The Festival of FUTball party continues! Now that the final group stage matches have concluded, half of the teams are progressing to the round of 16, while the second half are heading home early. Some national teams earned redemption at the last minute, while others floundered in the face of elimination. Heroes and villains were made as players helped their teams advance in dramatic fashion. Either way, these are the players that stood out the most in this nail-biting slew of final group stage matches. Check out their new player items in the third Team of the Matchday, part of this year's Festival of FUTball.
While some of these players are known superstars, some have suddenly found their names thrust into the spotlight. Argentina's Lionel Messi is included for his overall performance and early goal, but it was midfielder Marcos Rojo who literally saved his country from elimination with his late winner against Nigeria. Not all players recognized in this squad are still in the tournament; Korea Republic was eliminated, but Heung-Min Son and Cho Hyun Woo became legends in Mexico after they helped defeat Germany and clear the way for the North American side's advancement to the round of 16.
All Festival of FUTball and Team of the Matchday items can only be found in regular FIFA 18 Ultimate Team, not World Cup FUT.
Cho Hyun Woo, Korea Republic
Thiago Silva, Brazil
Andreas Granqvist, Sweden
Marcos Rojo, Argentina
Yerry Mina, Colombia
Ricardo Quaresma, Portugal
Paulinho, Brazil
Ivan Perišić, Croatia
Luis Suarez, Uruguay
Lionel Messi, Argentina
Heung-Min Son, Korea Republic
Essam El-Hadary, Egypt
Diego Godín, Uruguay
Ludwig Augustinsson, Sweden
Milan Badelj, Croatia
Salem Al Dawsari, Saudi Arabia
Isco, Spain
Joel Campbell, Panama
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