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.

Five Dark Horse Teams That Could Shock the World at the 2026 World Cup

By World Soccer Wire Editorial

The favorites are obvious. France, Argentina, Spain, Brazil — we know their names. But the 2026 World Cup's expanded 48-team format creates more paths to glory than ever before. Here are five teams flying under the radar that could make a deep run this summer.

The 2026 World Cup is the biggest, most unpredictable tournament in history. For the first time, 48 teams compete across 12 groups, with the top two from each group plus the eight best third-place finishers advancing to a 32-team knockout round. That new format matters more than people realize. Teams that would have gone home in the group stage in previous tournaments now have a second chance. Margins are smaller. Upsets are more likely.

The favorites — France, Argentina, Spain, Brazil, England, Germany — are still the favorites. But in an expanded tournament played across three countries with massive, passionate crowds at every venue, any of the following five teams could make a run that nobody sees coming.

1. Turkey — The Perennial Nearly-Team That's Ready to Finally Arrive

Turkey is the most talked-about dark horse in the tournament, and for good reason. They're ranked around FIFA #29 but have a long history of consistently outperforming that number at major tournaments. At Euro 2024 in Germany they reached the quarterfinals before losing to the Netherlands. At the 2002 World Cup — the last time they qualified — they finished third.

The 24-year wait to get back to the World Cup has only sharpened the hunger. Vincenzo Montella's side qualified through a competitive UEFA bracket and brings a young, technically gifted squad that's comfortable on the ball and dangerous on the counter. They're in Group D alongside the USMNT, which means American fans will get to see them up close on June 25.

The concern with Turkey — and it's a legitimate one — is that they've burned people before. Euro 2020 was a disaster for a side that arrived heavily fancied. But this is a different team, with better players and better coaching, and the expanded format gives them more runway to find their rhythm.

How far can they go? Quarterfinal ceiling if the bracket breaks right.

2. Colombia — Unfinished Business on North American Soil

Colombia isn't exactly a secret — they're ranked FIFA #9 and were Copa América runners-up in 2024 — but the betting markets still underrate them and casual fans aren't talking about them the way they should be.

This is one of the most gifted attacking generations in Colombian soccer history. Luis Díaz (Bayern Munich) is one of the most exciting wide players in world football. James Rodríguez, now in the veteran stage of his career, still carries the playmaking creativity that made him the 2014 World Cup's breakout star. The group as a whole plays with a fluid, high-tempo style that can dismantle organized defenses.

There's also a psychological element here. The last time Colombia played a World Cup on North American soil was 1994, and it ended in tragedy — a group-stage exit followed by the murder of defender Andrés Escobar. More than 30 years on, there's a sense of unfinished business for this program on this particular stage. That kind of motivation is hard to quantify but real.

How far can they go? Semifinal if Díaz stays healthy and the bracket is kind.

3. Japan — The Team That Keeps Defying the Odds

Japan has quietly become one of the most dangerous sides in world soccer, and the expanded format is almost tailor-made for how they play. At the 2022 World Cup they won their group ahead of Germany and Spain — two of the tournament favorites — before losing on penalties to Croatia in the Round of 16.

The 2026 squad is better. Japan's players are more distributed across Europe's top leagues than ever before, and the tactical discipline that coach Hajime Moriyasu has built over the last four years gives them the ability to absorb pressure and hit teams on rapid, precise counters. They won't dominate possession against elite opposition. They don't need to.

The expanded tournament gives Japan more group stage matches to settle in, and the new round-of-32 format means they don't face a top-eight side until the round of 16. That's three matches to build momentum before the real test arrives.

How far can they go? Quarterfinal, possibly further.

4. Senegal — Africa's Best Team on the World's Biggest Stage

Senegal presents a unique challenge for any opponent. They have the physicality to match Europe's best, the technical quality to compete with South America's finest, and a genuine match-winner in Sadio Mané who has been playing some of the best football of his career heading into the summer.

They were knocked out in the Round of 16 by England in 2022. In 2002 — their first-ever World Cup — they reached the quarterfinals on debut, beating France along the way. This squad has a healthy balance of those veteran tournament survivors and an emerging core of younger players built around Mané.

The draw handed them a tough Group F alongside France, which makes advancing from the group stage a genuine challenge. But Senegal has a history of making things difficult for France specifically, and if they navigate the group — even as a third-place qualifier — they become a nightmare opponent for anyone in the knockouts.

How far can they go? Round of 16 at minimum, quarterfinals if they avoid France again in the knockouts.

5. Egypt — Mo Salah's Last Dance

Egypt has never won a World Cup finals match in three separate tournament appearances. The expanded format and an aging but supremely motivated Mohamed Salah might change that.

This will almost certainly be Salah's last World Cup. The Liverpool legend is one of the greatest players of his generation and he has never had the stage to show it on the global tournament that matters most. His teammates know it. The entire country knows it. That kind of collective motivation can carry a team through matches it has no business winning.

Egypt opens against Belgium, which is a brutal start. But a result there — even a draw — sets up everything that follows. And in an expanded format where eight third-place finishers advance, Egypt doesn't need to top their group. They just need to get through.

How far can they go? Round of 32 floor, Round of 16 if Salah delivers one of those performances that reminds everyone why he's been the best player in the Premier League for nearly a decade.

The Bonus Pick: Norway and Erling Haaland

No dark horse list feels complete without mentioning Norway. Erling Haaland is the most devastating striker in world football — the man who scored 66 goals in a single Premier League season. A Norway side built around him, given three group stage matches to find their footing in an expanded tournament, is a genuinely frightening prospect for whoever lines up against them.

Norway plays in a tough group alongside France and Senegal, which makes advancement uncertain. But if they get through — and they have enough quality to do it — a Haaland-led Norway in the knockout rounds is the kind of story the tournament deserves.

Keep an Eye on the Bracket

The 2026 World Cup's expanded format means the path to the final is longer and more variable than any previous tournament. Dark horses have more opportunities to build momentum, avoid elite opponents early, and arrive at the quarterfinals with the kind of confidence that makes them dangerous.

Watch all of it live on FOX and FS1 — stream through FuboTV, Sling TV, or FOX One for all 104 matches. Spanish-language coverage on Telemundo and Peacock.

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