The casual American soccer fan's guide to the best international players ahead of the World Cup

The Americans start World Cup play on Nov. 21 against Wales. The Welsh have no bigger star than Gareth Bale. Don’t let it fool you that he currently plays in Major League Soccer — so do eight USMNTers that will be in Qatar. Bale played at the highest levels of European soccer for Real Madrid and Tottenham before coming to the USA. He just scored the game-tying goal in extra time, which sent LAFC to penalty kicks of the MLS Championship, which it won.

As the Welsh captain, Bale will lead the country to its second World Cup appearance ever and first since 1958. Wales isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire heading into the tournament, with its core group of generational talent a little older than the prime age to dominate. Yet, with Bale on the front lines, Wales’ potent offense could unleash multiple goals at ease.

He’s England’s only non-Premier League player to make it to Qatar. Bellingham is also the youngest Brit to be named to the World Cup squad. As the Three Lions are a favorite to make a deep run at the World Cup, after a fourth-place finish in 2018 and being the runners-up at EURO 2020, Bellingham is one of the main differences this year why England fans think a triumph is on the horizon.

Bellingham won’t turn 20 until next June, yet he’s a key part of Borussia Dortmund’s team and will square off with club teammate Gio Reyna and the United States on Black Friday, Nov. 25. England has a deep squad capable of winning the tournament if it can get solid play from Jordan Pickford in net. His biggest safety net? Bellingham.

The best player for the United States’ final group-stage opponent is Azmoun, who essentially plays the same recognizable-star role at a big European club that Christian Pulisic, Reyna, and Weston McKennie play for the United States. The Iranian sensation made his move to Bayer Leverkusen in the winter from Zenit St. Petersburg.

The Iranians will be playing in the tournament during an emotional time for their country after protests have broken out around the country in response to the September death of Mahsa Amini. Azmoun spoke out against the Iranian government during the protests publicly, which could’ve cost him his spot on the World Cup roster. But it didn’t.

The trendy pick of Senegal punching above its weight and making a deep run in the World Cup is largely in part to having one of the best players in the world at its core in Mané. He’ll suit up in the tournament despite picking up a minor injury recently. He’ll be the best African player at the event no doubt, and might be the best in the world overall, in stiff competition with former Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah, who won’t be in Qatar because Egypt didn’t qualify.

Mane now suits up for Bayern Munich and is currently in the best form of his career, helping the Reds to two trophies and the UEFA Champions League Final last May before moving to Germany in the summer. If Mané shows out, Senegal could go as far as the semifinals. If he doesn’t, it’ll be eliminated in the group stage.

This will likely be the final World Cup for one of the best soccer players ever. Messi is 35 and no doubt starting to wind down his career, and you can’t bet on Argentina calling him up in four years for the 2026 showcase. After a long career at Barcelona, Messi will play in his first World Cup while playing his club football at Paris Saint-Germain.

The accolades Messi has racked up are long and impressive. He’s almost done it all, almost. The one huge gap that separates him from soccer’s all-time legends like Pelé and Diego Maradona is a World Cup victory. Argentina made the 2014 World Cup Final but lost in extra time to Germany. In likely his final chance to grasp the world title, does he succeed?

His career has been intertwined with Messi’s for a long time. One difference: this is no doubt Ronaldo’s final World Cup appearance. He’ll be 41 when the tournament comes to North America in 2026 and Portugal won’t call him up, as his form is already dipping from the world’s best player we saw a decade ago.

Portugal isn’t expected to do much damage in the tournament, being drawn into a tough Group H with South Korea, Ghana, and Uruguay. And that’s in part to Ronaldo slowing down since returning to Manchester United. Yet, Ronaldo still shows signs of the GOAT-form occasionally. It’d be fun to see him do it as his final World Cup.

The odds-on favorite to win the whole shebang in Qatar are the five-time champs in Brazil. Its leader? Neymar, who isn’t a kid anymore like when he was introduced on the world stage at the 2014 World Cup. Brazil’s last four World Cup tournament appearances have included a knockout stage win but no finals appearance.

This year’s Brazil squad is loaded, per usual. And it’s loaded in a way where you can’t begin to see any kind of weakness. Maybe captain Thiago Silva is too old? I’m truly nitpicking. Now is the time for Neymar to take his spot among the Brazilian legends that won a world title. Or else he’ll be like his teammate Messi and hoping to win one before he retires.

The wonder kid from the 2018 World Cup who became the first teenager to score in a tournament final since Pelé is back and even better, taking the mantle as the final part of PSG’s dominant trio alongside Messi and Neymar. He’ll be the starlet for defending champions France. No team has won back-to-back men’s World Cups since 1958 and 1962 when Brazil accomplished the feat. If the French buck the trend, Mbappé will be a huge reason why.

He’ll play on the wing and help Karim Benzema bang in goals for the French. No defending World Cup champion has made it out of the group stage since Brazil in 2006 with Italy, Spain, and Germany all failing to do so in the last three instances. Paired with Tunisia, Denmark, and Australia, France have a favorable draw to make the last 16, especially if Mbappé shows why he’s one of the best in the world.

He’s one of the best defenders in the world and defense needs more love. He’ll be at the heart of why the Netherlands can have a successful tournament. As a defender, van Dijk won the Premier League’s Player of the Year Award in 2019, his first full season with Liverpool. His physicality and technical ability make it hard for any forward to score on him.

While the Dutch aren’t tournament favorites like in years past, they do have a good squad that’ll somehow score when Memphis Depay is still a key figure in the squad. It won’t be pretty, but van Dijk will be a huge part of the Netherlands’ success or failures, considering it likely won’t score many goals.

Want to watch someone who will be scoring and doing nothing else? Tune into Poland’s games and find No. 9. Lewandowski will be a favorite to be the World Cup’s highest scorer if the Poles make it to the knockout stage. There’s likely not a player in the tournament that has a team’s success riding on his shoulders more than Lewandowski.

If the Barcelona striker can’t score, Poland will be on the earliest flight out of Qatar. If Lewandowski can get into a nice rhythm, being a team that makes a surprise run deep into the tournament isn’t out of the question. Argentina will be tough, but Saudi Arabia and Mexico’s defenses aren’t either country’s strength. It could be open season.

The Denmark midfielder’s journey is remarkable. In the 43rd minute of Denmark’s EURO 2020 match against Finland last summer, Eriksen went into cardiac arrest on the field and collapsed. To give Eriksen as much privacy as possible, his Danish teammates surrounded the EMTs attempting to stabilize him. Suddenly, playing in such a huge event felt small. Making sure one of Denmark’s best survived, much less played sports again, was paramount.

Now he’s healthy and on the world stage after a transfer to Manchester United over the summer. He only returned to soccer earlier this year. Eriksen made his return to the Danish national team back in March and resumed his duties as one of the country’s most important players. No matter how he does, Eriksen being in Qatar should be celebrated.

If Bellingham isn’t your pick to be the best under-21 player in Qatar, it’s likely your money is on Musiala, who just became the youngest player to reach 100 appearances with German giant Bayern Munich. Musiala was 11 the last time Germany won the World Cup and he’ll suit up for the country in hopes of another win.

Musiala has shown the ability to score and protect the ball well beyond his years. His experience at 19 will make him not scared by the biggest stage in the sport, considering he already plays on a pretty big one in the Bundesliga on a weekly basis. All this hype for Musiala, who didn’t play his first professional game until 2020 and made his German national team debut last year.

Want an underrated pick for the tournament’s Best XI? Here’s Azpilicueta, the only fullback on the list and he’ll be a leader for Spain. He captains his club team, Chelsea, and has matured into an every-game player for the team over the last several years. That grit should help him become one of the tournament’s best outside backs.

Spain’s been lauded over the years, especially during its run to the World Cup title in 2010, for every position. It’s kind of weird. It’s also been a dozen years since that victory and Spain hasn’t won a knockout stage game since leaving South Africa. The Spaniards are a wild-card pick to win it all. If Azpilicueta plays lights out in the back, it could happen.

If you want my pick for the best player per his position in the world today, give me De Bruyne. The Manchester City midfielder has been at the forefront of his golden Belgian generation that has yet to win a major tournament together. A third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup and bowing out in the quarterfinals of EURO 2020 surely can’t be repeated at this World Cup with how much talent Belgium has. Can it?

De Bruyne has the ability to do everything. He can score, pass, hold up possession, defend and fly. Probably the last one, but I doubt he’s ever been asked to do it on the field. If Belgium is to finally win a major tournament together, it’ll likely come with De Bruyne being the World Cup’s most valuable player.

We couldn’t complete this list without a goalkeeper, right? Sommer is incredibly experienced, having played for Switzerland at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, as well as EURO 2016 and 2020. The Swiss aren’t expected to make a deep run in the tournament but are one of the teams capable of beating anyone on their best day. And Sommer will have to be at his best for that to happen.

Sommer plays his club football at Borussia Monchengladbach, a good German club, where he faces plenty of quality forwards every season. And at the international level, Sommer has done the same. He made eight saves alone in extra time against Spain in the quarterfinals of EURO 2020. He can absolutely put up that effort again now.