For anyone getting caught up in who won’t be taking center stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it’s worth reminding yourself that there are going to be some pretty special soccer players lighting up the tournament this summer.
The World Cup is a legacy-shaping event like no other in the sport, with the extent of one’s greatness defined by what they achieve for the national teams when the world is watching.
Despite all that he’d achieved and the number of folk he’d entranced for almost two decades, it took an astounding campaign in Qatar for Lionel Messi to be almost universally recognized as soccer’s greatest ever player. The World Cup holds serious weight.
While so many have lamented the supposed decline of outstanding individuals in modern times, a litany of superstars will be on show in North America, and we’ve tried our damnedest to name the best of the bunch.
Recent form was the decisive factor in our ranking, which is why, spoiler alert, 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, whose struggled to get up to speed since recovering from an ACL tear, and Mohamed Salah, whose form has nosedived in 2025–26, don’t make the cut.
Cristiano Ronaldo? Do us a favor.
15. Bruno Fernandes (Portugal)
While Ronaldo conveniently avoided a suspension that means he’ll be available for the start of the World Cup, this Portugal team is no longer his, even if he’ll be Roberto Martínez’s starting striker.
After back-to-back quarterfinal exits in Qatar and at Euro 2024, Portugal are targeting a deeper run in North America this summer, and the midfield will be key to their success.
Fortunately, that engine room enters the tournament in excellent form. Bruno Fernandes, who dons the captain’s armband in Ronaldo’s absence, has enjoyed a Premier League campaign worthy of earning PFA Player of the Year honors.
A relentless creator, Fernandes has thrived in the free role gifted to him by Michael Carrick, and Martínez would be wise to hand his No. 8 similar positional liberties.
14. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
Morocco has its work cut out if it is to match the historic performance from four years ago.
The Atlas Lions became the first African nation to reach the semifinals, and Hakimi, with his panenkas and penguins, played a crucial role flying down the right flank.
The adventurous fullback has gone from strength to strength at club level, and he’d barely be a year out from helping Paris Saint-Germain to their first Champions League crown when this tournament rolls around.
Now an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) champion for the first time, albeit controversially, Hakimi is a serial winner who simply won’t allow for underperformance this summer.
13. Vitinha (Portugal)
Portugal’s midfield is going to be a serious problem this summer. Not for them, of course, but any side they go up against.
In what are expected to be stifling North American conditions, Portugal have the capacity to sap the life out of their opponents by simply retaining possession.
Vitinha has functioned as the wondrous metronome of an all-conquering PSG team, and he’ll operate at the base of Martínez’s midfield in tandem with tenacious clubmate João Neves.
When he isn’t making a fool of the most coherent of pressing schemes, Vitinha has a knack for popping up with huge (and often beautifully taken) goals on the edge of the box.
His talent renders him a potential Golden Ball winner if Portugal enjoy a deep run.
12. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Many will argue that Lionel Messi will remain the best player in the world until he hangs up his boots and the soccer world mourns.
That may well be true, but we have to take into account Messi’s drift away from the limelight since he sealed his legacy by leading Argentina’s charge to glory in Qatar.
Messi proved at last summer’s Club World Cup that he can still hang with the best on the globe, and the 38-year-old has continued to make Major League Soccer (MLS) bend to his will over the past 12 months.
While there have been signs of Argentina evolving beyond the greatest to ever do it, they’ll once again rally around their No. 10 should he decide to compete at a sixth World Cup.
A final decision hasn’t been made, but Messi has come this far in the latest cycle.
11. Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
We’ll give the goalkeepers some love, too.
The best of the bunch, Thibaut Courtois, is back in the international picture, having refused to play under former Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco.
Now led by Rudi Garcia, the Red Devils, who clung onto their ’golden generation’ a World Cup too many in 2022, are aiming to venture into an exciting new dawn spearheaded by a new-look crop of stars.
However, Courtois remains a constant between the posts. A towering figure who knows his limitations in possession but more than makes up for it elsewhere, Courtois has almost single-handedly claimed major honors for Real Madrid, and he’ll now hope to manifest his goalkeeping genius on the biggest stage of them all.
10. Federico Valverde (Uruguay)
Federico Valverde most likely would’ve been overlooked had Xabi Alonso remained in charge of Real Madrid for any longer. The Uruguayan just never saw eye to eye with the Spaniard, but the arrival of Álvaro Arbeloa has helped the do-it-all midfielder rediscover his mojo.
There’s surely no soccer player in the world more complete than Valverde. His all-encompassing nature has been depicted rather stunningly with Arbeloa at the helm.
When he’s not marking the trickiest of wingers out of games, Valverde is darting in behind defenses to score, and making use of his third and fourth lungs to completely overwhelm opposing midfield engine rooms.
The Madrid star is a phenomenon, and he’s certainly cut out to thrive under Marcelo Bielsa for the national team. Uruguay have struggled to assert themselves to the world over the past few years, but they boast an impressive new heartbeat in Valverde.
9. Raphinha (Brazil)
Raphinha believes he was unfairly overlooked in Ballon d’Or voting last year, and the numbers suggest he had a point.
The Brazilian forward recorded a whopping 60 goal contributions in 57 games across all competitions for a treble-winning Barcelona team, and he’s been similarly productive when fit this season.
Hansi Flick has gotten the best out of him. He’s not quite as stylish as his contemporaries, but few have been more effective than Raphinha over the past 18 months.
The aforementioned aesthetics means he hasn’t been able to capture hearts and minds back home, but there’s a sense that the Seleção merely want to win with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, having last triumphed at the World Cup in 2002.
Ancelotti will undoubtedly lean on Raphinha’s final third efficiency.
8. Erling Haaland (Norway)
This may seem surprisingly low for the man many regard as the most feared striker in the world, but Haaland has struggled for form this calendar year.
Nevertheless, an uptick from the Nordic goal machine is seemingly never too far away, and he’ll be absolutely determined to ensure Norway’s maiden World Cup venture of the 21st century is a memorable one.
The Scandinavian side were as impressive as anyone in qualifying, and Haaland led the way with 16 goals. They’re bound to be the ’dark-horses’ of this summer’s tournament, and group-stage matches against France and Senegal mean Haaland and company have the chance to lay down an early marker.
Norway will hope their talisman up top rediscovers his scoring groove in time for the tournament, because no one has proven more deadly in front of goal over the past four years.
7. Vinicius Junior (Brazil)
Vinicius Junior hasn’t quite taken the mantle for the national team, which is perhaps why so many Brazilian supporters are pining for Neymar’s inclusion in this summer’s squad, which would feel a bit Diego Maradona 1994.
If Ancelotti does opt for sentiment by including the former Santos wunderkind, we can only hope his final World Cup doesn’t end like the aforementioned Argentinian great.
Anyway, Vini Jr. An undeniable superstar who’s waiting for his big moment with the Seleção. This World Cup is surely his to grasp. It’s not an outstanding Brazilian crop, and it may take something utterly sublime from the Real Madrid forward for Ancelotti’s side to end their 24-year wait for a sixth global conquest.
Brazil’s Italian coach has eked the very best out of Vini Jr before, recently describing him as an “extraordinary talent.”
6. Michael Olise (France)
This France generation remains laden with otherworldly personnel, and Michael Olise has grown on the international stage amid his sensational rise with Bayern Munich.
The sweet left-footed winger has performed at a Ballon d’Or winning level this season, often cutting in off the right flank to tremendous effect. Olise is almost sultry in style, boasting the air of a superstar who simply knows he’s better than everyone else.
He hasn’t been swallowed up by his equally self-assured compatriots, and looks poised to take the World Cup by storm for a team that may well end up winning the thing.
Didier Deschamps has experimented with Olise as his No. 10, giving him the freedom to rotate with a stellar attacking cast. As a collective, France is wondrous, but it’s impossible to ignore the majesty of its individuals.
5. Harry Kane (England)
Harry Kane is England’s record goalscorer and a World Cup Golden Boot winner. However, it’s fair to say that we haven’t seen the Bayern Munich hitman at his very best on the grand occasions at major tournaments.
Still, Kane has been the world’s most potent center forward this season. He’s shown off what he can do as a creator, but Kane’s superpower is undeniably his goalscoring. There’s not a technique he hasn’t mastered (well, other than corners), nor a goal he can’t score.
The 32-year-old has become a champion since his sluggish Euro 2024 campaign, and he enters this summer’s tournament performing at a level that has left many to ponder whether he was the best striker of his generation all along.
If he’s able to inspire Bayern to another Champions League title and finally bring England’s tournament hurt to an end, why shouldn’t he be regarded as one of the greatest center forwards ever?
4. Pedri (Spain)
The absence of Pedri failed to deter Spain during the latter stages at Euro 2024, after a challenge from the soon-to-be-retiring Toni Kroos in the quarterfinals ended the midfielder’s tournament prematurely.
Pedri thus watched on as Luis de la Fuente bypassed France and England on their way to the trophy in Germany.
Once plagued by injuries, Pedri has stayed relatively healthy over the past couple of years, and Barcelona have most certainly reaped the benefits.
A Houdini-like figure in midfield, the 23-year-old is a master escape artist who’s ever so creative in the ways he bypasses pressure and breaks games open.
Few boast the Spaniard’s serenity, but he’s a dogged defender, too. Despite his slight stature, Pedri most certainly packs a punch. Given that he missed out on the culmination of Spain’s triumph two years ago, Barça’s midfield maestro may feel he has to make up for lost time at this summer’s tournament.
3. Ousmane Dembélé (France)
After embarking upon a career year in 2024–25, it was always going to be hard for Ousmane Dembélé to meet the loftiest of expectations in 2025–26.
Dembélé has scored freely, just not at the frightening rate of last season, and muscle injuries have prevented the two-footed forward from developing an imperious groove.
However, there’s a sense that things are falling into place for Dembélé and his PSG team at a critical juncture.
The Ballon d’Or holder is preparing for his third World Cup with France, having made 11 appearances across the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. On his previous outing at the tournament, Dembélé was an early withdrawal after giving away a penalty by fouling Ángel Di Maria in the final.
Dembélé’s talent has never been in doubt, but he’s come of age under Luis Enrique in Paris and will enter the upcoming tournament with an assurance he hasn’t always boasted.
There’s no one more deadly with both feet than the France star, and it’d be a big surprise if he doesn’t score his first World Cup goal in North America.
2. Kylian Mbappé (France)
There may well be a tug-of-war in the French camp regarding whose team this is. For so long, it’s been Kylian Mbappé’s, but Olise and Dembélé are bound to share the limelight this summer.
Still, the World Cup seems to bring the best out of Mbappé, who’ll hope to be fully fit for the tournament despite a few knee issues this season, which will likely stop him from retaining the European Golden Shoe.
Mbappé took the 2018 tournament by storm, as Les Blues triumphed in Russia, and became the first male player since Sir Geoff Hurst in 1966 to notch a World Cup final hat-trick four years ago. His remarkable effort was ultimately in vain, with Argentina winning on penalties, but the trio of strikes took his World Cup tally to 12—just four adrift of record-holder Miroslav Klose.
It’s been a stop-start 2026 for Mbappé so far, but the Frenchman was keen to remind everyone of his potency in front of goal when he latched onto Dembélé’s perfectly-weighted through ball and dinked an effort over Ederson in France’s friendly win over Brazil in March.
Mbappé’s track record suggests the very best iteration of himself will manifest in the U.S.
1. Lamine Yamal (Spain)
Lamine Yamal will feature at the World Cup for the first time this summer, with Spain among the favorites to go all the way.
Yamal starred for Luis de la Fuente’s stunning outfit at Euro 2024, claiming Young Player of the Tournament honors after Spain’s triumph in Germany.
La Roja is now gunning for its second world title, and first since 2010. This Spain team is venerated for their collective majesty, but it’s the sparkle of the world’s best soccer player out wide that ensures this side isn’t one defined by its ability to merely retain possession.
Superlatives have been exhausted when describing the precocious teenager, whose flow state is as majestic as anything we‘ve seen since the very best of Messi. Thanks to a divine combination of subtlety, cunning craft and outstanding technique, Yamal is nothing short of untouchable on his day.
At the age of just 18, we’re all wondering whether Yamal could be set for his ’86 Maradona or ’22 Messi-like campaign already.
