A Wonderkid to Watch from Every Team at the World Cup

Canada – Luc de Fougerolles (Fulham, 20, centre-back)

Canada named Luc de Fougerolles their Young Player of the Year after 2025 turned into his real breakthrough with the national side. Injuries opened the door, but plenty of young players get that chance and do not look ready for it. He did. The loan spell at Dender has hardly been glamorous, with the club stuck in a rough season, but that kind of football can harden a centre-back quickly. He has had to defend properly, deal with pressure, and learn without the comfort of being in a dominant team. That’s perfect for Canada, because they are likely to spend long stretches of this tournament having to dig in. He is not the polished, headline-grabbing type, but there is already a calmness to him that Canada supporters have latched onto, and you can see why Fulham still view him as one of the serious academy prospects coming through.

Mexico – Obed Vargas (Atlético Madrid, 20, central midfielder)

Obed Vargas does not jump off the page if you are only looking for highlight reels. Before Atlético Madrid moved for him in February, he had a proper breakout year with Seattle Sounders, starting all 26 of his MLS appearances in 2025, posting three goals and five assists, and handling 2,273 league minutes with an 89 per cent pass completion rate. He was then voted No. 1 in MLS’s 22 Under 22 rankings, which tells you how highly he was viewed before the transfer. What people like most about him is that he already plays like someone who understands the shape of a match. He keeps the ball moving, takes responsibility, and rarely looks rattled. Mexico have had plenty of exciting young midfielders before; Vargas feels different because there is a seriousness to his game that suggests he could become the one they trust when a match starts getting messy.

USA – Alex Freeman (Villarreal, 21, right-back)

Alex Freeman’s rise has been absurdly quick. A year ago, he was an interesting prospect. Now he is coming off a 2025 season in which he scored six goals and supplied seven assists from right-back for Orlando City, won MLS Young Player of the Year, made the Best XI, broke into the USMNT picture and earned a move to Villarreal. The numbers are eye-catching, but what has really changed is the way people talk about him. He is no longer just the athletic full-back with upside; he is being discussed as someone who could force his way into the United States’ starting XI sooner rather than later. Freeman plays with a lot of convictions. He attacks space aggressively, makes things happen, and already gives off the impression of someone who belongs at this level.

Algeria – Ibrahim Maza (Bayer Leverkusen, 20, attacking midfielder)

There is only really one answer for Algeria. Ibrahim Maza is the kind of player who makes football look a little simpler for everyone around him. He is still only 20, but in his first season at Bayer Leverkusen he has not been hanging around as a kid just making up the numbers. He has made 38 appearances in all competitions, with five goals and five assists, after a breakout year at Hertha. That is why the hype feels earned. He is already producing in senior football, already trusted by Algeria and already looks comfortable operating in tight spaces against proper opposition. Ibrahim is technically clean, sharp in small moments, and more mature than most players his age in the final third. Algeria can sometimes lack a bit of incision. Maza looks like the player most likely to give them it. 

Australia – Lucas Herrington (Colorado Rapids, 18, centre-back)

Lucas Herrington looks unusually far along for an 18-year-old centre-back. He broke through with Brisbane Roar in 2024-25, made 17 A-League appearances in his first proper senior season, and then earned a club-record move to Colorado Rapids. That alone would have made him worth watching but his progress with Australia has been just as quick. He was part of the Young Socceroos squad that won the AFC U20 Asian Cup in March 2025, and by March 2026 he had already received his first senior call-up. For a young defender, that is serious acceleration. Centre-backs usually get introduced to senior football slowly because mistakes are so exposed. Herrington is still learning, clearly, but when clubs and coaches start trusting a teenager that early in that position, it usually means the ceiling is high.

Austria – Leopold Querfeld (Union Berlin, 22, centre-back)

Leopold Querfeld has settled into Bundesliga football quickly enough that it is easy to forget how young he still is. He has already made 24 league appearances this season and 54 in total for Union Berlin, while also becoming a full Austria international at 21. He already looks like a player built for senior football: competitive, sturdy, and far more comfortable with the pace of big games than his age suggests. Austria are not short on reliable footballers, but Querfeld stands out because he feels like one who could be there for the next decade.

Belgium – Nathan de Cat (Anderlecht, 17, defensive midfielder)

Yes, the name helps. But Nathan de Cat would be making this list anyway. What he is doing at 17 is not normal. He has become a genuine first-team player for Anderlecht this season, making around 30 league appearances and doing it through real minutes rather than token cameos. Belgium’s golden generation has gone, so the next group is being watched closely, and De Cat is one of the names that keeps coming up because he already plays with a level of maturity that does not match his age. The senior call-up in March was the obvious next step. This may be one tournament too early for him to be a major starter, but it could easily be the stage where more people realise he is not just another academy midfielder with hype around him.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Arjan Malic (Sturm Graz, 20, right-back)

Arjan Malic has already been asked to carry a lot for a 20-year-old defender. He played more minutes than anyone for Bosnia and Herzegovina in qualifying, which tells you everything about how quickly he has become trusted. At club level, he has been part of a Sturm Graz side competing on multiple fronts, making 26 appearances in all competitions, including in Europe. There is something useful about the way he is developing, too. He has not been sheltered. He has had to grow up in competitive senior matches, in difficult spells, and in games where defending properly matters. Bosnia are likely to spend plenty of time without the ball against stronger sides, so a young full-back already used to that intensity has a real chance of standing out.

Brazil – Endrick (Real Madrid, 21, striker)

There was never going to be anyone else. Anyone who has touched Football Manager over the last few years already knows the mythology around Endrick. The interesting bit now is that real life has become far less tidy than the wonderkid script usually is. Minutes were hard to come by at Real Madrid, then a January loan to Lyon gave him the kind of reset he badly needed. Since then, he has scored 10 goals in 12 Ligue 1 appearances, including a hat-trick against Metz and suddenly the noise around him has got a lot louder again. He is still only 19 in the real-world sense fans talk about him: impossibly young for how much expectation has already been thrown on his shoulders. Even when the path has looked awkward, the aura has not really gone away. He still has that rare feel of a player who can turn a whole tournament into his playground if the rhythm catches him.

Cabo Verde – Sidny Lopes Cabral (Benfica, 23, right-back)

Sidny Cabral is not the typical underdog-tournament youngster just happy to be there. At 23, he is slightly older than a lot of the names on this list, but this is the season in which he has really kicked the door in. He began 2025-26 at Estrela da Amadora, scored five league goals in 15 games from right-back, earned a January move to Benfica, and finished the Primeira Liga season with six goals and five assists overall. That is ridiculous output from a full-back. What makes him interesting is that he gives Cabo Verde more than one thing. He can defend, drive the ball forward and actually hurt teams. Add in eight caps and three goals for the national side and he looks like the kind of player a smaller nation can genuinely build moments around.

Colombia – Yaser Asprilla (Girona, 22, right winger)

Colombia have not exactly thrown the doors open to a wave of younger players in qualifying or recent friendlies, but Yaser Asprilla still stands out because he has something a lot of squads lack: genuine unpredictability. He is on loan at Galatasaray from Girona, and this season has not followed a neat upward line. Minutes were uneven in Spain, then the January move dropped him into a title race and a Champions League environment. He has not exploded numerically, but that is not really why people stay interested in him. Asprilla still has that loose, slightly chaotic edge that can wreck a game in one touch. He can drift in and out, then suddenly play the pass or take the shot nobody else on the pitch has even seen. With 11 senior caps and two goals already, he is past the stage of being a fun prospect. The question is whether Colombia trusts him enough to let that instinct loose on the biggest stage.

Congo DR – Ngal’ayel Mukau (Lille, 21, central midfielder)

Ngal’ayel Mukau already looks far more seasoned than most 21-year-old midfielders. He has made 45 appearances for Lille this season, which is a serious amount of football for someone so early in his career, especially in a side operating at that level. The rise has been quick as well. He only recently switched to DR Congo and already has 12 senior caps. The reason he feels so significant for DR Congo is that he does not look overawed by responsibility. He already plays like a midfielder used to adult football, used to tempo, used to covering ground and making decisions under pressure. For a country of that size, alongside Noah Sadiki, he has every chance of becoming the standard-bearer over the next few years.

Côte d’Ivoire – Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig, 19, left wing)

This could easily be the tournament where Yan Diomande becomes far more widely known. After getting a first taste of senior football with Leganés in 2024-25, he has exploded since moving to RB Leipzig, scoring 10 goals and providing six assists in 26 league appearances while also forcing his way into the Ivory Coast setup. He is direct, productive and already doing real damage in a top-five league at 19.  Not just a player people like the look of in clips. He is already hurting proper teams. For Ivory Coast, that is the sort of profile that can shift the energy of a whole tournament in one burst down the wing.

Croatia – Luka Vušković (Tottenham, 19, centre-back)

If Tottenham stay up, Luka Vušković looks like the sort of player they should be building around. If they do not, you would still expect elite clubs to keep circling. He is 19, starting every week for Hamburg in the Bundesliga. He has not merely survived it, he has been excellent. He is the only player in Europe’s top five leagues to hit 100-plus in duels won, clearances, recoveries and aerial duels, which is the kind of stat line that makes you stop and take notice. This part of Europe keeps producing absurdly good centre-backs, and Vušković looks like the next one in that line. The reason people get so excited about him is not just the frame or the athleticism. It is that he already seems to enjoy defending, and young centre-backs who embrace that part of the job tend to go very far.

Curaçao – Livano Comenencia (FC Zürich, 22, right-back)

Livano Comenencia already feels like a proper senior international rather than a youngster still being eased along. He is only 22, but he has been playing regular top-flight football for FC Zürich this season, logging more than 1,300 league minutes in Switzerland. There is already a decent base behind that as well, after coming through Jong PSV and Juventus Next Gen. Internationally, he is already into double figures for Curaçao and has even scored in World Cup qualifying. He is not there to make up the numbers. For a smaller nation, players like this matter because they bridge the gap between promise and dependability. He is still young enough to improve, but already experienced enough that major-tournament football should not feel too big for him.

Czechia – Adam Karabec (Sparta Prague, 22, attacking midfielder)

Adam Karabec has been on the radar for so long that it is easy to forget he is still only 22. He made The Guardian’s Next Generation list in 2020 and, since then, the question has always been whether he would fully match the hype. Maybe not yet, at least not in the spectacular way some expected, but he has still built a solid senior career. After a strong loan at Hamburg in 2024-25, where he made 33 appearances and scored three goals, he has spent this season on loan at Lyon and kept himself in senior football, with 32 appearances in all competitions. He has also started to break through for Czechia, with five caps and two goals. This is an older, harder-working squad, so if they need a bit of imagination or a change of tempo, Karabec is the name that makes the most sense.

Ecuador – Kendry Páez (Chelsea, 18, right wing)

Kendry Páez is the obvious Ecuador pick, but that does not make him the lazy one. Everyone knows he is on every scout list. What makes him especially interesting now is that his rise has already become less neat than the hype promised, which is often where a player gets more revealing. He made 21 appearances for Strasbourg in the first half of the season, was recalled by Chelsea in January, then sent to River Plate for the rest of 2026. That is not a straight-line development path, but it is serious football in three demanding environments before he has even turned 19. He has already played 24 times for Ecuador as well. The raw numbers are not outrageous yet, but that is not really the point. He is still one of the most gifted players in the squad, and he is already learning the hardest part of top-level football: adapting without losing what makes him special.

Egypt – Hamza Abdelkarim (Barcelona, 18, striker)

Egypt are carrying an ageing squad, so if they need a younger jolt, Hamza Abdelkarim is the one that makes the most sense. He made his Al Ahly debut in February 2025 at 17 years and 36 days old, becoming the club’s youngest player of the 21st century, then followed that up with Champions League minutes and a loan to Barcelona Atlètic in February 2026. At youth level, the output backs it up too: 12 goals in 17 games for Egypt Under-17s, plus two at the 2025 U17 Africa Cup of Nations. He is still earlier in his journey than most of the names here, but he has obvious appeal. Egypt do not usually fast-track kids unless there is something there worth shouting about.

England – Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City, 21, midfielder/left-back)

This has been Nico O’Reilly’s proper breakout senior season. Across all competitions for Manchester City, he has up to 44 appearances, eight goals and five assists, which is a serious return full stop, let alone for a 21-year-old who has been used from left-back. Breaking into Guardiola’s squad is hard enough. Earning trust in it is harder. O’Reilly has managed both. What is slightly strange is that he still does not seem to attract the same noise as some other prospects in his age bracket, maybe because he does not fit neatly into one position or one simple story. But that is part of why he is interesting. He looks like a proper high-level footballer rather than a hype package, and England could end up needing exactly that.

France – Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth, 19, striker)

Eli Junior Kroupi is one of those young forwards whose numbers give you something concrete to work with. Before moving to Bournemouth, he scored 22 goals in 30 Ligue 2 games for Lorient. Output that forces people to take you seriously. He has carried enough of that momentum into 2025-26 to stay worth watching, with 10 goals so far in his debut Premier League season. He probably will not get huge minutes at the World Cup, but if he does, he is the sort of striker who can wake a match up. There is still a bit of untidiness to him, which is normal at 19, but he looks dangerous, direct and already productive.

Germany – Assan Ouédraogo (RB Leipzig, 19, attacking midfielder)

Assan Ouédraogo is still only 19, but there is finally some senior evidence to go with the long-running excitement around him. Before injury interrupted his momentum in January, he had already become a real option for RB Leipzig, posting three goals and three assists in his first 12 Bundesliga appearances. He also earned his first senior Germany call-up in November and marked his debut by scoring against Slovakia, which is about as good an introduction as you can ask for. He has been a Football Manager name for years. Now the rest of football has started catching up. What people like about him is that he does not look overwhelmed by senior tempo at all. He is elegant without being flimsy, progressive without constantly forcing things, and that usually points to a player who lands high.

Ghana – Caleb Yirenkyi (FC Nordsjælland, 20, central midfielder)

He plays for FC Nordsjælland, which is usually enough to make anyone interested in young players pay attention. Since arriving in Denmark in 2025, Caleb Yirenkyi has settled quickly and made himself a regular in the Superliga, with 22 appearances this season. He has also finished with the most assists at the club, which is a useful clue to the sort of midfielder he is becoming. He has been used centrally, deeper, and even further back, and that flexibility has carried into the Ghana setup, where he already has eight senior caps. The important bit is that he already feels like a senior footballer. Yirenkyi already looks useful rather than just a prospect waiting to be shaped.

Haiti – Carl Sainté (El Paso Locomotive, 23, defensive midfielder)

It is slim pickings from Haiti in this bracket, but Carl Sainté is my sensible choice. He is still only 23, already has 25 senior caps and helped Haiti reach the World Cup for the first time since 1974. He comes into the tournament off the back of a season that gave him proper adult midfield experience. In 2025 he made 28 appearances for Phoenix Rising on loan from FC Dallas, then earned a permanent move to El Paso Locomotive ahead of 2026. None of that is glamorous. But Sainté has had to adapt, move around, and handle international responsibility early. For a team like Haiti, that kind of midfielder will end up mattering more than the flashy one.

Iran – Mohammad Khalifeh (Aluminium Arak, 21, goalkeeper)

Iran does not exactly make a habit of throwing young players into the spotlight, which is why Mohammad Khalifeh stands out. Goalkeepers usually take longer to become part of the conversation, but he has got there early. He is only 21 and has already made himself Aluminium Arak’s regular starter, with 22 league appearances to date. He has also been included in Iran’s World Cup squad mix, which tells you the senior setup sees him as more than just a name for the future. That is the real signal with young goalkeepers. It is less about hype and more about trust. Iran rarely hands that out easily.

Iraq – Zidane Iqbal (Utrecht, 22, central midfielder)

Manchester United fans will know the name, but that is the least interesting thing about Zidane Iqbal now. The academy-tag conversation is old. What matters is that he has become a proper senior midfielder for club and country at 22. At Utrecht he has remained part of the first-team picture this season, and for Iraq he is already long past the “promising prospect” stage. He made the decisive contribution in one of their biggest recent matches too, coming off the bench to score the winner against Indonesia in World Cup qualifying in October 2025. He gives Iraq calmness on the ball and a bit of edge in midfield, and he already looks like someone his country expects things from rather than simply hope for.

Japan – Ryunosuke Sato (FC Tokyo, 19, attacking midfielder)

Ryunosuke Sato’s rise has been fast even by modern standards. He spent 2025 on loan at Fagiano Okayama and, at 18, made 28 J1 League appearances in his first full top-flight season. Then he went to the AFC U23 Asian Cup in January 2026 and finished as the tournament’s best player, scoring four goals and adding two assists as Japan won it. That included a ridiculous opener against Syria in which he scored twice and set up two more. The bigger clue is how quickly Japan has trusted him. He made his senior debut in June 2025 at 18 years, seven months and 25 days. So before turning 19, he had already produced in the J1 League, dominated a major youth tournament and broken into the senior national side. That is a player going through his career progression like it’s a speed run.

Jordan – Tammer Bany (West Brom, 22, striker)

Tammer Bany’s route up has been unusual enough to make him interesting on its own. He went from B.93 in Denmark’s lower tiers to Randers in the Superliga, then did enough there to earn a £3.3 million move to West Brom in February 2025. He even set up a goal on his Championship debut against Oxford United, so the move started brightly. Then a torn thigh muscle wrecked the second half of his 2025-26 season. If he is back in time for the World Cup, Jordan will badly need him. He is not arriving with perfect momentum, but he is the sort of player their attack can actually tilt towards.

South Korea – Yang Min-hyeok (Tottenham, 20, winger)

Yang Min-hyeok’s rise has not followed anything like the normal path. In 2024 he was still a school-age player in Gangwon’s academy setup. By the end of that season he had played all 38 K League games, scored 12 goals, won Young Player of the Year and earned a move to Tottenham. The next step has been handled in a fairly sensible way. Rather than leaving him to drift around a Premier League bench, he has been pushed through the Championship on loan: 14 games at QPR, then 15 league appearances and three goals at Portsmouth before a January switch to Coventry. He also made his senior South Korea debut in March 2025. There is still obvious development to come, but he is already building the kind of broad, adult football education that usually helps wingers settle faster later on.

Morocco – Omar El Hilali (Espanyol, 22, right-back)

Omar El Hilali has played a huge amount of football for someone still only 22. He has already passed 100 senior games for Espanyol, and this season he has again been one of their regulars as they finished 14th in La Liga. He made his senior Morocco debut in 2025, after coming through Espanyol’s academy, breaking into the first team at 17 and winning the U23 Africa Cup of Nations with Morocco in 2023. What makes him stand out is his dependability. Morocco aren’t really built on chaos or improvisation. They need players who can be trusted every week, in every phase, and El Hilali already looks like one of those.

Netherlands – Kees Smit (AZ Alkmaar, 20, central midfielder)

Jorrel Hato is the obvious answer, so Kees Smit gets the nod here as the slightly more interesting one. He is at that point where the numbers, tournament performances and wider reputation have started lining up at the same time. For AZ this season he has played real Eredivisie football rather than just dropping in occasionally, making 16 league appearances and adding two goals and two assists. The clearest sign of what he might become came last summer, though. He drove the Netherlands to the Under-19 European title, scored in all four matches on the way to the final, finished with four goals overall and was named Player of the Tournament. Then came the first senior call-up in March. Everything around him is moving in one direction.

New Zealand – Tyler Bindon (Nottingham Forest, 21, centre-back)

Tyler Bindon has skipped the usual waiting room. He is 21, already has 21 senior caps for New Zealand, and this season has been playing regular Championship football for Sheffield United, logging 1,971 minutes. Centre-backs do not usually get that workload unless managers trust them. He had already been highly regarded before this season as well. Nottingham Forest signed him in February 2025, Reading named him their Player of the Season for 2024-25, and New Zealand have been leaning on him for a while. The thing that stands out when you watch him is that he already looks comfortable doing the hard part: defending adult strikers every week and carrying real responsibility without looking like it is swallowing him.

Norway – Antonio Nusa (RB Leipzig, 20, left winger)

This Norway section could have gone in about six different directions here. Andreas Schjelderup, Oscar Bobb, Sverre Nypan etc. Antonio Nusa is still the most exciting watch for me. He has been electric for RB Leipzig this season, making 26 Bundesliga appearances, but the more revealing detail is how relentlessly involved he is: 397 sprints, 1,503 intensive runs and 55 shots in the league. That tells you he is constantly asking defenders questions. Norway clearly trusts him too, because at 20 he already has 20 senior caps and seven international goals. There is very little hesitation in his game. When he receives the ball, he is usually trying to move the match somewhere dangerous.

Panama – Edward Cedeño (Las Palmas, 22, defensive midfielder)

There is a pattern with a lot of underdog nations at tournaments: the youngest interesting players are rarely polished wonderkids with huge hype around them. They are usually the ones learning the hard way in senior football. Edward Cedeño fits that mould. He spent 2024-25 playing 28 times for Tarazona in Spain, earned a move to Las Palmas last summer, then by January was loaned to Albacete in the Segunda to keep his development moving. He is a 22-year-old holding midfielder who has had to build through loans, adjustments and real minutes. Panama have started trusting him as well, with five senior caps since his debut in 2025. In tournaments like this, players of his type can become quietly important very quickly.

Paraguay – Julio Enciso (Strasbourg, 22, attacking midfielder/winger)

There is only one name for Paraguay. Julio Enciso is their standout young player and, in truth, one of their standout players full stop. Even after a couple of awkward seasons, he remains the one who can change a match on his own. Strasbourg paid around £16 million to take him from Brighton last September, which tells you he is still very highly rated. His Ligue 1 numbers this season, 1,504 minutes, two goals and two assists, are fine rather than spectacular. But Enciso has never really been a player you reduce to the neatness of output alone. He wants to drive, shoot early, force bad decisions and disrupt a match. Paraguay rely on him for that spark because there are not many others in the squad who can produce it in the same way.

Portugal – Mateus Fernandes (West Ham, 21, central midfielder)

Mateus Fernandes may seem an odd choice when he has already spent time in two relegation fights, but there is a reason so many clubs have been keen on him. West Ham paid more than £40 million for him after Southampton went down, which felt like a lot for a 21-year-old midfielder coming out of a struggling side. The interesting bit is how quickly that price has started making sense. He has completed more passes per 90 than any other West Ham player this season, which says plenty about how much of their game already flows through him. His first senior Portugal call-up in March felt fully earned. He has had an unusually grown-up football education for someone his age and you can see that in the way he plays.

Qatar – Ahmed Al-Rawi (Qatar SC, 21, striker)

Ahmed Al-Rawi is the Qatar pick because he is one of the few younger players in their setup who is already getting a proper senior look. He is 21, currently on loan at Qatar SC from Al-Rayyan, and the point here is not really his club output. It is the way Qatar have kept him around the national side and the fact he has responded with nine caps and three goals, including one in the 5-1 World Cup qualifying win over North Korea in June 2025. He is already producing in international football. 

Saudi Arabia – Talal Haji (Al-Ittihad, 18, striker)

Talal Haji made his Al-Ittihad debut at 16 and became the youngest player ever to appear at an Asian Cup in January 2024 at 16 years and 131 days. Since then, most of the best signs have come in age-group football, where he has looked every bit the elite prospect Saudi Arabia hope he is. He scored the equaliser in the AFC U20 Asian Cup final against Australia and the winner in the WAFF U19 Championship final against the UAE. He has only played 46 league minutes this season, so he is clearly not fully trusted yet at club level, but that does not really change the sense that he is one of the most exciting talents in Saudi football. If he gets on the pitch, he is the kind of young forward who can change the temperature of a match very quickly.

Scotland – Ben Doak (Bournemouth, 20, right winger)

Ben Doak gives Scotland something their squad does not have enough of: raw pace and a willingness to use it. The last 18 months have not been particularly smooth. He played 24 Championship games on loan at Middlesbrough in 2024-25, which helped earn a £25 million move from Liverpool to Bournemouth in August 2025, then saw his first top-flight season interrupted by a hamstring injury after only five appearances in all competitions. Even with that stop-start run, Scotland kept trusting him. He already has 12 senior caps and scored his first international goal in the 3-2 win over Greece in November 2025. What makes him valuable is simple. He plays at full tilt. He stretches games. He can turn a flat, stale match into a frantic one in a matter of seconds.

Senegal – El Hadji Malick Diouf (West Ham, 21, left-back)

El Hadji Malick Diouf has already packed in a lot of senior football for someone still only 21. A year ago he was with Slavia Prague, scoring seven league goals in 27 matches from left-back, which is unusual enough in itself. Now he is at West Ham and has played 26 Premier League games in his first season in England, adapting quickly to a much tougher level. It has not been an easy campaign for West Ham, but Diouf has kept his place and rarely looked overawed. He is already up to 18 senior caps for Senegal too, which tells you what the national team think of his reliability. The profile is what makes him stand out: a full-back with proper physicality, attacking output and the engine to keep doing both.

South Africa – Mbekezeli Mbokazi (Chicago Fire, 20, centre-back)

Mbekezeli Mbokazi’s rise has not really paused yet. At the start of the 2025-26 season, Orlando Pirates trusted a 19-year-old centre-back enough to start all eight of their opening competitive matches, hand him the armband when Nkosinathi Sibisi was absent, and then watch him win the club’s Player of the Month award for August. By December, Chicago Fire had agreed a deal to sign him, and he arrived in MLS as a full South Africa international rather than just a prospect being exported. Since then, he has started quickly again, posting a 7.41 average rating across his first 628 MLS minutes. Left-footed centre-backs who are that comfortable with responsibility tend to attract attention. If he has a strong World Cup, bigger moves will not feel far away.

Spain – Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona, 19, centre-back)

Lamine Yamal is the obvious choice, so Pau Cubarsí gets the nod here simply to keep things interesting. There is something slightly ridiculous about how normal elite football already looks for him. He is 19, a centre-back, and Barcelona have basically treated him like an established first-team player. He made 56 appearances in 2024-25 as Barça won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, then carried that into this season with 29 league appearances by mid-March and another 10 in Europe. That is an enormous amount of football for someone his age in that position. Spain have already moved him to 10 senior caps too. This has gone beyond wonderkid status now. He is not just projected to become elite. He already looks elite.

Sweden – Hugo Larsson (Eintracht Frankfurt, 21, central midfielder)

Sweden has plenty of names in this age bracket, but Hugo Larsson is the one that feels most quietly convincing. Eintracht Frankfurt have used him for 1,577 Bundesliga minutes this season, plus Champions League starts, and the details tell you what sort of midfielder he is becoming: 104 tackles won in the league, 212.5 kilometres covered, 1,022 intensive runs, and still enough quality on the ball to chip in with a goal and two assists. That is a proper modern midfield workload at 21. Sweden have treated him accordingly, giving him 12 senior caps already. He does a lot of the work that makes a team function, then occasionally reminds you there is more to him than pure industry. In tournament football, those players often become the ones you remember.

Switzerland – Johan Manzambi (SC Freiburg, 20, central midfielder)

Johan Manzambi has moved from youth football to genuine senior relevance very quickly. Freiburg signed him from Servette’s academy in 2023, used him with the second team, then pushed him on so fast that by this season he had already made 35 appearances in all competitions, including 22 in the Bundesliga and 10 in the Europa League, with five goals overall. For a central midfielder who only turned 20 in October, that is a serious amount of football. Switzerland have acted quickly too. He made his senior debut in 2025 and already has 10 caps and three goals, including one against the United States and another away to Sweden in World Cup qualifying. Switzerland have plenty of experienced players. Manzambi is the one who feels different.

Tunisia – Ismaël Gharbi (Braga, 22, left winger)

Ismaël Gharbi is Tunisia’s most interesting younger option because his career has already bent in a few different directions. He came through at PSG, spent a season in Switzerland scoring six league goals for Lausanne Ouchy, then followed that with four goals in 23 Primeira Liga games for Braga in 2024-25 before a loan to Augsburg. That move has not gone smoothly, with only 88 Bundesliga minutes so far, but Tunisia have trusted him much more quickly than his club situation might suggest. He switched allegiance in August 2025, made his debut a few weeks later, and by the end of the year already had 11 caps, two goals and an Africa Cup of Nations goal. He is not arriving with a perfect season behind him. He is arriving as a player Tunisia clearly believes can give them something between the lines.

Türkiye – Kenan Yıldız (Juventus, 20, left winger)

There were two obvious choices here, Arda Güler and Kenan Yıldız, and Yıldız gets the nod because he already feels central to Juventus in a way very few 20-year-olds do at a club of that size. He wears the No. 10, has become their main attacking reference point, and this season in Serie A he has produced 10 goals and six assists in 2,548 minutes. That is a strong return in a side that has not exactly had a clean year. The Champions League numbers fill the picture out further: 10 appearances, one goal, three assists and 83.9 per cent passing accuracy. But the bigger clue is involvement. He has taken 55 shots in the league and is averaging a 7.56 average rating, which tells you Juventus are already giving him the ball and asking him to decide things. Türkiye are doing much the same, with 27 caps and five goals already. The hype was there years ago. The responsibility has now caught up with it.

Uruguay – Luciano Rodríguez (Neom, 22, centre-forward)

Luciano Rodríguez’s career has stopped following the neat wonderkid script. He won the U20 World Cup with Uruguay, got the big move to Bahia, then changed continent again when Neom took him to Saudi Arabia last September. He has played 1,927 league minutes there this season and scored six goals, which is not an explosive return for a striker, but it does show he is playing regularly and carrying responsibility at 22. Uruguay have kept him involved too, with five senior caps already. He still feels a bit jagged as a player, the type of forward who can make something happen out of nowhere or waste it trying, but that edge is also why people stay interested. With Marcelo Bielsa in charge, you would back a player like that to have a chance of becoming useful very quickly.

Uzbekistan – Abdukodir Khusanov (Manchester City, 22, centre-back)

There was only ever one option for Uzbekistan. Abdukodir Khusanov is already treated like a national icon, and there is a fair argument that he is already the country’s greatest footballer. His rise has been ridiculous. Eighteen months ago he was still at Energetik-BGU in Belarus. Now he is a Manchester City centre-back who cost around £33.6 million up front, plus add-ons, after Lens sold him in January. The jump has happened because he has recovery pace, aggression and the composure to defend huge spaces one-v-one without falling apart. He has already handled senior football in Ligue 1, the Premier League and the Champions League before turning 22, while Uzbekistan have given him 25 senior caps. He already looks like a monster of a centre-back, and the frightening bit is that he still feels nowhere near finished.

 

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