Ibrahima Konaté tops list of World Cup duel winners as France and Liverpool defender proves his dominance on the big stage

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté is the most dominant player at the World Cup, stats suggest.

The Frenchman has been in great form for Les Bleus in their bid to become the first nation to retain the trophy since Brazil in 1962.

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Despite only making two appearances at senior level before the tournament, Konaté featured in all three group matches in Qatar and made his hopes of a starting berth against Poland on Sunday unscathed with a series of great performance.

Of the 214 players to have played at least 15 matches at the World Cup, Konaté leads with a victory rate of 95.5%.

The defender featured in France’s 1-0 loss to Tunisia in their last Group D clash, but that didn’t stop Konate from posting a host of impressive numbers.

Konate netted 11 tackles against Tunisia and in doing so, he became the first defender to score more than ten tackles at the 2022 World Cup.

He has also made more successful tackles than any other player in Group D and boasts a 100% success rate without being dribbled past or committing a single foul.

The Frenchman shows exactly why Liverpool paid RB Leipzig £36m in 2021 and at just 23 Konate probably has his best years ahead of him.

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He could find himself facing Liverpool teammates Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold in a possible quarter-final clash with England.

If Konaté and France beat Poland and England beat Senegal, a tantalizing showdown between the two nations would take place on December 10.

Listen to France vs Poland (3pm kick-off) and England vs Senegal (7pm kick-off) this Sunday, live on talkSPORT.