Breakout stars of the 2026 World Cup: Diomande, Freeman, Manzambi, more - ESPN

At every World Cup, there's always a collection of players who emerge as breakout stars. In 2010, players such as Alexis Sánchez, Mesut Özil and Luis Suárez burst onto the scene. James Rodríguez in 2014 became a household name by leading Colombia to their first quarterfinals run at a World Cup. The past two tournaments saw Benjamin Pavard (France), Hirving Lozano (Mexico), Enzo Fernández (Argentina), Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco) and others raise their profiles.

Emerging as a star during the World Cup doesn't automatically mean future greatness is a given. Lozano and Ounahi are examples of players who had impressive tournament showings and went on to have fine careers but didn't capture the imagination like in 2018 and 2022, respectively. The same could be said with Rodríguez, who had an impressive debut season with Real Madrid in 2014-15 only for the rest of his career to be plagued by injuries and inconsistent performances. Of course, you also have someone such as Luis Suárez, who later became one of the best players of the 2010s at Liverpool and then Barcelona.

Perhaps the 2026 World Cup hasn't quite had the awe-inspiring performances from emerging stars like in previous tournaments. Instead, the big theme has been several established superstars — Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland — playing at very high levels simultaneously. Still, we've seen a few talents who have raised the eyebrows of some with what they've produced.

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You could argue that he doesn't quite fit the spirit of this exercise. After all, his age-18 season