Brighton’s international stars have had varying experiences at this summer’s World Cup, from early exits to helping their side defy the odds and reach the latter stages.
We’ve graded every Seagull to have participated in the competition…. in alphabetical order.
Yasin Ayari (Sweden)Â B
Sweden might have crashed out in the round of 32 in what was ultimately a disappointing World Cup for Graham Potter’s side, but Yasin Ayari can hardly take much responsibility for that. The Brighton midfielder was superb in the group stages, playing a big part in their qualification for the knockouts.
The 22-year-old scored two goals against Tunisia in Sweden’s 5-1 victory, though it was something of a bittersweet moment for the youngster, whose family background is Tunisian.
Maxim De Cuyper (Belgium) BÂ
It had looked as though Belgium could be one of the big disappointments of this World Cup. They drew both their opening two group games against Egypt and Iran before thrashing New Zealand 5-1 to reach the knockouts.
They were second best against Senegal but somehow came from two goals down to progress to the round of 16, where they thrashed the USA 4-1. De Cuyper has played a big part in Belgium’s tournament, starting four of their five games and was very impressive in his side’s impressive victory over the USA.
Diego Gomez (Paraguay) C
Gomez was suspended for Paraguay’s shock penalty shoot-out win over Germany in the round of 32 so unfortunately cannot take much credit for that. He did help his side to get out of their group and progress to the knockouts, before they were knocked out by France in the round of 16. Gomez returned to the team in that game but could not make much of an impact against a far superior side.
Pascal Groß (Germany) E
 The experienced German midfielder played just 17 minutes across the entirety of the tournament, which all came in his side’s 2-1 loss to Ecuador in the group stage. Â
Ferdi Kadioglu (Türkiye) DÂ
Individually, the Turkish defender did not play too badly. In fact, he was probably his side’s standout player in their first two group games. Unfortunately for him, they both ended in defeat as Turkey crashed out in the group stages.
Bart Verbruggen (Netherlands) CÂ
The Dutch goalkeeper had a really poor opening game in his side’s 2-2 draw with Japan, where he let in two soft goals. He recovered, however, putting in improved performances against Sweden and Tunisia to help his side progress to the knockouts.
He can certainly not be blamed for the Netherlands’ round of 32 exit to Morocco, putting in an impressive display which saw him make some top saves to take the game to extra-time and then penalties, where he was ultimately unable to help his side make it through.
Mats Wieffer (Netherlands) N/A
We’re unable to give a grade to someone who did not even manage to get on the pitch. Sorry, Mats
