10 Players Who Could Steal the Show at World Cup 2026
By World Soccer Wire Editorial
The tournament kicks off on June 11. You know Messi. You know Mbappé. Here's who you should actually be watching.
The 2026 World Cup is the biggest in history — 48 teams, three countries, 104 matches. With that kind of scale comes something genuinely exciting: a massive wave of players stepping onto the world stage for the first time, with everything to prove and nothing to lose.
We went through the full field and picked 10 names worth knowing before kickoff. Some are already turning heads in Europe's top leagues. A couple of teenagers. One scored 38 goals this season, and almost nobody outside of Portugal noticed. This is your cheat sheet.
1. Yan Diomande — Ivory Coast | RB Leipzig | Age: 19
Start here. Diomande is the most talked-about teenager at this entire tournament, and Leipzig are fighting tooth and nail to keep him — reportedly valuing him north of €130 million despite signing him for just €20 million less than a year ago. That gap tells you everything.
The Ivorian winger put up 12 goals and nine assists in 33 Bundesliga appearances this past season, won the league's rookie of the year award, and has been linked with Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid, PSG, and Bayern Munich — essentially every club that could afford him. He spent three years living in Florida as a teenager, so playing on American soil won't faze him one bit. If the Ivory Coast goes deep, Diomande is the reason.
2. Nico Paz — Argentina | Como | Age: 21
The Messi comparisons started because he's left-footed, plays as a 10, and is Argentine. Annoying as that comparison always is, there's something to the hype. Paz led Como's remarkable rise under Cesc Fàbregas, completing more dribbles than any other player in Serie A this season while contributing 13 goals and eight assists.
Real Madrid sold him to Como but inserted a buy-back clause — that's not a detail you add for a player you're not sure about. Argentina has Messi, so Paz may start from the bench, but tournament football has a way of creating openings. When his chance comes, he tends to take it.
3. Gilberto Mora — Mexico | Tijuana | Age: 17
He's 17. He's the youngest player at the entire tournament. And Mexico is opening the World Cup against South Africa at the Azteca — their home ground — on June 11. The pressure cooker doesn't get more intense than that.
Mora became the youngest goalscorer in Liga MX history at 15, starred against Spain at last year's Under-20 World Cup, and played in the Gold Cup final that Mexico won. The Spanish press nicknamed him "Crackito" — little maestro — and Real Madrid and Manchester City are reportedly watching. He may not start every game, but when he's on, the Azteca will feel it.
4. Johan Manzambi — Switzerland | SC Freiburg | Age: 20
Freiburg's Europa League run this season was the kind of story that doesn't happen in modern football — a mid-table Bundesliga club making a continental final. Manzambi was UEFA's Europa League revelation of the season, scored seven goals from midfield, including a stunning strike against Braga in the semis, and had 33 shot attempts across the campaign — 11 more than any teammate.
Switzerland has a history of nurturing young players on the World Cup stage. Embolo did it. Dan Ndoye has done it. Granit Xhaka has already gone on record praising Manzambi specifically. The Swiss captain doesn't do that lightly.
5. Ricardo Pepi — USA | PSV Eindhoven | Age: 23
The co-hosts need goals. Their group is winnable. And Pepi banged in 19 for PSV last season, including six in his last five games as they won the Eredivisie title. He has already scored 13 international goals and was back in the starting lineup for the USA's warm-up win over Senegal in late May.
American fans will know him. Casual viewers won't — yet. If the US makes any kind of run, Pepi will be central to it, and a World Cup at home has a way of turning domestic players into household names overnight.
6. Bazoumana Touré — Ivory Coast | Hoffenheim | Age: 20
"The Hurricane." That nickname came from his pace, but the stats back up the whole package. Twelve assists in 30 Bundesliga games this season after joining Hoffenheim from Swedish side Hammarby in January 2025. Manchester United and Newcastle are both reportedly keen.
The wrinkle is that the Ivory Coast has an embarrassment of attacking riches — Diomande on one flank, Amad Diallo on the other. Touré may have to fight for minutes, but when he gets them, defenders have struggled to handle him all season. "Bazoumania" is a real thing.
7. Ibrahim Maza — Algeria | Bayer Leverkusen | Age: 20
In Algeria, they're already calling him "Mazadona" — the Maradona comparison, applied to a 20-year-old Berliner who plays attacking midfield for the reigning Bundesliga champions. High bar. But watch him play and you understand where the nickname comes from.
Maza made over 40 appearances for Leverkusen this season and has 15 international caps despite being two decades old. He plays in the pockets between midfield and defense, drives forward with the ball, and scores goals that midfielders aren't supposed to score. Algeria fancy themselves as this tournament's Morocco — the team that goes further than anyone expects. Maza is why.
8. Luis Suárez — Colombia | Sporting CP | Age: 28
Not that one. This Luis Suarez is Colombian, plays for Sporting in Portugal, and just scored 38 goals in his debut season at the club — filling the exact void left when Viktor Gyokeres departed for Arsenal. He also added nine assists. In one season. For a team that had just lost its star striker.
He's only scored five times for Colombia at the international level so far, but the form he's carrying into this tournament is absurd. Colombia is a genuine dark horse, and Suarez is the player who could announce himself to the wider world in a very short amount of time.
9. Luka Vuskovic — Croatia | Tottenham (on loan at Hamburg) | Age: 19
Croatia without Luka Modric would feel like a different team entirely — and it is. But Vuskovic is the kind of player who fills a vacuum. A commanding centre-back who popped up with six goals during his loan spell at Hamburg, he made his Hajduk Split debut at 16, accelerated through Croatia's youth system, and Spurs had the deal agreed 18 months before it was even announced publicly.
That level of forward planning from a club that doesn't always get things right in the transfer market is itself a signal. In a tournament where Croatia is rebuilding its identity post-Modric era, Vuskovic has the personality and the ability to give them a new one.
10. Endrick — Brazil | Real Madrid | Age: 18 (WSW Pick)The
BBC left him off. We're putting him on. Endrick joined Real Madrid last summer as one of the most hyped teenagers in world football and has been eased in carefully — but Brazil at a World Cup is a different context entirely. The pressure, the expectation, the yellow shirt with its weight of history. For someone like Endrick, that stage isn't a burden; it's a source of fuel.
He's 18, plays for the biggest club in the world, and Brazil needs someone to pick up the torch that Neymar has been slowly dropping for years. This is where careers are made. Endrick was born for exactly this kind of moment — and if Brazil needs a spark in a tight game, Vinicius Jr. will be the first option, but Endrick might be the one people are talking about by the end.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup runs from June 11 through July 19 across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.