00:0010 Young Players Who Could Steal the 2026 World Cup
00:03There's something about a World Cup that separates the almost-greats from the legends.
00:07Careers get defined in 90 minutes, unknowns become icons, and every single tournament
00:13throws up at least one name nobody saw coming.
00:16This one will be no different.
00:17I've spent weeks going deep on the most exciting young talent heading to this World Cup,
00:22players who've been quietly building toward this moment, and a few who exploded out of nowhere.
00:27We're talking about a 17-year-old who's about to shatter a record that's been standing since
00:321930, a central defender who scored more goals this season than most forwards, a player sold
00:38for 6 million euros who's now worth 70, and a kid who went from a reserve team in Spain
00:43to being valued at 100 million in under 12 months.
00:47These aren't just prospects.
00:49These are the players who could define the tournament.
00:51Let's start with a one I believe has the most to prove, and the most to gain.
00:55Niko Paz, Argentina, 21 years old, Como 1907.
01:01Some players are fast, some players are physical.
01:04Niko Paz is neither of those things, and yet he makes every player around him look a step
01:09behind.
01:10He sees passes before the space opens.
01:12He finds angles that simply don't exist for anyone else on the pitch.
01:16Born in Tenerife to an Argentine father who played international football, Niko always chose
01:22the blue and white.
01:23When he debuted for Argentina, he came off the bench and within 13 minutes had already
01:28set up Lionel Messi for a goal.
01:30That's not a debut, that's a statement.
01:33Real Madrid sold him to Como in 2024 for just 6 million euros, but they were smart enough to
01:39keep a buyback clause for 9 million.
01:41This season, he's posted 13 goals and 8 assists in Serie A.
01:45His market value sits at 70 million today, and Madrid are almost certain to activate that
01:51buyback in July.
01:52Quite possibly the greatest piece of financial planning in modern football.
01:56There's one concern.
01:58A knee issue in the final weeks of the season had Argentina and Como in open disagreement
02:03over whether he should play.
02:05That's the kind of tension that only surrounds someone truly irreplaceable.
02:09If he arrives fit, he could be the best player at the entire tournament that nobody outside
02:13Italy is fully ready for.
02:15The rest of the world is about to find out.
02:22The story of Endrick's first year in Europe is genuinely strange.
02:26He arrived at Real Madrid as the most expensive under-16 signing in history.
02:3150,000 fans showed up at the Bernabeu just to greet him, and then he spent a year and
02:35a half watching from the bench.
02:37Managers barely trusted him with minutes.
02:39The ones he did get produced brilliant flashes.
02:42Goals that confirmed the talent was real, but never enough runway to show what he could truly
02:47do over a full game.
02:48Until the loan to Lyon in December 2025 changed everything.
02:53Five goals in his first four matches.
02:56A hat-trick.
02:56A goal and assist against PSG.
02:59By the time his loan ended, Lyon fans were giving him standing ovations, crediting him
03:04with helping the club qualify for Champions League football for the first time in six years.
03:09Now, he arrives at this World Cup as the youngest player called up by Brazil since a teenager
03:14named Ronaldo Nazario made the squad back in 1994.
03:19Ancelotti still hasn't handed him a guaranteed starting spot, but everyone who's watched
03:23Endrick knows.
03:24Give him a chance and something extraordinary tends to happen.
03:28Jan Jomande.
03:29Ivory Coast.
03:3020 years old.
03:31RB Leipzig.
03:32If you want a story that sounds made up, here it is.
03:35Ligonez found this kid in Florida.
03:37Signed him in January 2025 for their reserve team.
03:41Within two months, he was playing first division football.
03:44Within three months, he was making his La Liga debut against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
03:49Ligonez got relegated.
03:51Leipzig paid $20 million.
03:53Then Jomande went and scored 12 goals with eight assists in the Bundesliga, one young player
03:58of the season, and watched his valuation jump from $20 million to $90 million in under a
04:04year.
04:04Bayern inquired and backed off when they heard the price.
04:08Manchester United, Liverpool, and PSG are still circling.
04:12Leipzig's answer is $100 million or nothing.
04:15He's 20 years old.
04:16He was playing reserve football 18 months ago, and now the biggest clubs in Europe need
04:21nine figures just to open talks.
04:24This World Cup is his chance to prove that price is fair.
04:27Luka Buschkovic, Croatia, 19 years old.
04:31Hamburger SV.
04:32Let me just put this plainly.
04:34This is a central defender who scored six Bundesliga goals this season.
04:38Six from centre-back.
04:40And the season before that in Belgium, he scored seven.
04:43Real Madrid tried to sign him in 2023 for $6 million.
04:46Tottenham got there first.
04:48After this season, Tottenham's asking price is $60 to $70 million, and Barcelona, Liverpool,
04:54Bayern, and Manchester City are all queuing.
04:57Tottenham insists he's not for sale.
04:59His contract runs to 2030.
05:01But $70 million has a way of changing minds.
05:04Buschkovic arrives at this World Cup in the form of his life.
05:08He ended the Bundesliga season with a stunning free kick on the final day, and has already
05:12scored for Croatia's senior side.
05:14Croatia isn't among the favourites, but they have a 19-year-old centre-back who plays like
05:19he's been doing this for a decade.
05:21That's a dangerous combination.
05:23Leonard Karl.
05:24Germany.
05:2518 years old.
05:26Bayern Munich.
05:27He grew up in a Bavarian village of 5,000 people.
05:30He joined Bayern's academy at 14.
05:32He made his professional debut at the Club World Cup age 17, the second youngest debutant
05:38in Bayern's history, behind only Musiala.
05:41And then, Musiala got seriously injured.
05:44And suddenly, Karl wasn't a project.
05:46He was a necessity.
05:47Nine goals and seven assists across all competitions this season.
05:5116 Bundesliga starts at 18 years old.
05:54He scored in three consecutive Champions League games, against Club Brugge, Arsenal, and Sporting,
06:00becoming the youngest German scorer in the competition's history.
06:03His agent is Michael Ballack.
06:05Earlier this year, Karl told a group of Bayern fans that his dream was to play for Real Madrid.
06:11Germany didn't love that answer, and he had to publicly apologize.
06:15But honestly, that kind of ambition is exactly what you want to see in a player at this level.
06:20Musiala has returned for the World Cup, though not fully fit.
06:23The question is whether Karl can take that starting spot from the player who, until recently,
06:28was Germany's.
06:29Gilberto Mora, Mexico, 17 years old, Tijuana.
06:34He made his Liga MX debut at 15 years and 10 months.
06:38Twelve days later, he scored his first professional goal.
06:41He ended 2025 as the top under-17 scorer in the world.
06:46Twelve goals across club and country.
06:49At 16, he started the Copa Oro quarterfinals, semifinals, and final for Mexico.
06:54Along the way, he broke the record for the youngest player to appear in an official match for El
06:59Tree, a record previously held by Rafa Marquez.
07:03And when he walks out at this World Cup, he'll break another record that has stood since the
07:07Uruguay tournament in 1930, the youngest player ever to represent Mexico at a World Cup.
07:14Real Madrid, Barcelona, Dortmund, and Manchester City all have scouting reports on him.
07:20Every one of them is waiting to see what he does this summer before making a move.
07:25Ryan Cherky, France, 22 years old, Manchester City.
07:29He debuted for Lyon at 16 and immediately had the football world talking.
07:34Then, six years passed and most of that conversation quietened down, until last season when he posted
07:4112 goals and 20 assists in 44 appearances for Lyon, figures impossible to ignore.
07:47Manchester City signed him, and the adjustment was immediate.
07:51He became City's top assist provider in the Premier League, the first player to reach 10
07:55assists in a debut Premier League season since Dimitri Payet, back in 2015.
08:01His France debut came in the Nations League semi-final against Spain.
08:05He entered as a substitute, scored, and set up another goal.
08:09France lost 5-4, but Cherky was outstanding.
08:13That's not a bad way to introduce yourself.
08:15France's attacking depth remains extraordinary.
08:18Mbappé, Dembélé, Olisse, Cherky still isn't guaranteed a starting position, but he arrives
08:25in better form, at a better club, with more international credibility than ever before.
08:30This tournament feels like his time.
08:32Ibrahim Maza, Algeria.
08:3420 years old.
08:36Bayer Leverkusen.
08:37Born in Berlin.
08:38Raised in Hertha's academy.
08:40Chose to represent Algeria, his family's country.
08:43Leverkusen signed him last summer for $12 million, and the request came personally from
08:48Xabi Alonso before he left for Madrid.
08:51Five goals and seven assists in 44 appearances, including time away for the Africa Cup of Nations.
08:57He ended the season as a regular starter at one of the best-run clubs in Germany.
09:02Algeria's first group game at this World Cup is against Argentina.
09:06Maza will face Messi, and potentially Nico Paz.
09:09If there's one match where an unknown player can become the story of the tournament overnight,
09:14it's that one.
09:16Victor Munoz, Spain.
09:1822 years old.
09:19Osasuna.
09:20Trained at Barcelona's academy as a child.
09:23Later moved to Real Madrid's system.
09:25Made his professional debut in a Clásico in 2025, and then Madrid sold him to Osasuna that
09:31summer for $5 million.
09:33This season, seven goals, five assists, one of the best dribblers in La Liga, among the
09:39fastest players in the division.
09:41Sunderland came with $25 million in January.
09:44Osasuna didn't consider it.
09:46Now both Barcelona and Madrid want him back.
09:49He made his Spain debut in March, came on for 10 minutes against Serbia, and scored.
09:54That's his entire international career so far.
09:57A World Cup with Spain this summer is a completely different stage, and he might just be ready
10:02for it.
10:02Marc Poubi, Spain.
10:0422 years old.
10:06Atletico Madrid Espanyol rejected him from their youth team for being too short.
10:10He's now 1.80 meters and one of the most complete young defenders in La Liga.
10:16Levante gave him his top-flight debut at 18.
10:19Almeria signed him.
10:20Wolverhampton had a deal agreed.
10:22Atletico swooped in, paid $16 million, and Simeone immediately converted him from fullback
10:28to centre-back.
10:28When Simeone makes that kind of call, it tends to be right.
10:32This season, Poubi became an undisputed starter at Atletico.
10:36Luis de la Fuente called him up for the World Cup.
10:39His debut for Spain's senior team will come at a World Cup.
10:43Not many players can say that.
10:45Antonio Nusa, Norway.
10:4720 years old.
10:48RB Leipzig.
10:49Norway returns to the World Cup after 28 years away.
10:53And yes, everyone knows Holland, but Nusa was arguably as important to qualifying.
10:58Two goals, three assists, one of the highest-rated players across the entire European qualifying
11:04campaign.
11:05Born in Norway to a Nigerian father.
11:07Debuted in the Norwegian top flight at 16.
11:10Brugge paid $6 million.
11:12Leipzig paid $21 million two years later.
11:15Injuries have disrupted his consistency at club level, but in the pre-tournament friendlies,
11:19he's looked sharp.
11:21A dominant performance against Sweden demonstrated exactly what he can do when fully fit.
11:26Norway's group includes France, Senegal, and Iraq.
11:29They qualified with a perfect record and averaged over four goals per game.
11:33They haven't come just to participate.
11:36Neither has Nusa.
11:37Ten players.
11:38Ten stories.
11:39One tournament that could change all of them forever.
11:42Which one are you watching most closely?
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