Four Young Stars that Will Rock the 2022 World Cup
While the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup is quite rightly seen as the glittering finale for some veteran stars of the game, it’s also going to be a tournament where young talents really take the stage.
World football is dependent on top new talents being ushered in to replace and replicate the stars of old, and over the next month, we will see that come to fruition for a host of youngsters.
Changing of the Guard
The 2022 World Cup will be saying farewell to seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, with the 35-year-old Argentina international already publicly confirming that his fifth World Cup will be his last.
In all likelihood, it will be the swansong for his arch-nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo, who at 37 years of age, and now without a club having been released from his Manchester United contract following his tell-all interview with Piers Morgan, isn’t likely to return in four years time when the World Cup takes place across North America.
Another veteran with big-time experience, Croatia’s Luka Modric, is also not likely to be at the next World Cup, and interestingly enough, the Real Madrid midfielder has arguably achieved as much as the much-vaunted pair when it comes to World Cup milestones.
Modric played a key role in taking his Croat side to the final in 2018, shocking the footballing world while doing so. Messi did, of course, do likewise in 2014, but clearly, when he did so, in the pomp of his Barcelona days, it was something less of a shock.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, hasn’t achieved all that much with Portugal on the world stage, but he may well have designs on putting that right in Qatar.
So, who’s next? Who will make an impact at the World Cup? Well, clearly, the likes of Kylian Mbappe, still only 23 years of age, is already a world-beater, and the players we’ll examine here are his junior, both in terms of years but also accomplishments.
We’ll take a closer look at six top talents that are really going to catch the eye across November and December; on that note, you might also want to find out more about all the teams competing at the festival of football, and if so, this page has it all, from the lowdown on relative minnows Australia to the champions in waiting Brazil.
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund and England)
Clearly, the Borussia Dortmund man is well known across Europe, but at this World Cup, there is every chance he’ll take it to the next level. It’s actually quite scary to consider how much the former Birmingham City man has already achieved, given that the Stourbridge-born midfielder won’t turn 20 until next June.
Amazingly, the mature attack-minded central midfielder has already made 112 appearances for Dortmund since signing for the German giants back in July 2020, and he has made himself indispensable.
Bellingham netted nine times in 22 appearances ahead of the World Cup break, and he netted his first-ever national team goal in England’s opening World Cup demolition of Iran, and every major club across the continent will likely be looking to lure him away from the Westfalenstadion once the tournament is over.
Pedri (Barcelona and Spain)
Pedri’s rise to prominence at the Nou Camp coincided with the return of playing legend Xavi, who took the managerial reigns at the Catalan club just as the teenager was making his mark, the irony, of course, being that the youngster is very much in the mould of his current boss.
Much like Bellingham, Pedri’s regular first-team involvement belies his age. In his first full season in the Barcelona set-up, he racked up 52 appearances, and while some may worry about possible burnout, it looks as if the Tenerife-born starlet is developing just nicely.
Oh, not to mention he already has an Olympic silver medal to his name.
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid and Brazil)
Ever since he moved from Flamengo to Real Madrid, Vinicius Junior has felt the weight of expectation on his young shoulders, and slowly but surely, he’s learned to deal with it in his own way.
Last season was the culmination of his ongoing maturity, and as well as growing as part of the Carlo Ancelotti set-up, he’s now providing far more of an end product to go with the tricks and spins he so easily performs.
Though he’s just 22, he’s already made 191 appearances for Real Madrid, and last season he completed a La Liga and Champions League double, scoring the winner in the final against Liverpool.
Tite is sure to offer the youngster a chance to shine in Qatar, and alongside the likes of Neymar, he is definitely getting a first-class education.
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich and Germany)
In 2019 a 16-year-old Musiala was persuaded to leave Chelsea to move to Germany, and it would be fair to say that the move has definitely paid off for the attacking midfielder. Had he stayed at Stamford Bridge, he may well have been left being loaned out for a season or two before getting a chance in the Premier League.
However, at Bayern Munich, he’s been allowed to flourish, and Chelsea’s loss is most definitely the Allianz Arena side’s gain.
Now 19, Musilala is already into his third season as an established first-team regular, and he’s becoming more and more effective in his role, and it’s one he will hope to fill in Hansi Flick’s World Cup starting eleven.
Musiala is adaptable, able to play across the midfield, and has a great footballing brain and his goal-scoring prowess is becoming more and more acute, and he may well be Germany’s future while more than capable of making his presence felt in the present.