{"id":916242,"date":"2026-06-29T13:13:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:13:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/20-key-players-for-the-2026-world-cup\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:13:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:13:33","slug":"20-key-players-for-the-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/29\/20-key-players-for-the-2026-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"20 key players for the 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\n Brad Mills\/Imagn Image\n <\/p>\n

Is football coming home? England won the 1966 World Cup, but that\u2019s the last time the country has won a major tournament. In each of the last two Euros, England has finished runner-up. The nation is currently loaded with talent from veteran strikers (Harry Kane) to 22-year-old talisman (Jude Bellingham<\/a>). The country\u2019s best player, though, is the in-his-prime Rice. A star for Arsenal and England, he\u2019s the world\u2019s best box-to-box midfielder, and his ability to patrol the pitch is vital for England\u2019s hopes. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Ron Chenoy\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Two things are true: Pulisic is the best American player in history, and in 2026 he\u2019s been mired in a miserable run of form. That has been true for country, but also for AC Milan<\/a>. Once upon a time, it would have been unheard of for an American to be a key player for a club like Milan. If Pulisic can\u2019t round into form, the United States might go out in the group stage even as one of the host nations. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Jessica Alcheh\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Canada is another one of the host nations. It has only been to two prior World Cups, and it has yet to earn a point, much less a win. If Canada is going to avoid another loss-filled World Cup, Davies will have to step up. He plays for Bayern Munich<\/a>, one of the best clubs in the world. Talent-wise, he\u2019s comfortably leading the way for Canada. If he\u2019s not on his game, it\u2019s hard to envision Canada doing much of anything. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Tommy Gilligan\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Mbappe doesn\u2019t have as firm of a grip on the title of \u201cbest player in the world\u201d as one might have imagined for him at the age of 27, but he\u2019s undoubtedly one of the top few talents in the world. He\u2019s been a star at each of the last two World Cups, including scoring a goal in the final as a teenager in 2018. France is far from a one-man team, but the key to the attack is still Mbappe. If he stakes his claim to best in the world, France will be back in the final for the third time in a row.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Lee Smith\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Norway is not a one-man team. Martin Odegaard plays for Arsenal, and Oscar Bobb<\/a> is a 22-year-old with potential. That being said\u2026 Norway is Haaland, and Haaland is Norway. He\u2019s the face of Norwegian soccer, and also the best goal scorer in the world. Haaland will need to not just poach goals, but drive goal scoring for Norway to have a chance to get out of the group stage. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Phil Noble\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

This is a last hurrah for Salah. He\u2019s leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2025-26 season, and he\u2019s clearly lost a step, if not two. However, Salah is the best Egyptian player in history, and he has a chance for one last run at the World Cup with his country. In 2018, Egypt picked up three losses. Salah has a chance to give the nation its first World Cup win.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Dale Zanine\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s golden generation has faded a bit. Guys like Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku<\/a> can\u2019t drive play any longer. Doku, who will turn 24 a couple weeks before the World Cup, needs to step up for Belgium as he has for Manchester City<\/a> this season. He had a reputation, a well-earned one, as an elite dribbler who couldn\u2019t do anything but dribble. Doku has shown more poise and skill for City during the 2025-26 season, and now Belgium needs the same from him. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Eric Canha\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

This could be a tough World Cup for Germany based on its lofty football history. There is a changing of the guard going on, and somebody has to step up as the new catalyst for the country\u2019s team. Wirtz is the likeliest choice to do that, but will he? He was a star very young in the Bundesliga, but he moved to Liverpool for the 2025-26 season and proceeded to run hot and cold. Germany can\u2019t afford Wirtz to be cold during the World Cup. Its group is easy, but making it to the quarterfinals would be all but impossible should he not be on his game.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Yukihito Taguchi\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about how good Ronaldo is at the 2026 World Cup. It\u2019s about how little damage he does. Portugal\u2019s inability to move away from Ronaldo as he\u2019s become a goal-poaching, one-dimensional player has actively hurt the country\u2019s potential for success. The nation has several players who are better than Ronaldo. What\u2019s key is that Ronaldo stays out of their way.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Vincent Carchietta\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 20 years and Modric is still a piece of the puzzle for Croatia. In fact, Croatia has struggled some to get a youth movement going that can allow guys like Modric to step aside. What we have instead is a 40-year-old midfielder (who is still a viable regular in Serie A) who has to drive the action for his national side. Good luck, you Elder Millennial legend.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Travis Register\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Colombia returns to the World Cup after missing out in 2022. The national side has been playing very well, and by some rating systems is one of the 15 best national teams in the world. However, Colombia has one high-level attacking player, and that\u2019s Diaz. If Colombia is going to impress in 2026, Diaz will have to make it happen for his country.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Jim Dedmon\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Morocco was one of the stories of the 2022 World Cup, becoming the first African nation to make the semifinals. Achraf Hakimi<\/a> is still in his prime, and he can handle things on the back line. Generating chances and scoring goals, though, may fall to Diaz. The 26-year-old currently plays for Real Madrid<\/a>, and in 2022 he was still a Spanish national. He switched to Morocco, and he now gives the country an attacking option it lacked in 2022. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Winslow Townson\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Hey, remember Brazil? The country with the most World Cups? Brazil hasn\u2019t hoisted the World Cup trophy since 2002, an interminable drought for the nation. The country is rich in young, up-and-coming attackers, but the key player is a defensive midfielder in his mid-30s. Casemiro looked washed last year, but he\u2019s dipped into the Fountain of Youth. If he can keep that going for Brazil, the country might end its World Cup drought.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Amanda Perobelli\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Lamine Yamal<\/a> is the bright, shining star for Spain, but if an 18-year-old is your key player, you\u2019re in trouble. That\u2019s true even if said 18-year-old is as good as Yamal. Spain doesn\u2019t have to worry about the attack right now. What Spain needs to win the World Cup after winning Euro 2024 is for Rodri, whose health has been far from a given the last couple years, to play like one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, which is what he is when healthy. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Fabio Deinert\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

Austria is intriguing. It was once one of the best national teams in the world, though we\u2019re talking over 50 years ago. Austria is in its first World Cup since 1998, but it has a group it can emerge from, and a trip to the quarterfinals isn\u2019t implausible. What Austria needs is somebody to pressure opposing defenses and score goals, and Baumgartner could emerge. The 26-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for RB Leipzig<\/a> has tallied 19 goals for Austria, and a couple more would go a long way. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Catherine Ivill-AMA\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n

The general feeling is that Japan is the best Asian nation in this tournament. Mitoma is a winger for Brighton who is an excellent dribbler. He had 10 goals for Brighton last season, and he scored one goal in World Cup qualifying for Japan. Japan needs an X factor, and Mitoma is the most-likely player to step into that role.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Phil Noble\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

Since the 2022 World Cup, Gravenberch has emerged as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world at Liverpool. That changes things for the Netherlands. He can be the connector between his Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk on defense and\u2026his Liverpool teammate Cody Gakpo<\/a> on the attack. If Gravenberch carries his domestic form over to his national side, the Netherlands could go deep in this tournament. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Agustin Marcarian\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

The gap between Ecuador\u2019s best player and the rest of the team is as large as there is in this World Cup. Caicedo, a Chelsea midfielder, is a great player. At 24, he\u2019s still early in his prime. The rest of Ecuador\u2019s likely World Cup roster, though, is unremarkable. If Ecuador makes it out of the group stage, Caicedo has likely carried it there.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Jeenah Moon\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

We wanted to include one goalkeeper, because a goalkeeper who is in excellent form can steal a game or two in a tournament. In terms of making a keeper a key player, it also helped if said keeper played for a team that doesn\u2019t have a lot of other options for success. Switzerland is an older side, and it lacks for scoring talent. Kobel has been Borussia Dortmund<\/a>\u2019s top choice in goal for half a decade. Switzerland could win its group, but only if Kobel steps up. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n Sam Navarro\/Imagn Images\n <\/p>\n

We end with the defending champions Argentina, and the acknowledgement Lionel Messi is no longer the focal point. He\u2019s not the one who will be asked to step up and shoulder the load. Messi will turn 39 during the World Cup and he\u2019s already carried Argentina to a title. The 26-year-old Alvarez, who plays for Atletico Madrid<\/a>, will need to step up offensively. He doesn\u2019t have to be Messi, but he has to be good enough to be the number-one option for a World Cup contender. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Johnathon Menjivar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Brad Mills\/Imagn Image Is football coming home? England won the 1966 World Cup, but that\u2019s the last time the country has won a major tournament. In each of the last two Euros, England has finished runner-up. The nation is currently loaded with talent from veteran strikers (Harry Kane) to 22-year-old talisman (Jude Bellingham). The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":916243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3555,2005,644],"tags":[6669,5489],"class_list":["post-916242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-players","category-soccer","category-world","tag-players","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}