindsight Rob Page should have said in August to all the squad, that unless you can prove you are fit then you will not be on the plane.

spot on for bale ramsey should be on there aswell

I'm no great lover of international football but appreciated the simple and creditable fact that little old Wales got to their first World Cup Finals in over 50 years

That their age and injury-hit squad didn't reach the heights of Euro '16 was surely not overly a surprise, as the 'lucky' Page took other (better) managers squad on a 'thank you' tour of Qatar?

This 'worst team' is not worth the paper it was written on. It's pathetic (with or without home players)

The danger here is it seems many of the same people who jumped on the bandwagon procured by Gary Speed and taken onwards by others, have now started jumping back off again as the mileage takes its toll

As with Cardiff City FC, it's now time for the real supporters to stand behind their team and not throw them under a bus...

I'm no great lover of international football but appreciated the simple and creditable fact that little old Wales got to their first World Cup Finals in over 50 years

That their age and injury-hit squad didn't reach the heights of Euro '16 was surely not overly a surprise, as the 'lucky' Page took other (better) managers squad on a 'thank you' tour of Qatar?

This 'worst team' is not worth the paper it was written on. It's pathetic (with or without home players)

The danger here is it seems many of the same people who jumped on the bandwagon procured by Gary Speed and taken onwards by others, have now started jumping back off again as the mileage takes its toll

As with Cardiff City FC, it's no w time for the real supporters to stand behind their team and not throw them under a bus...

We are not throwing him under a bus though, someone made a worst team of the tournament, someone else could make a best team of the tournament we just give our views on that.
We are all grateful to Gareth and the rest of the squad for getting us to the World Cup, but I think even Gareth would say it was not a performance he would have liked to have given.
Just my opinion

Definitely deserved. Although I still love and respect them for what they have done for the country, and for the memories and journey we got to go on.

Page, however, needed to grow a pair and take Bale off when it was evident he was detrimental. Similar to what the Portugal manager did.

It was evident from before we had kicked a ball, though, that Page lacked a winning mentality by taking Gunter and Williams.

Not surprised about Gareth, with hindsight Rob Page should have said in August to all the squad, that unless you can prove you are fit then you will not be on the plane.

Spot on - or should not have started the 2nd game .

I thought Matty Cash looked decent for Poland. Definitely not the worst left back at all. Bale wasn't match fit so we can forgive him.

Missing the World Cup badly now

Not surprised about Gareth, with hindsight Rob Page should have said in August to all the squad, that unless you can prove you are fit then you will not be on the plane.

If that was the criteria we could have fitted the squad on a hang glider. If you think Gareth Bale shouldn't have been selected for this squad using that logic, then you must think he shouldn't have played against Austria when his playing time was even less. At least we wouldn't be having this argument - we wouldn't have been in the play off final let alone Qatar !

Possibly could have been rested against Iran given the extreme heat in the middle of the day but the difficulty for Page is that he remains by far our most likely player to come up with a goal. Still likely to top the scoring for the Euro qualifiers just has he has done for the last 6 qualifying tournaments.

Thoroughly enjoyed my 11 days in Qatar and I thank Gareth Bale and Rob Page for the huge part they played in getting me there.

Not surprised about Gareth, with hindsight Rob Page should have said in August to all the squad, that unless you can prove you are fit then you will not be on the plane.

If that was the criteria we could have fitted the squad on a hang glider. If you think Gareth Bale shouldn't have been selected for this squad using that logic, then you must think he shouldn't have played against Austria when his playing time was even less. At least we wouldn't be having this argument - we wouldn't have been in the play off final let alone Qatar !

Possibly could have been rested against Iran given the extreme heat in the middle of the day but the difficulty for Page is that he remains by far our most likely player to come up with a goal. Still likely to top the scoring for the Euro qualifiers just has he has done for the last 6 qualifying tournaments.

Thoroughly enjoyed my 11 days in Qatar and I thank Gareth Bale and Rob Page for the huge part they played in getting me there.

Pardon me, but show me where I said Gareth should not have gone to Qatar, what is stated that with hindsight players should have been told they would only be on the plane if fit, seems reason enough.Glad you enjoyed the trip