Haaland, Yamal, Güler: the new stars set to own this World Cup
· 5 min read
Erling Haaland is 25, has scored at a rate modern football has rarely seen, and has never kicked a ball at a World Cup. That ends on June 16 when Norway face Iraq — and with France lurking in Group I, the world's most devastating striker gets a heavyweight stage immediately.
Lamine Yamal turns 19 during the tournament's final week. He already owns a European Championship, a Ballon d'Or runner-up finish and the title of world football's most-watched teenager. Spain's route to the final could make this his tournament the way 1958 belonged to a 17-year-old Pelé.
Türkiye's Arda Güler, 21, has gone from Real Madrid prodigy to the fulcrum of both club and country. Jude Bellingham, 22, already has 50 England caps and a Champions League title. Germany's Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, both 23, form the most gifted attacking-midfield pairing the country has produced in decades.
Keep an eye, too, on the breakout tier: Ecuador's Kendry Páez, 19, the Strasbourg playmaker; Uzbekistan's Abdukodir Khusanov, the Manchester City defender announcing Central Asian football to the world; and Canada's homegrown hope, the Bayern Munich flyer Alphonso Davies, finally healthy for a home World Cup.
Every World Cup crowns somebody. By July 19 at MetLife Stadium, one of these names will mean something different than it does today.