Top 5 U21 Stars to Watch at the 2026 World Cup
The five U21 players most likely to define the 2026 FIFA World Cup, from Lamine Yamal to Yan Diomande. Forwards, wonderkids and record-breakers.
Five U21 players walk into the 2026 World Cup carrying great expectations. Lamine Yamal arrives as the reigning Kopa Trophy holder. Désiré Doué arrives as a Champions League final hero and 2025 Golden Boy winner. Lennart Karl arrives at 18 with two Bayern Munich Champions League youngest-scorer records already broken in eight months. The tournament starts on 11 June. These are MVPs' five most likely to define it.
The top five U21 players to watch at the 2026 World Cup are Lamine Yamal (Spain), Désiré Doué (France), Lennart Karl (Germany), Arda Güler (Türkiye) and Yan Diomande (Ivory Coast).
Who are the top 5 U21 players to watch at the 2026 World Cup?
1. Lamine Yamal.
The Barcelona forward leads Spain's 26 and arrives as the reigning Kopa Trophy holder for best young player in the world, the first to retain that award. Yamal won Euro 2024 with Spain at 16, breaking Pelé's record as the youngest goalscorer at a senior international tournament after equalising against France in the semi-final. He finished runner-up to Ousmane Dembélé in the 2025 Ballon d'Or by one point and retained the Kopa Trophy for best young player, becoming the first player to do that in consecutive years.
There is a worry for Spain as Yamal picked up a left hamstring injury in Barcelona's LaLiga match at Celta de Vigo on 22 April and is projected to miss Spain's group opener against Cape Verde on 15 June at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The optimistic call for his return is the Uruguay group fixture on 26 June at Estadio Akron in Guadalajara.
2. Désiré Doué.
The PSG forward scored a brace in last season's Champions League final against Inter at the Allianz Arena, became the third teenager to score in a final after Patrick Kluivert and Carlos Alberto, and collected the 2025 Golden Boy. Doué converted his penalty in PSG's shootout win over Arsenal in Budapest on 30 May, helping the club retain the Champions League title days before his first World Cup.
3. Lennart Karl.
The Bayern Munich attacker has had a debut senior season in which he became the club's youngest ever Champions League scorer at 17 years and 242 days, then the youngest player ever to score in three consecutive Champions League matches. He is the youngest of the five at 18 and is the most-talked-about Bayern Munich debutant since Jamal Musiala.
4. Arda Güler.
Turkey return to the World Cup for the first time in 24 years with the Real Madrid attacking midfielder as their main creative reference point. Güler's national-team partnership with Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz is the platform Türkiye will use to spring a surprise after qualifying for their first World Cup since 2002. The Real Madrid attacking midfielder produced 20 goal involvements (six goals, 14 assists) across 51 club outings last season to win the Champions League Revelation of the Season award.
5. Yan Diomande.
The Ivory Coast winger was named the Bundesliga Rookie of the 2025-26 Season with 12 goals and 8 assists for RB Leipzig in 33 league games. Diomande was voted Bundesliga Rookie of the 2025-26 Season ahead of two other shortlisted U21s, Hamburg's Luka Vušković and Leverkusen's Ibrahim Maza. RB Leipzig confirmed last week that he is staying for next season despite reports of Liverpool's €100 million interest.