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Rob Guest

Son Heung-min, Harry Kane, Rodrigo Bentancur - Tottenham World Cup winners and losers so far

Football fans have been left wanting so much more after an incredible final round of World Cup group stage games. Always eventful fixtures with qualification on the line, this year's matches certainly didn't disappoint with plenty of jaw-dropping moments that will live long in the memory.

Having seen 12 of the Tottenham squad compete in the World Cup, eight remain out in Qatar with four making a quick return to N17.

So who were Tottenham's winners and losers from the group phase? football.london takes a look.

READ MORE: Tottenham's Harry Kane and Son Heung-min nominated for Fans' Footballer of the Year award

Winners

Son Heung-min

Amid question marks over his participation in the tournament after suffering a fracture around his left eye at the start of November, Son made a massive contribution as South Korea left it incredibly late to seal a place in the knockout phase.

The Tottenham man was far from his best in their opening couple of games but produced a real moment of magic when it mattered most for his country. Sprinting with the ball from his own box to the edge of Portuguese area, the 30-year-old somehow managed to pick out Hwang Hee-chan with an inch-perfect through ball despite having a host of Portugal players surrounding him.

It was Son at his best and it resulted in wild scenes inside the stadium and back in his homeland. Looking a shadow of the player that was scoring for fun towards the end of last season after only netting in two Tottenham games this term, the attacker's confidence will have grown considerably following his incredible assist and that could only bode well for his form in the knockout phase and beyond.

Richarlison

Richarlison may already have the Goal of the Tournament wrapped up after his wonder strike in Brazil's World Cup opener against Serbia. Not long after opening the scoring with a poacher's goal from close range, the Tottenham man wowed with an audacious acrobatic effort that left fans across the globe open-mouthed.

Dreaming of representing his country on the biggest stage of all since he was a little kid, the 25-year-old ensured his World Cup debut was one nobody will ever forget. He also demonstrated why he leads the line for his country, amid plenty of question marks about his place in the team with Gabriel Jesus also in the squad.

An unused substitute in their final group game against Cameroon, the frontman will be raring to go when they face Son's South Korea in the Round of 16. The World Cup Golden Boot is in Richarlison's sight and he will be intent on adding a few more goals to his tally as he looks to guide his country to success in Qatar.

Antonio Conte

A number of Tottenham players are now back at Hotspur Way to restart their training ahead of the Premier League's return later this month. Conte and his coaching staff have a good number of players to work with, including the likes of Dejan Kulusevski, Emerson Royal and Yves Bissouma who were all back at the club's training base at the beginning of the week.

Those numbers will only start to increase, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Rodrigo Bentancur and Ben Davies crashing out of the group stage and now set to return to training following a mini break. As much as everyone at Tottenham would like all their players to go far in the tournament, it perhaps isn't a bad thing at all for Conte to have his first-choice midfield partnership back earlier than initially expected so they can have a good rest after so much football at the start of 2022/23.

Losers

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Outstanding for Tottenham in the opening months of the season, Hojbjerg's World Cup journey came to an abrupt end with Denmark finishing bottom of Group D. Following their sensational run to the final four of Euro 2020 18 months ago, many had the Danes down as dark horses as they were handed a favourable group which included France, Australia and Tunisia.

Denmark just couldn't get going in the group stage and finished with a rather disappointing one point from a possible nine. Inspiring Tottenham to a number of wins this season, Hojbjerg couldn't repeat his club form on the world stage.

Ben Davies

Wales' World Cup campaign may not have gone the way they had planned but it is one the country will always remember after not competing in the famous tournament for such a long time. Davies, as ever, was a regular at the back for Wales but they had a tough time and left themselves with a mountain to climb in their final group game.

England's second goal in their 3-0 triumph saw Davies have his pocket picked by Marcus Rashford as they tried to play out from the back, allowing Harry Kane to put the ball on a plate for Phil Foden at the back post. It just wasn't to be for Wales in the tournament but Davies and his teammates will be keen to ensure that they compete at a few more tournaments over the coming years.

Rodrigo Bentancur

Bentancur can find himself incredibly unlucky to find himself in this section after a good tournament for Uruguay. Very impressive in their opener vs South Korea, he caught the eye once again in their next fixture against Portugal and almost scored one of the goals of the World Cup after a mazy run from the halfway line only for his finish to let him down at the last minute.

Bentancur started their final match against Ghana but unfortunately limped off the pitch in the 34th minute with an injury. He had his hands on his head as his teammates consoled him and was visibly upset as he left the field of play.

His woes were then compounded by Son inspiring South Korea to a late victory that resulted in Uruguay crashing out of the competition. Conte and those at Tottenham will now want to find out the extent of the problem and ensure their star midfielder makes a swift recovery as he has been such a major player for the team this campaign.

Very good on the whole in the tournament, his injury issue coupled with the late drama means he rather unfortunately takes his place in this category.

Harry Kane

Another player who is extremely unfortunate to find himself in this section is Kane. The Tottenham ace, who suffered an injury scare in their 6-2 triumph over Iran, has yet to score at the World Cup for England but he has contributed with three assists to top the charts.

It's not like the chances have been there and he has missed a boatload of opportunities throughout the tournament either as very few openings on goal have come Kane's way. His failure to score has been a big talking point amongst fans and many have questioned his place in the team and what he is currently offering after a couple of below-par performances.

Kane may not be off the mark in Qatar but he brings so much to the Three Lions side, with his creative play right up there after some very notable assists for Gareth Southgate's men. It is worth remembering that he did not score in the Euro 2020 group stage before exploding into life at the knockout phase.

If he can do that again then the perplexing current debate around him will soon stop and go in a different direction altogether.

READ NEXT:

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