The World Cup football is traditionally the biggest stage for every football player. It’s extra special when you get the chance to show your skills as a teenager. The World Cup is every four years, so not a lot of teenagers get the chance to play on this stage. Seven teenagers are selected for the upcoming World Cup in Russia. We decided to dedicate this post to five teenagers to watch during the upcoming World Cup.

Teenagers to watch

There is no guarantee that a player who plays the World Cup as teenager will make a big career. You just need to look at the lists with teenagers on the previous editions and you know what we mean.

2006: Lionel Messi, Cesc Fàbregas, Ryan Babel, Andrés Guardado, Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott, Johan Djourou and Yassine Chikhaoui.
2010: Christian Eriksen, Xherdan Shaqiri, Chris Wood, Vincent Aboubakar, Joel Matip, Lukman Haruna, Jonathan Mensah, Lee Addy.
2014: Luke Shaw, Raheem Sterling, Carlos Gruezo, Divock Origi, Adnan Januzaj, José Giménez and Nabil Bentaleb.

Messi is of course the perfect example of a player who played a World Cup as teenager and became a top quality player. The best of the world according to many football fans. Christian Eriksen, Raheem Sterling and Cesc Fabregas also made it to the top,  but many of these names never lived up to the expectations.

Kylian Mbappe

Born: 20 December 1998
Country: France
Club: Paris Saint-Germain
Mbappe showed his qualities when he entered Europe and France with AS Monaco at the age of 17/18. He earned himself a transfer to Paris-Saint Germain and is a very important player in the French squad. His pace is amazing and we are convinced he’s going to show his qualities this summer.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Born: 7 October 1998
Country: England
Club: Liverpool
Alexander-Arnold haven’t even made his debut for the Three Lions, but he is selected by Gareth Southgate for the World Cup. Silently became an important factor in Liverpool’s team. Played his first Champions League final in May of this year. Now it looks like Kyle Walker will play in a more central defensive role, Alexander-Arnold will compete with Kieran Trippier for the right wing-back position.

Daniel Arzani

Born: 4 January 1999
Country: Australia
Club: Melbourne City FC
Daniel is the youngest player that goes to Russia this summer. The midfielder was born in Iran, but moved to Australia when he was only seven years old. While he had the chance to play for his motherland, he felt more at home in the Australian team. He impressed national team manager Bert van Marwijk and recently made his debut for the national team.

Achraf Hakimi

Born: 4 November 1998
Country: Morocco
Club: Real Madrid
This Madrid born player, is the child of Moroccan parents. His talent was acknowledged at the age of 8, when he got an invite for Real Madrid’s youth academy, La Fabrica. He made his debut for the first team in the beginning of the past season and played 17 matches in total for the Champions League winners. His debut for Morocco’s national team came a year before his Real Madrid debut and he plays almost every single match for the national team. Will definitely be in the first eleven on the World Cup.

Francis Uzoho

Born: 20 October 1998
Country: Nigeria
Club: Deportivo La Coruna
This is the only teenage goalkeeper that will go to the World Cup this summer. He got number 23, but the expectation is that he will become the goalkeeper for Nigeria. Although the other goalies are far more experienced, Uzoho is the only one that plays for a club in Europe. He is the youngest foreign goalkeeper to play in La Liga and has a big chance to play on the World Cup too, what a season will that by for this youngster.

This are out teenagers to watch during the World Cup in Russia. Which one is your pick?