{"id":434319,"date":"2026-05-19T02:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/434319\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T02:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:28:09","slug":"world-cup-2026-rising-stars-5-young-players-set-to-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/434319\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026 rising stars: 5 young players set to shine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Madrid are reportedly set to exercise their buyback option on the 21-year-old.<\/p>\n

His technical ability and eye for goal from range has alerted Europe\u2019s other top clubs.<\/p>\n

Paz could have the daunting task of filling in for Lionel Messi<\/a>, with Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni expected to manage the 38-year-old\u2019s minutes during the champions\u2019 title defence.<\/p>\n

\"NicoNico Paz is likely to cover for Lionel Messi in Argentina’s attempt to defend their World Cup crown. Photo \/ AFP<\/p>\n

Desire Doue (France)<\/p>\n

Doue has already lit up the biggest stage in club football, winning the man-of-the-match award and scoring twice in Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s Champions League final thrashing of Inter Milan last year.<\/p>\n

However, this will be the 20-year-old\u2019s first taste of a major international tournament.<\/p>\n

Doue has a battle just to ensure he starts for Les Bleus among a dazzling display of attacking talent that includes Kylian Mbappe, Ballon d\u2019Or winner Ousmane Dembele and Bayern Munich\u2019s Michael Olise.<\/p>\n

Doue gave Didier Deschamps a timely reminder of his quality with his first two international goals in a 3-1 friendly win over Colombia in France\u2019s last outing in March.<\/p>\n

\"ParisParis Saint-Germain\u2019s Desire Doue celebrates after scoring in last year’s Champions League final. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nico O\u2019Reilly (England)<\/p>\n

O\u2019Reilly, 21, has already earned the trust of Pep Guardiola to become a regular for Manchester City.<\/p>\n

Scorer of two goals from left-back in City\u2019s League Cup final win over Arsenal in March, O\u2019Reilly began his career as a goalscoring midfielder.<\/p>\n

Guardiola has harnessed his blend of height, speed and skill as an attacking weapon from deep and may have solved a problem position for England coach Thomas Tuchel in the process.<\/p>\n

England reached the final of Euro 2024<\/a> without a natural left-back for the majority of the tournament due to Luke Shaw\u2019s lack of fitness.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a player,\u201d said Guardiola. \u201cHe has made an incredible step up and he has had a lot of minutes, but he deserves it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NicoNico O’Reilly, of Manchester City, could be pressed into service at left-back for England. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Endrick (Brazil)<\/p>\n

A teenage prodigy who made his Palmeiras debut at 16 and was snapped up by Real Madrid before his 18th birthday, Endrick\u2019s hopes of shining at the World Cup have been rekindled by a successful loan move at French club Lyon.<\/p>\n

Endrick burst on to the international scene by scoring the winner against England at Wembley two years ago and becoming Brazil\u2019s youngest goalscorer since Ronaldo in the process.<\/p>\n

Relegated behind international teammate Vinicius Junior and Mbappe after his big move to Madrid two years ago, the 19-year-old has found his scoring touch since his switch to France in January.<\/p>\n

Often compared to another Brazilian great, Romario, for his squat but powerful physique, Endrick will be hoping to recreate the former\u2019s success in scoring five goals as Brazil won the World Cup on US soil in 1994.<\/p>\n

\"EndrickEndrick Sousa is likely to get gametime for Brazil at the World Cup. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Pedri (Spain)<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s latest passing metronome, Pedri has proven to be a fitting heir to Xavi Hernandez for both club and country.<\/p>\n

After first rising to prominence as an 18-year-old at Euro 2020, Pedri was key to Spain\u2019s run to conquering Europe two years ago in Germany, but injury prevented him from featuring in the semi-finals and final.<\/p>\n

For Barcelona he has put his fitness troubles behind him under Hansi Flick, playing a starring role in back-to-back La Liga title triumphs over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

\"PedriPedri looks at his options for Barcelona. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u2013 AFP<\/p>\n

Go all in to unlock every Fifa World Cup 2026 match with a TVNZ+ Event Pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Madrid are reportedly set to exercise their buyback option on the 21-year-old. His technical ability and eye for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2246,10542,59264,5213,1437,48205,296,111,139,69,10702,29058,801,1551,21410,213,5436,61,34367,540,377,4741],"class_list":["post-434319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2246","tag-cup","tag-cups","tag-football","tag-global","tag-icons","tag-into","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-players","tag-quickly","tag-rising","tag-set","tag-shine","tag-sports","tag-stars","tag-to","tag-transform","tag-where","tag-world","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}