Day three (which we reviewed here) was notable for the fact five penalties were awarded. There were only four goals in total on Sunday, but there was still plenty of quality on display and a very notable result.

There’s only one place to start, and that’s with Mexico’s 1-0 win over Germany. Juan Carlos Osorio’s team fully deserved their victory, but the top performer on our system was Toni Kroos.

While the Real Madrid man made some impressive attacking passes, his defensive work was arguably more notable. He made 10 ball recoveries, which would be a lot anyway, but when your side has 67 percent of the possession, it’s colossal.

However, it won’t surprise you to learn that a Mexican topped the defence chart, and that man was left-back Jesus Gallardo.

He amassed 1281 points from a combination of seven ball recoveries, two tackles, and a stunning nine interceptions. On our scoring system, Gallardo made the third best defensive performance of the opening 11 matches of this World Cup.

While it was the German pair of Boateng and Kimmich who lead the off ball rankings, they were followed by Mexico’s centre-backs and one of their central midfielders: in order from third to fifth, Hector Moreno, Hector Herrera and Hugo Ayala. Their performances were key in preventing Joachim Löw’s side from creating shooting opportunities in good locations.

#GER 0-1 #MEX (via @StatsZone): 26 shots for Germany today, but only a couple which were central, close to goal and not blocked. Great defending from #MEX pic.twitter.com/9ujok2HZHA — Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) June 17, 2018

Germany could have done with a free-kick of the quality which Aleksandar Kolarov delivered in the opening match of the day. There’s a full review of the game by our Serbian expert, Milos Markovic, here, but it won’t surprise you to learn that Kolarov was the man of the match.

In terms of the stats from the game, it was incredibly close. Both teams had ten shots, with three on target and one clear-cut chance. Their expected goal tallies were just 0.06 apart too. Costa Rica had the first of the big chances, and had Giancarlo Gonzalez not headed over the bar, the outcome could’ve been very different. As it was, Kolarov delivered the one moment of true quality to decide a close game.

The final match on Sunday also saw the best individual performance of the day. Step forward, Philippe Coutinho.

His goal was sublime, and may be the best one we see at the tournament. But while he made two passes into the Swiss box, his ball recoveries (which are represented in red on his chart) were worth more points.

And while golazos are all well and good, you can’t rely on them coming around in every match. Brazil did have two clear-cut chances, in fairness, but so did the Swiss, and harder tests will lie in wait for the World Cup favourites.

It will be interesting to see if Tite changes his team for the next match, which sees Brazil take on Costa Rica on Friday. Roberto Firmino came on the 79th minute for Gabriel Jesus, yet the Liverpool forward amassed more Twelve points in his limited time on the pitch than the man he replaced did in his.

While Neymar won’t be dropped, he was only rated as the 10th best player on the pitch too, so there’s a case to be made that Brazil need to shake up their front line. After all, on a points-per-minute basis, Firmino was the man of the match.

But it’s Coutinho who will be splashed across the Monday morning headlines, and deservedly so. As it stands, he has been the sixth best player in the World Cup so far. A few of his teammates will need to get close to that level if Brazil are to claim their sixth global title.