After a week of four enjoyable football matches, UEFA have revealed who made the team of the Nations League finals, with at least one player from each country making the team.
Switzerland, who came 4th, are unsurprisingly the most underrepresented nation in the team, with just one player being deemed good enough to make the team of the tournament.
That player is Liverpool’s Shaqiri; while he didn’t get himself on the scoresheet, Shaqiri was deemed to have performed well enough to make the XI of the finals.
England, who came 3rd, also have just one representative in the team of the tournament, that being Jordan Pickford after his heroics in the penalty shoot-out in the 3rd-place play-off on Sunday.
After scoring England’s 5th spot kick, he then retrieved his gloves and, a couple of penalties later, pulled off a strong save that ultimately earned England victory and a bronze medal.
Portugal’s Rui Patricio, who had a very solid tournament, can consider himself unfortunate not to make the cut.
Unsurprisingly, it is The Netherlands and Portugal that have the most players featuring in the team, with four and five representatives respectively.
The Dutch players are Van Dijk in defence after a solid showing in both matches, while Ajax Champions League semi-finalist Daley Blind is the man chosen at left back ahead of Raphael Guerreiro.
In midfield, there are two more Dutch players, with Barcelona-bound Frenkie de Jong, who was so impressive in the semi-final against England, being joined in the team by compatriot Georginio Wijnaldum.
In terms of the five Portuguese players that made it into the XI, at the back Nelson Semedo deservedly makes it; having played both matches ahead of Joao Cancelo, he repaid the faith Santos showed in him with two excellent displays.
The equally deserving Ruben Dias was then put in defence alongside Van Dijk; Dias put in two impeccable performances that portrayed his strength, aerial ability and tackling prowess, a dominant force at the back that played a huge part in Portugal’s resilient defence.
In midfield, Sporting star Bruno Fernandes was selected, while the two forwards joining Shaqiri were Portugal’s star men, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva.
FULL TEAM: Pickford (England); Semedo (Portugal), Dias (Portugal), Van Dijk (Netherlands), Blind (Netherlands); de Jong (Netherlands), Wijnaldum (Netherlands), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal); Bernardo (Portugal), Shaqiri (Switzerland), Ronaldo (Portugal).