World Cup 2018: Five players who have failed to live up to expectations

#4 Robert Lewandowski (Poland)

Japan v Poland: Group H - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

There is no doubt that Lewandowski is one of the best strikers in world football at the moment. In his four seasons with Bayern Munich, he has played 126 Bundesliga matches, and scored an incredible 106 goals. His record with Poland is similarly impressive. Before the World Cup, he had scored 55 goals in just 95 caps. In Russia though, he looked like a completely different player.

Much like Messi, this was slightly dependant on the teammates he has around him, and with Poland, the talent is nowhere near as good as it is at Bayern. But the 29-year-old just didn’t look sharp. He wasn’t making the sort of runs you usually see from him, he wasn’t getting into goal scoring positions, and he was often isolated on his own up top.