{"id":15904,"date":"2026-06-30T11:16:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:16:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/?post_type=news&p=15904"},"modified":"2026-06-30T11:46:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:46:47","slug":"breakout-stars-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Cup 2026 hasn’t just belonged to the established superstars. A new wave of young talent has lit up the group stage and the knockout rounds. Here are the breakout stars of the World Cup 2026<\/strong> so far. For the full picture, see our World Cup 2026<\/a> hub.<\/p>\n\n

Julio Enciso (Paraguay)<\/h2>\n

The 22-year-old Strasbourg playmaker has been Paraguay’s spark. He opened the scoring in the Round of 32 against Germany — the strike that helped knock the four-time world champions out<\/a> on penalties — and has chipped in with assists throughout. Read our full Julio Enciso profile<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Ayyoub Bouaddi (Morocco)<\/h2>\n

At just 18, the Lille midfielder has been one of the tournament’s youngest revelations. A French-born former France Under-21 captain who switched allegiance to Morocco in May 2026, Bouaddi anchored the Atlas Lions’ midfield on his World Cup bow — a composed 90-minute shift in the 1-1 draw with Brazil, winning nine duels and completing 91% of his passes — and started against Brazil and Scotland, coming off the bench against Haiti, as Morocco marched into the last 16.<\/p>\n\n

Johan Manzambi (Switzerland)<\/h2>\n

At just 20, the Freiburg midfielder has been one of the tournament’s purest breakouts. He scored three times in the group stage, including a brace against Bosnia-Herzegovina and a goal against Canada — remarkable poise for a teenager-turned-20 on the biggest stage.<\/p>\n\n

Nathan Saliba (Canada)<\/h2>\n

The 22-year-old Anderlecht midfielder has been at the heart of co-hosts Canada’s historic run to the last 16, scoring in the 6-0 rout of Qatar and laying on two assists from central midfield.<\/p>\n\n

Elijah Just (New Zealand)<\/h2>\n

New Zealand’s surprise package. The 26-year-old winger announced himself with three goals — two in a 2-2 draw with Iran and another against Belgium — a late-blooming breakout on the world stage.<\/p>\n\n

Hélio Varela (Cape Verde)<\/h2>\n

Part of Cape Verde’s fairytale. The 24-year-old winger scored in the 2-2 draw with Uruguay as one of the smallest nations ever to reach the World Cup knockout rounds wrote history.<\/p>\n\n

The next generation has arrived<\/h2>\n

From Enciso’s giant-killing strike to Manzambi’s teenage composure, the World Cup 2026 has been a launchpad for its brightest young talents — and the knockouts could yet turn them into household names. See more tournament storylines in our biggest shocks of the World Cup 2026<\/a>.

Must be 21+ and present in a state where betting is legal. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n\n

Who are the breakout stars of the World Cup 2026?<\/strong>

Young talents like Paraguay’s Julio Enciso, Switzerland’s Johan Manzambi and Canada’s Nathan Saliba have been among the breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far.<\/p><\/div>

Who is the youngest breakout star at the World Cup 2026?<\/strong>

At 18, Morocco’s Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi has been one of the youngest players to make an impact, anchoring the midfield as the Atlas Lions reached the last 16.<\/p><\/div>

Which Canadian has stood out at the World Cup 2026?<\/strong>

Anderlecht midfielder Nathan Saliba, 22, has impressed in Canada’s run to the last 16, scoring against Qatar and adding two assists.<\/p><\/div>

What did Julio Enciso do at the World Cup 2026?<\/strong>

Enciso opened the scoring in Paraguay’s Round-of-32 win over Germany and has been one of the tournament’s standout young attackers.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The World Cup 2026 hasn’t just belonged to the established superstars. A new wave of young talent has lit up the group stage and the knockout rounds. Here are the breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far. For the full picture, see our World Cup 2026 hub. Julio Enciso (Paraguay) The 22-year-old Strasbourg…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3588,"featured_media":15912,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"World Cup 2026 breakout stars","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far | Squawka","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"The breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Julio Enciso, Johan Manzambi, Nathan Saliba and the tournament's brightest young talents.","footnotes":""},"tags":[303,302,273],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-15904","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-usa","tag-usmnt","tag-world-cup-2026"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"\nBreakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far | Squawka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Julio Enciso, Johan Manzambi, Nathan Saliba and the tournament's brightest young talents.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Julio Enciso, Johan Manzambi, Nathan Saliba and the tournament's brightest young talents.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Squawka | US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T15:46:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/30111422\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-30-2026-at-04_12_32-PM.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"941\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Squawka\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"WebPage\",\"FAQPage\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/\",\"name\":\"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far | Squawka\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/30111422\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-30-2026-at-04_12_32-PM.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T15:16:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-30T15:46:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"The breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Julio Enciso, Johan Manzambi, Nathan Saliba and the tournament's brightest young talents.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#breadcrumb\"},\"mainEntity\":[{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus1\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus2\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus3\"},{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus4\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/30111422\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-30-2026-at-04_12_32-PM.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/30111422\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-30-2026-at-04_12_32-PM.jpg\",\"width\":1670,\"height\":941},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/\",\"name\":\"Squawka US\",\"description\":\"Soccer News and Predictions | Stats, Betting\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Squawka US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/04\/23072352\/Squawka-Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/04\/23072352\/Squawka-Logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Squawka US\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Squawka\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/squawkafootball\/\"],\"description\":\"Squawka is a football editorial site covering the Premier League, Champions League, MLS, Liga MX, FIFA World Cup 2026 and the wider international game. We publish match previews, tactical analysis, player and team stats, outright odds, betting tips, streaming guides and long-form features for a committed football audience. Founded in the UK and part of OneTwenty Group, Squawka now runs localised editions for the UK (squawka.com\/en\/), United States (squawka.com\/us\/), Mexican-Spanish (squawka.com\/us-es\/), Ireland, Netherlands, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana. Each edition is editorially tailored to its market, with locale-specific competition focus, operator compliance and commercial partnerships. Traffic skews toward high-intent football readers \u2014 supporters researching fixtures, form, odds and where to watch \u2014 making Squawka a strong fit for sportsbook, prediction-market, DFS, streaming and sports-merchandise brands across the UK, Europe and North America.\",\"foundingDate\":\"2012-06-11\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus1\",\"position\":1,\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus1\",\"name\":\"Who are the breakout stars of the World Cup 2026?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Young talents like Paraguay's Julio Enciso, Switzerland's Johan Manzambi and Canada's Nathan Saliba have been among the breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus2\",\"position\":2,\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus2\",\"name\":\"Who is the youngest breakout star at the World Cup 2026?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"At 18, Morocco's Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi has been one of the youngest players to make an impact, anchoring the midfield as the Atlas Lions reached the last 16.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus3\",\"position\":3,\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus3\",\"name\":\"Which Canadian has stood out at the World Cup 2026?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Anderlecht midfielder Nathan Saliba, 22, has impressed in Canada's run to the last 16, scoring against Qatar and adding two assists.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus4\",\"position\":4,\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus4\",\"name\":\"What did Julio Enciso do at the World Cup 2026?\",\"answerCount\":1,\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Enciso opened the scoring in Paraguay's Round-of-32 win over Germany and has been one of the tournament's standout young attackers.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far | Squawka","description":"The breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Julio Enciso, Johan Manzambi, Nathan Saliba and the tournament's brightest young talents.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far","og_description":"The breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Julio Enciso, Johan Manzambi, Nathan Saliba and the tournament's brightest young talents.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/","og_site_name":"Squawka | US","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/","article_modified_time":"2026-06-30T15:46:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1670,"height":941,"url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/30111422\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-30-2026-at-04_12_32-PM.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Squawka","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["WebPage","FAQPage"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/","name":"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far | Squawka","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/30111422\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-30-2026-at-04_12_32-PM.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-30T15:16:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-30T15:46:47+00:00","description":"The breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Julio Enciso, Johan Manzambi, Nathan Saliba and the tournament's brightest young talents.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"mainEntity":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus1"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus2"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus3"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus4"}],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/30111422\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-30-2026-at-04_12_32-PM.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/06\/30111422\/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-30-2026-at-04_12_32-PM.jpg","width":1670,"height":941},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/","name":"Squawka US","description":"Soccer News and Predictions | Stats, Betting","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#organization","name":"Squawka US","url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/04\/23072352\/Squawka-Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/sites\/13\/2026\/04\/23072352\/Squawka-Logo.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"Squawka US"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SquawkaFootballNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Squawka","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/squawkafootball\/"],"description":"Squawka is a football editorial site covering the Premier League, Champions League, MLS, Liga MX, FIFA World Cup 2026 and the wider international game. We publish match previews, tactical analysis, player and team stats, outright odds, betting tips, streaming guides and long-form features for a committed football audience. Founded in the UK and part of OneTwenty Group, Squawka now runs localised editions for the UK (squawka.com\/en\/), United States (squawka.com\/us\/), Mexican-Spanish (squawka.com\/us-es\/), Ireland, Netherlands, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Ghana. Each edition is editorially tailored to its market, with locale-specific competition focus, operator compliance and commercial partnerships. Traffic skews toward high-intent football readers \u2014 supporters researching fixtures, form, odds and where to watch \u2014 making Squawka a strong fit for sportsbook, prediction-market, DFS, streaming and sports-merchandise brands across the UK, Europe and North America.","foundingDate":"2012-06-11"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus1","position":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus1","name":"Who are the breakout stars of the World Cup 2026?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Young talents like Paraguay's Julio Enciso, Switzerland's Johan Manzambi and Canada's Nathan Saliba have been among the breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus2","position":2,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus2","name":"Who is the youngest breakout star at the World Cup 2026?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"At 18, Morocco's Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi has been one of the youngest players to make an impact, anchoring the midfield as the Atlas Lions reached the last 16.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus3","position":3,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus3","name":"Which Canadian has stood out at the World Cup 2026?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Anderlecht midfielder Nathan Saliba, 22, has impressed in Canada's run to the last 16, scoring against Qatar and adding two assists.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus4","position":4,"url":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/news\/breakout-stars-world-cup-2026\/#faq-question-brkus4","name":"What did Julio Enciso do at the World Cup 2026?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Enciso opened the scoring in Paraguay's Round-of-32 win over Germany and has been one of the tournament's standout young attackers.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"yoast_title":"Breakout Stars of the World Cup 2026 So Far | Squawka","yoast_description":"The breakout stars of the World Cup 2026 so far: Ayyoub Bouaddi, Julio Enciso, Johan Manzambi, Nathan Saliba and the tournament's brightest young talents.","yoast_keyword":"World Cup 2026 breakout stars","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3588"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15923,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15904\/revisions\/15923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15904"},{"taxonomy":"news-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-category?post=15904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}