With this summer's FIFA World Cup in North America now over, we take the opportunity to recap the tournament for all of the Real Madrid players involved.
104 games and 38 days later, this summer's FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico is now over. It has been one hell of a ride. So, what better time to look back at the tournament for the Real Madrid players that took part.
To begin, Thibaut Courtois started all six games for Belgium, as they reached the quarter finals, losing 2-1 to Spain. It proved to be quite a costly game, as Courtois went off with an injury in the second half, with the substitute goalkeeper making an error for Spain's late winner. Fortunately for Real Madrid, the injury was nothing serious.
Meanwhile, Denzel Dumfries was an ever present for the Netherlands, as they were knocked out on penalties in the round of 32 by Morocco. The right-back registered two assists in their 5-1 win over Sweden in the group stage.
Elsewhere, fellow new signing Ibrahima Konate, Aurelien Tchouameni and Kylian Mbappe reached the semi finals with France, but could not reach a third straight final. Konate played in just two games, a cameo off the bench against Norway in the groups, and a start in the third place play off against England, where he was subbed at half time.
As for Tchouameni, an injury mid tournament meant he only played (and started) four games. Mbappe had the most productive tournament of all three, scoring 10 times to win the golden boot and become the World Cup's record ever goalscorer, with 22 goals.
Antonio Rudiger featured for Germany with four appearances and two starts, as they were the casualty of the tournament's first shock, losing to Paraguay in the round of 32 on penalties. The good news is it means he should be joining up for pre-season pretty quickly.
Another new signing in Bernardo Silva played in four of Portugal's five games, but started just once and they lost in the round of 16 to Spain with a narrow 1-0 defeat. Not a great tournament for him.
It proved to be a very disappointing tournament for Federico Valverde. He started all three of Uruguay's games, but they were dumped out in the group stage for a second consecutive World Cup, meaning Valverde will have to wait for his first appearance in the knockout stages.
Things proved to be a lot more productive for Jude Bellingham, as he became the first ever England player to score seven goals at one World Cup. Two of those goals came within 98 seconds in the round of 16 at the Azteca, as England knocked out co hosts Mexico, their first defeat in that stadium for 13 years.
He also scored two goals as England defeated Norway in the quarter finals. His seventh and final goal of the tournament came with a brilliant individual goal against France in the third place play off, a game where he completed five dribbles despite coming on in the 79th minute.
Despite lots of hype and anticipation for Arda Guler and Turkey before the tournament, they finished bottom of Group B, after defeats to Australia and Paraguay. They did, however, finish their tournament off on a positive note, beating co-hosts USA 3-2, with Guler getting on the scoresheet.
As for Brahim Diaz, he played a big part in helping Morocco to their second consecutive quarter final, registering assists against Brazil, Scotland and Canada (x2).
Vinicius scored four times for Brazil, but could not save them in the round of 16 defeat to Norway. It could have been oh so different in that game, as at 0-0, he put substitute and Real Madrid team mate Endrick through on goal, but his outside of the foot effort when one-one-on went off target. Oh what could have been.
Where to finish off but with another new signing in Marc Cucurella. The new left back was an ever present for Spain, just like he was at the Euros, as they won their second consecutive major tournament, and second World Cup. He played every single minute of the tournament, and registered two assists against Austria in the round of 32.
Before the final, Cucurella said he would retire from international football if they won, as he would have already completed it having won the Euros and World Cup. Let's see if that proves true. Congratulations, Marc, and welcome to Real Madrid.
