The 2026 World Cup is almost upon us.
There’s so much to look forward to at the tournament, a festival of football bringing together the best players from around the world. Of course, there are the established stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, likely making their World Cup bows.
Then you’ve got the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane looking to make this tournament theirs.
But then there are the wonderkids, hoping to set the stage alight. We’ve picked out our best eight players under the age of 20 to watch at the World Cup. Some are obvious, but others may be new players to keep an eye on.
Gilberto Mora (Mexico)
We’ll start our journey with the youngest player at the World Cup this summer. Gilberto Mora was born in October 2008 and is the only 17-year-old at the World Cup. To put that into a bit of perspective, Mora wasn’t born when Usain Bolt broke the 100m world record at the 2008 Olympics. He’s also younger than the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the iPhone and Android phones.
Despite his age, Mora has already played eight times for Mexico‘s senior team and has featured in a major tournament. He played — and started — three games for Mexico as they won the Gold Cup last summer including in the final. Again, that was all while still only 16. He set up Raul Jimenez for the only goal of the 1-0 win over Honduras in the semi-final.
Now, Mora hasn’t been a starter in Mexico’s recent World Cup preparation games, and had only featured in two games post-Gold Cup prior to this period. But he’s very much the future of the Mexican midfield. He scored six goals for Club Tijuana in Liga MX in 2025-26, averaging 0.39 per 90 minutes, while still trying to nail down a permanent role in the team. It will be interesting to see how much time he gets this summer.
Lamine Yamal (Spain)
This is an obvious one, but that doesn’t mean Lamine Yamal still isn’t a wonderkid. And he’s certainly one to watch. Every single eye will be on the teenager to see whether he can lead Spain to world glory. He certainly has the ability to. Yamal comes into the World Cup off the back of a fantastic season for Barcelona, helping them win La Liga at a canter. He was directly involved in 27 goals, scoring 16 and providing 11 assists.
Yamal finished top of La Liga for assists as well as big chances created (26) while also ranking fourth for his total chances created (72) and goals (16). There’s no stopping Yamal when he gets on the ball, with the Spaniard averaging 5.28 take-ons completed per 90 in La Liga last season. He’s a constant attacking threat, as we all know. But what will he do on his World Cup debut?
Yan Diomande (Ivory Coast)
Yan Diomande is starting to become a household name — even among those who have only heard of his abilities, rather than seen it live. And this World Cup is a real chance for the 19-year-old to show what he can do. Bundesliga and Ivory Coast fans will already know. Diomande was directly involved 20 goals in the Bundesliga in 2025-26, at an average of 0.73 per 90, 30.3% of RB Leipzig‘s league tally. He was the best dribbler in the league too, completing an average of 4.29 take-ons per 90 from 4.29 attempts.
Diomande didn’t take too long to become an Ivory Coast regular after making his debut last October. He’s played 10 games, starting eight and scored three goals. Four of those starts came at the Africa Cup of Nations, and the only game he didn’t start was to get a rest ahead of the knockout stages. Diomande has only missed two games since his first call-up, absent from the March international break due to injury. Ivory Coast have a good opportunity of reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup, and it feels like Diomande will play a key role in their tournament.
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Kerim Alajbegovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
The World Cup can sometimes be a place for players to earn big moves. Kerim Alajbegovic has already secured his, joining Bayer Leverkusen once the transfer window opens. Well, re-joining. Bosnia-Herzegovina winger Alajbegovic came through the academy at Leverkusen was but sold to Red Bull Salzburg last summer. His performances for club and country. were enough to persuade the German side to trigger their buy-back clause.
For Salzburg, Alajbegovic was directly involved in 17 goals across all competitions, scoring 13 and providing four assists. Nine of those goals came in the Austrian Bundesliga as Salzburg finished third — another underwhelming campaign for the club, but it could have been worse if not for Alajbegovic. He’s also had pivotal moments for Bosnia-Herzegovina at his young age. The 18-year-old provided an assist in the penalty-shootout win over Wales in World Cup qualifying and scored the winning penalty. He then scored in the shootout win over Italy a few days later, booking Bosnia-Herzegovina’s place at the World Cup.
Endrick (Brazil)
Yes, believe it or not, Endrick is still a teenager. He doesn’t turn 20 until two days after the World Cup final, and he’ll hope to have played a key role in Brazil lifting the trophy by the time his teenage years come to an end. Endrick made one of the best decisions he will ever make when joining Lyon on loan in January, reviving a career that looked to be stagnating even at this early stage. He had struggled to make a name for himself at Real Madrid, not given a good run of games to show what he can do.
But in 16 Ligue 1 games for Lyon, Endrick was directly involved in 12 goals, scoring five and providing seven assists. The latter was the third-most in Ligue 1 in 2025-26, remarkable considering he didn’t play for the first half of the came. Endrick averaged 0.52 assists per 90, from 2.21 chances created. But he was an even better goal threat, averaging 1.91 shots on target per 90, the second-best record in Ligue 1. And Endrick has a unique ball-striking ability that does differentiate him from so many other young stars. He did all of this while playing predominantly as a right-winger, and Brazil need to fill that gap this summer in Rodrygo’s absence.
Ayyoub Bouaddi (Morocco)
Ayyoud Bouaddi isn’t a player that will set the world alight with trickery, or goals and assists. But he’s one to keep an eye on for his performances just in front of the Morocco defence. Bouaddi made 59 tackles in Ligue 1 last season, protecting the third-best defence in the French top-flight. He won possession 76 times in the middle third and 60 times in the defensive third, one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1.
His performances made him hard for Morocco to ignore. His call-up for the World Cup was the first time Bouaddi had ever made a Morocco squad, but he’s already started both of the available matches. Bouaddi looks ready to be a key part of Morocco’s team, showing what they’ve got for the future.
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Ibrahim Mbaye (Senegal)
Ibrahim Mbaye was a bit of a rotational man for Paris Saint-Germain, coming off the bench in 14 of his 24 Ligue 1 appearances in 2025-26. He also only featured four times in the Champions League, all coming in the group stage. But when he’s made it onto the pitch, Mbaye has shown his quality. He averaged 4.96 take-ons attempted per 90 in Ligue 1 in 2025-26, the sixth-best in the division. The Senegal winger also averaged 19.68 final third passes completed per 90, the seventh-best in Ligue 1.
Of course, Mbaye is also the youngest player to start a game for PSG — doing so aged 16 years, six months and 23 days. Mbaye made his Senegal debut in November and was part of their Afcon squad in the winter. There, he scored one goal and completed six take-ons as Senegal made it to the final, despite only playing 168 minutes. He may not be a guaranteed starter, but he’ll certainly make an impact.
Luka Vuskovic (Croatia)
Despite being just 19, Luka Vuskovic looks set to be part of Croatia‘s first-choice defence. He’s started all three friendlies this year, and with good reason. Vuskovic sat third in the Bundesliga in 2025-26 for his 251 clearances completed, as well as headed clearances (153). Standing 6’4″, Vuskovic is understandbly good in the air, winning 149 of his 200 contested aerial duels for Hamburg (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur). He’s a decent passer too, completing 83.05% of his attempts in 2025-26.
Vuskovic is a goal threat too. He scored six goals in the Bundesliga this season, including one penalty. No centre-back scored more goals than Vuskovic across Europe’s top five leagues. Tottenham fans will be keeping an eye on Vuskovic to see if he’ll get a chance in 2026-27 or whether there’ll be another loan on the cards.
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