The World Cup has a cruel way of separating reputation from reality. It is a stage where a brilliant club season, a glowing pre-tournament profile and a shelf full of medals can suddenly count for very little.
At the 2026 edition, three names stood out for the wrong reasons: Bruno Fernandes, the reigning Premier League Player of the Season; Vitinha, the midfield metronome Portugal’s buildup had positioned as part of perhaps the tournament’s most complete engine room; and Jamal Musiala, one of Germany’s headline acts and a player very few have doubts about being Bayern Munich’s best.
All three arrived with the kind of expectation that demands excellence. All three left theAll three arrived with the kind of expectation that demands excellence. All three left the tournament with a lingering sense of underachievementAll three arrived with the kind of expectation that demands excellence. All three left the tournament with a lingering sense of underachievement tournament with a lingering sense of underachievement.
Bruno Fernandes: From Premier League ruler to Portugal’s unfinished story
Bruno Fernandes came into the World Cup on the back of a sensational club season, having been named the 2025/26 Premier League Player of the Season after equalling, then surpassing the league’s single-season assist record with 22, while also scoring eight goals for Manchester United.
