Published on 6/28/2026
Deniz Undav, the German national team striker, reaped the fruits of his brilliance in the World Cup finals, after he was chosen by FIFA as the best player according to its classification.
Stuttgart striker Undav scored 3 goals for the Manchester United and made two assists in the group stage, making him the best player in terms of scoring contributions compared to the number of minutes he played.
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Best player in the group stage of the World Cup
These contributions of Undaf (29 years old) came despite his participation in only 86 minutes, surpassing the stars of the game participating in the tournament, most notably the Argentine Lionel Messi, the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, the French Kylian Mbappe, the Brazilian Vinicius Junior and the Norwegian Erling Haaland.
According to the FIFA Power-Ranking, which is based on data collected during matches, Undav collected 8.38 points.
Ondav surpasses Messi, the tournament’s all-time top scorer, who finished in second place after collecting 8.33 points according to the same classification.
Moroccan Ismail Sabiri imposed his name in the top ten, scoring 7.07 points, after scoring 3 goals in the group stage.
The top 10 players in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup according to FIFA classification:
- German Deniz Undaf: 8.37 points.
- Argentine Lionel Messi: 8.33 points.
- Frenchman Kylian Mbappe: 8.12 points.
- Brazilian Vinicius Junior: 7.91 points.
- Swiss Johan Manzambi: 7.65 points.
- Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé: 7:52 points.
- Norwegian Erling Haaland: 7.33 points.
- Dutchman Crescencio Summerville: 7.08 points.
- New Zealander Elijah Just: 7.08 points.
- Moroccan Ismail Sabiri: 7.07 points.
German praise
The German newspaper “Bild” praised his compatriot Undav, saying, “Simply, he is the most effective player among the names mentioned.”
Despite these numbers, Undaf’s status with the German national team raises a state of astonishment among the local press, as his coach, Julian Nagelsmann, still refuses to include him in the starting lineup, especially in the Ecuador match, which everyone was waiting for his participation from the beginning as it was a marginal match for the “Mansheft.”
But the young coach (38 years old) preferred to keep him at his side and then bring him in in the second half, just as happened in the first two matches against Curacao and Côte d’Ivoire.
Nagelsmann said, “There is always a discussion about this matter. We can include him as a starter and benefit from his quality from the beginning, but we hope that he will continue to shine as an alternative. This is the idea that we are currently adopting.”
He explained, “If Undaf starts the match, there is a high probability that we will have to subtract another player. Who is the player on the team who has this real ability to finish the ball in the net when the match gets complicated?”
The newspaper expects Undav to continue sitting on the bench in the Germany vs. Paraguay match scheduled for Monday at 23:30 Mecca and Doha time for the round of 32 of the World Cup.
She concluded, “Undav will remain the first trump card for Germany and Nagelsmann, even though he is currently the best player in the entire tournament in the FIFA classification.”
