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Real Madrid set a record for the most goals scored by their players at a World Cup, as 22 total scores were hit home by Madridistas in 2026. Kylian Mbappe led the way with 10 to win the Golden Boot, but center midfielder Jude Bellingham was also incredible from his position with seven goals. And Vinicius Junior made a great impact in the attack, too, carrying an ordinary Brazil national team as best as he could.
WhoScored's ratings for the 2026 World Cup are final, and when looking at their best XI of the tournament, Real Madrid are very well represented with three players making it in, which is the most of any club in the world.
Mbappe obviously got one of the nods at the main forward positions next to his main Golden Boot competitor in Lionel Messi, while Jude Bellingham and Michael Olise joined forces in the midfield. On the left, Vinicius Junior was the top rated player, forming a formidable pairing with Mbappe's French national teammate Ousmane Dembele on the right hand side.
Real Madrid players dominated the World Cup
But while three Real Madrid superstars deservingly made it to the objective best rated World Cup XI from WhoScored, there is one new star at Real Madrid who actually won the World Cup tournament who will feel that he was hard done by the ratings.
Star left back Marc Cucurella shut down the likes of Lionel Messi and Michael Olise in a tournament for the ages, but he did not join Spanish national team right back Pedro Porro of Tottenham Hotspur or his other star teammate Pau Cubarsi from Barcelona in the back four.
The left back nod went to Cristiano Ronaldo's best Portugal national teammate, by far, in PSG's Nuno Mendes. Now, the statistical ratings are only based on things like tackles, interceptions, passes, key passes, dribbles completed, and fouls drawn and do not account for actual defensive work, which means pure defending and marking will go underrated.
Because otherwise, Real Madrid fans will rightfully point out that there was no better left back than Marc Cucurella - not even Mendes, whose injury in the middle of the Round of 16 against Spain played a huge role in Portugal's exit from Cristiano's final World Cup tournament.
Real Madrid can be very proud of their star player this season, and on a statistical basis, three of them were among the elite of the tournament.
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This article was originally published on therealchamps.com as 3 Real Madrid players make the best rated XI of the 2026 World Cup.
