Ranking the 21 best U21 players at the 2026 World ...
Key takeaways
- The list of teenagers to have made their breakthrough at a World Cup is long, and includes the likes of Pelé, Kylian Mbappé, Michael Owen and Thomas Müller.
- Tor-Kristian Karlsen is a Norwegian football scout and executive and is the former chief executive and sporting director at AS Monaco.
- I used a sounding board consisting of professional scouts and sporting directors from several top European clubs before deciding on the final ranking, as well as some online scouting platforms.
Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.
The list of teenagers to have made their breakthrough at a World Cup is long, and includes the likes of Pelé, Kylian Mbappé, Michael Owen and Thomas Müller. But who might do so this summer?
For eight years (read 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 here), our resident scout Tor-Kristian Karlsen has ranked the hottest prospects around and now he's turned his attention to those who will be in action across the United States, Mexico and Canada this month.
Tor-Kristian Karlsen is a Norwegian football scout and executive and is the former chief executive and sporting director at AS Monaco. He will write regularly for ESPN on the business of soccer and the process of scouting.