20 key players for the 2026 World Cup

Is football coming home? England won the 1966 World Cup, but that’s 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 country’s best player, though, is the in-his-prime Rice. A star for Arsenal and England, he’s the world’s best box-to-box midfielder, and his ability to patrol the pitch is vital for England’s hopes.

Two things are true: Pulisic is the best American player in history, and in 2026 he’s been mired in a miserable run of form. That has been true for country, but also for AC Milan. 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’t round into form, the United States might go out in the group stage even as one of the host nations.

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, one of the best clubs in the world. Talent-wise, he’s comfortably leading the way for Canada. If he’s not on his game, it’s hard to envision Canada doing much of anything.

Mbappe doesn’t have as firm of a grip on the title of “best player in the world” as one might have imagined for him at the age of 27, but he’s undoubtedly one of the top few talents in the world. He’s 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.

Norway is not a one-man team. Martin Odegaard plays for Arsenal, and Oscar Bobb is a 22-year-old with potential. That being said… Norway is Haaland, and Haaland is Norway. He’s 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.

This is a last hurrah for Salah. He’s leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2025-26 season, and he’s 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.

Belgium’s golden generation has faded a bit. Guys like Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku can’t 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 this season. He had a reputation, a well-earned one, as an elite dribbler who couldn’t 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.

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’s 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’t 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.

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

It’s 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.

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’s Diaz. If Colombia is going to impress in 2026, Diaz will have to make it happen for his country.

Morocco was one of the stories of the 2022 World Cup, becoming the first African nation to make the semifinals. Achraf Hakimi 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, 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.

Hey, remember Brazil? The country with the most World Cups? Brazil hasn’t 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’s dipped into the Fountain of Youth. If he can keep that going for Brazil, the country might end its World Cup drought.

Lamine Yamal is the bright, shining star for Spain, but if an 18-year-old is your key player, you’re in trouble. That’s true even if said 18-year-old is as good as Yamal. Spain doesn’t 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.

Austria is intriguing. It was once one of the best national teams in the world, though we’re 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’t 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 has tallied 19 goals for Austria, and a couple more would go a long way.

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.

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…his Liverpool teammate Cody Gakpo on the attack. If Gravenberch carries his domestic form over to his national side, the Netherlands could go deep in this tournament.

The gap between Ecuador’s 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’s still early in his prime. The rest of Ecuador’s likely World Cup roster, though, is unremarkable. If Ecuador makes it out of the group stage, Caicedo has likely carried it there.

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’t have a lot of other options for success. Switzerland is an older side, and it lacks for scoring talent. Kobel has been Borussia Dortmund’s top choice in goal for half a decade. Switzerland could win its group, but only if Kobel steps up.

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