The World Cup kicks off Thursday, and the cast is already set. Some of these players will make you leap off your sofa. Others will make you throw something at the TV. A handful will probably do both.
The ones worth cheering
Lionel Messi will turn 39 during this tournament. That alone tells you everything about where we are. This is almost certainly his last World Cup — and fittingly, it's being played in the country he now calls home after joining Inter Miami in 2023. He already ended the GOAT debate in Qatar in 2022. Winning it again on home soil would be the kind of ending that doesn't need embellishment.
Christian Pulisic isn't the official USMNT captain — that's Tyler Adams — but "Captain America" has been the team's heartbeat for years. Mauricio Pochettino called him "the most important player" in the squad, and that's not flattery. Champions League winner with Chelsea, now starring at AC Milan, Pulisic is creator, leader, and talisman all at once. How far the USA go depends almost entirely on how far he can carry them.
Kylian Mbappé has already played in two World Cup finals at 27. He's won one, lost one — and needs just five more goals to become the all-time leading scorer in World Cup final matches. He walks into this tournament as the leading man, and he knows it.
Alphonso Davies's story still stops you cold. Born in a refugee camp in Ghana to Liberian parents fleeing civil war, he made his professional debut at 15 for the Vancouver Whitecaps, went on to win the Champions League with Bayern Munich, and now anchors Canada's defence. "The journey has been long," he said recently. That might be the understatement of the tournament.
Lamine Yamal is 18 and playing like someone who forgot to be intimidated. A late hamstring injury raised doubts, but Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente included him anyway, calling him "a genius." Even at 90% fitness, he changes games. This could be the tournament where he stops being a prodigy and starts being the real thing.
The ones you'll be watching for different reasons
Cristiano Ronaldo is 41 and somehow still here — not because Portugal's coaches have had the courage to move on, but because none of them have. When he was sent off for violent conduct against the Republic of Ireland in November 2025, a standard three-game ban should have ruled him out of Portugal's opener against the Democratic Republic of Congo on June 17. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino stepped in and quashed it. The rules, apparently, flex for certain people.
Emiliano Martínez saved the penalty that won Argentina the 2022 World Cup. He's also one of the sport's most committed wind-up merchants — faking injury, time-wasting, insulting takers to their faces, and once kicking a penalty ball away entirely. Genuinely elite shot-stopper. Genuinely insufferable human being. Argentina's odds depend on him; neutrals will be hoping someone puts one past him.
Antonio Rüdiger is the kind of defender who makes the game uncomfortable on purpose. His psychological warfare is well-documented — most memorably when he appeared to mock Japan's Takuma Asano during Germany's shock defeat in Qatar, a clip that went viral for all the wrong reasons. He'll be at it again here.
Erling Haaland eats liver and heart, follows a regimented physical routine that borders on obsessive, and celebrates goals with a "meditation" pose that has long since stopped feeling peaceful. He also taunts opponents on social media after matches. Norway's chances of causing damage rest on him delivering — and if he does, expect the trolling to follow.
Merih Demiral rounds out the rogue's gallery. The Turkish defender was banned for two matches at Euro 2024 after making a "wolf salute" — a gesture associated with the far-right Grey Wolves — in a game against Austria, triggering a diplomatic incident between the two countries. Turkey need him. Turkey probably dread what he might do next.
