Who are the players you need to watch out for at the 2026 World Cup? Here, we’ve picked out 26 who we’re looking forward to seeing in action.
How We Selected the 20 Most Exciting World Cup 2026 Players
With just over a week to go until the 2026 World Cup gets under way in Mexico City, it’s time to ask: who are we excited to see play? The tournament has been expanded to 48 teams for the first time ever, and with 26 names in every squad, a total of 1,248 players will be heading to the USA, Mexico and Canada. That’s obviously far too many for anyone to get their head around, but that’s where we come in.
We’ve enlisted the help of data nerds and football experts from all over the world in Opta’s ranks to pick out a more manageable number of players to keep an eye out for. This isn’t a list of the 26 best players going to the World Cup, nor is it a list made up entirely of players you’ve never heard of. The only criterion given to the authors was that they have to be excited about seeing them in action.
So, here are 26 players we’re excited to watch at the 2026 World Cup. Elliot Anderson ••• Donyell MalenCallum McCowatt ••• Lamine YamalWillian Pacho ••• Mousa Al TamariLamine Camara ••• Besfort Zeneli Ricardo Pepi ••• Aleksandar PavlovicLuiz Henrique ••• Yan DiomandeVitinha ••• Luka VuskovicMichael Olise ••• Ayase UedaCaleb Yirenkyi ••• Stepán ChaloupekArmando González ••• Ibrahim MazaArda Güler ••• Johan ManzambiIsmael Saibari ••• Marko ArnautovicPatrick Berg ••• Nico Paz The England squad is stacked full of players at Champions League clubs, though in Elliot Anderson, they have a star who is not currently playing at the very highest level of European football but is without doubt destined for it.
A strong World Cup could accelerate any development for his career. Anderson had an excellent season in Nottingham Forest’s midfield, starting 37 of their 38 games, while he came off the bench at half-time in the other – when manager Vítor Pereira rotated almost his whole team for the trip to Chelsea last month ahead of the Europa League semi-final second leg.
Only five outfielders played more minutes in the Premier League this season than Anderson (3,334).
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Only James Garner (415.4 km) covered more ground than him in the Premier League this season (411.0 km), while Anderson won possession at least 96 more times (306) than anyone else. He also topped the league on a per-90 basis for possession won (8.3). He is a technical midfielder but stands out most for his tireless running and ball-winning ability; he is constantly on the move, hoovering up possession.
Anderson is already attracting attention from bigger clubs, and the World Cup, where he is expected to start in England’s midfield, will give us an exciting glimpse into what he can do when surrounded by elite players. Donyell Malen made an incredible start to his Serie A career. The 27-year-old had grown accustomed elsewhere to playing on the wing or being used as a substitute, but he immediately became Roma’s new centre-forward.
Since his debut on 18 January, the only player with more goals than Malen (14) in the top five European leagues is Harry Kane (16). The former Villa winger also ranked top in a host of other attacking metrics over that period. Malen became just the third player to score at least 14 times in Serie A despite playing fewer than 20 games in a season, after Zlatan Ibrahimovic (15 in 19 games in 2020-21) and Ronaldo (14 in 19 in 1998-99).
His goal tally was also higher than any other winter signing in the Italian competition this century (a record previously held by Mario Balotelli, 12 goals in 2012-13). Could Malen prove to be the missing piece in the puzzle for the Netherlands at the 2026 World Cup? Chris Wood is the name most would associate with New Zealand’s football team, which is understandable considering he’s the only Kiwi to have played in the Premier League this season.
But some eyes might be diverted to the talents of winger Callum McCowatt for this summer’s World Cup. The 27-year-old plays in Denmark for Superliga club Silkeborg, where he was a key player in helping them avoid relegation from the top flight in 2025-26.
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McCowatt has just completed his sixth season in Danish football following a move to Europe in 2020, but this campaign was his best yet. His goal (11) and assist (five) tallies were more than he’d achieved in his first two Superliga seasons at Silkeborg combined (10 goals, four assists). Much of his threat comes when running with the ball, with only three Superliga players in 2025-26 having more shot involvements following a ball carry of at least five metres than McCowatt (41 – 29 shots attempted, 12 chances created).
Since scoring on his full international debut for New Zealand in November 2019 against the Republic of Ireland, McCowatt has only scored three more times for his nation, something he’ll be hoping to improve on this summer. Lamine Yamal was arguably the most influential player in La Liga this season; no one else reached double figures for both goals (16) and assists (11) in the competition. In the process, he became the first player under the age of 20 to have achieved this feat in the 21st century.
He will be one of the main attractions at the 2026 World Cup, where he will lead European champions Spain as they strive to be crowned the world’s best team for the second time in their history. It is easy to forget that Yamal is still only 18 years old, but he is already consistently demonstrating his leadership skills with Barcelona, where he has put an end to the debate over his supposed lack of goals. He scored 24 times in 45 matches this season across all competitions, well above his 19.9 expected goals (xG) and just one fewer than in his entire club career previously (25 goals in 106 appearances).
Only Vinícius Júnior (92 – 49 shots and 43 chances created) was involved in more shots following dribbles than Yamal (86, 50 shots and 36 chances) across the top five European leagues this season. Furthermore, he completed the most dribbles (133) and attempted the most (265) of any player in those leagues. He is, of course, best known for his directness, dribbling and creativity, all of which he has honed even further this season.
He already surprised the whole of Europe at Euro 2024. Now it is his turn to conquer the world.
Where to Watch These 20 Stars Play at the World Cup
The main user need is simple: where the match is shown, when it starts locally, and how to follow the teams before kickoff. A strong viewing guide should connect broadcast details with fixture and lineup context.
Fans should also check match pages close to kickoff. That is where team news, formation expectations, and lineup changes become most useful.