FIFA defines best player of World Cup

David Luiz, the Brazilian defender, has knocked Colombia's James Rodríguez off the top of the Castrol Index for the best players in the World Cup, which measures the performance of players and is officially published after each round.

The defender, who will play for PSG next season, has a score of 9.79, compared to 9.74 for James Rodríguez. Despite criticism of their back line, two Brazilian defenders are amongst the top 10 players in the ranking, with Thiago Silva in seventh place.

Even though he put in a cracking performance against Uruguay, James Rodríguez drops down one spot into second place. The Colombian is the first man to score in each of the first four games since the 2002 South Korea and Japan World Cup, when the Brazilians Ronaldo and Rivaldo achieved the feat.

Benzema failed to score against Nigeria, but his four shots on goal maintained his position as the player with the most shots on target (19), putting him third in the index.

Robben, in fourth place, was a key part of Holland's hard-fought victory over Mexico and is the man who has made the most solo runs into the area (10). Despite his four man-of-the-match trophies, Argentina's Lionel Messi is eleventh in the table.

Chile's Claudio Bravo is highest rated goalkeeper, in 20th place, ahead of Belgium's Thibaut Courtois and Costa Rica's Keylor Navas.

Ranking after the round of 16:

1. David Luiz (BRA) 9.79
2. James Rodríguez (COL) 9.74
3. Karim Benzema (FRA) 9.70
4. Arjen Robben (NED) 9.66
5. Jan Vertonghen (BEL) 9.62
6. Neymar (BRA) 9.59
7. Thiago Silva (BRA) 9.56
8. Ivan Perisic (CRO) 9.53
9. Johan Djorou (SWI) 9.50
10. Thomas Mueller (GER) 9.48
11. Lionel Messi (ARG) 9.45
...
20. Claudio Bravo (CHI) 9.26

/Marca/