Who will be voted as the player of the tournament?

If Argentina are to go deep and Lionel Messi tops the scoring charts in his swansong, then he’ll surely scoop the Golden Ball. Even at 35 years of age Messi is still pivotal to the Albiceleste’s prospects, and he has shown with his performances in Ligue 1 this season that he is still world class.

The biggest stage suits Kylian Mbappe, who excelled at the last World Cup and could be even more influential in Qatar. Mbappe has been outstanding in the Champions League this season and his pace, power and sheer class will be pivotal for France.

Not since 1994 has the Golden Ball recipient come from the team who won the World Cup so I’ll avoid a Portugal player and go for Lionel Messi, who has been in great form for Paris St-Germain and was player of the tournament at the 2021 Copa America. Argentina are expected to go far too.

It’s a difficult betting heat but Portugal schemers Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva appeal at around 50-1 to impress Fifa’s technical committee in Qatar.

Vinicius Junior. He also has potential for top scorer – he is not consistently prolific, but when he is on fire there are flames. If Brazil do well, Neymar could get best player on reputation, but I suspect a more impactful contribution will come from Vinicius Junior.

I expect Brazil to be the winners and should they go all the way then Neymar is going to take some beating. Every World Cup winning team needs a superstar and he fits the bill. He may not prove Tite’s most consistent performer or the reason why they win it, but he remains their talisman and that counts for a lot.