Best players in the World Cup 2026 and how to keep following them

In this article we’re exploring the best World Cup talent from front to back, with goalscorers, shot stoppers, midfield generals and everything in between under the microscope.

Best World Cup attackers

The simplest way to rank attackers at any World Cup is by goals scored, but this approach misses a certain nuance. Certain players may have scored more had they been part of a stronger team that progressed further, for example.

The performance of the team relative to the player’s goal contribution is important in understanding their overall impact on their team. But it’s also important to remember that the further into the tournament a team progresses, the harder the games become.

It’s also worth considering the importance of each goal in the tournament. For example, goals scored in dead rubber matches should be factored in, no offense to England’s Bukayo Saka who scored all of his three goals against an unmotivated France in the third place playoff.

Here’s a list of the top scorers at World Cup 2026, with honorable mentions to Harry Kane and Mikel Oyarzabal, who scored six and five respectively. Kane misses out on a higher ranking because of a slightly lower goals per minute ratio. Oyarzabal, although scoring fewer, was part of the Spain team that won the World Cup and scored some extremely important goals.

Kylian Mbappé

• National team: France
• Club team: Real Madrid
• Goals: 10
• Minutes played: 769
• Goals per minute: 0.0130 (a goal every 77 minutes)
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (fourth place)

Lionel Messi

• National team: Argentina
• Club team: Inter Miami
• Goals: 8
• Minutes played: 853
• Goals per minute: 0.0094 (a goal every 107 minutes)
• World Cup team performance: Final (runner-up)

Jude Bellingham

• National team: England
• Club team: Real Madrid
• Goals: 7
• Minutes played: 698
• Goals per minute: 0.0100 (a goal every 100 minutes)
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (third place)

Erling Haaland

• National team: Norway
• Club team: Manchester City
• Goals: 7
• Minutes played: 537
• Goals per minute: 0.0130 (a goal every 77 minutes)
• World Cup team performance: Quarter-finals

Ousmane Dembélé

• National team: France
• Club team: Paris Saint-Germain
• Goals: 6
• Minutes played: 648
• Goals per minute: 0.0093 (a goal every 108 minutes)
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (fourth place)

Best World Cup midfielders

Ranking the best midfielders at the world cup is slightly harder than ranking attackers, because their output is less measurable. Midfielders are relied upon to perform a range of jobs and a lot of their hard work off-the-ball goes under the radar.

Some of the world’s best midfielders played for teams that struggled to progress in the 2026 World Cup. Vitinha and Kevin de Bruyne being two examples. Lionel Messi was imperious throughout the tournament and played an outsized part in getting Argentina to the final, but compared to his performances at previous tournaments, this wasn’t prime Messi. And is he even a midfielder?

There was a clutch of standout performers whose contributions saw their teams notch fantastic performances at the World Cup 2026.

Rodri

• Position: Holding midfielder
• National team: Spain
• Club team: Manchester City
• World Cup team performance: Champions (winners)

Martin Ødegaard

• Position: Attacking midfielder
• National team: Norway
• Club team: Arsenal
• World Cup team performance: Quarter-finals

Pedri

• Position: Central midfielder
• National team: Spain
• Club team: Barcelona
• World Cup team performance: Champions (winners)

Bruno Fernandes

• Position: Attacking / holding midfielder
• National team: Portugal
• Club team: Manchester United
• World Cup team performance: Round of 16

Elliot Anderson

• Position: Central midfielder
• National team: England
• Club team: Nottingham Forest (now at Manchester City)
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (third place)

Lamine Yamal

• Position: Winger
• National team: Spain
• Club team: Barcelona
• World Cup team performance: Champions (winners)

Michael Olise

• Position: Winger / attacking midfielder
• National team: France
• Club team: Bayern Munich
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (fourth place)

Best World Cup defenders 

When a defender is doing what they’re supposed to do, they’re harder to spot. Defenders committing last ditch challenges may stand out in the moment, but it can often be due to them recovering from a mistake. The notable exception to that rule might be Djed Spence of England and his last ditch challenge against Messi in the semi final.

Defenders may also suffer from their own versatility, fulfilling both goal prevention and goal creation functions. Our list includes the defenders that stood out in the most important ways for their teams, whether that be Hakimi’s marauding runs or Van Dijk’s aerial dominance.

Achraf Hakimi

• National team: Morocco
• Club team: Paris Saint-Germain
• Clean sheets: 2
• World Cup team performance: Quarter-finals

Virgil van Dijk

• National team: Netherlands
• Club team: Liverpool
• Clean sheets: 0
• World Cup team performance: Round of 32

Renato Veiga

• National team: Portugal
• Club team: Villarreal
• Clean sheets: 2
• World Cup team performance: Quarter-finals

Pau Cubarsí

• National team: Spain
• Club team: Barcelona
• Clean sheets: 7
• World Cup team performance: Champions (winners)

William Saliba

• National team: France
• Club team: Arsenal
• Clean sheets: 4
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (fourth place)

Djed Spence

• National team: England
• Club team: Tottenham Hotspur
• Clean sheets: 2
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (third place)

Best World Cup goalkeepers 

Like defenders, a goalkeeper can be brilliant without you noticing. The best of the best can be found calmly martialing their defense and being in the right place to make snuffing out a goal look easy. Now and then they’ll pull off showstopping heroics, but on the whole if your goalkeeper is standing out, there’s a problem.

Where goalkeepers do rightly steal the spotlight is during penalty shootouts. And World Cup 2026 featured an astounding level of success for goalkeepers in that regard. Of the 61 spot kicks taken at the World Cup both in open play and shootouts, 21 were missed, including 15 that were on target but saved. That’s a one-in-four save rate for the keepers.

Penalty heroes

Orlando Gill

• National team: Paraguay
• Club team: San Lorenzo de Almagro
• Opponent: Germany
• Penalties saved: 2
• Shootout: Round of 32, won 4-3 (1-1 after extra time) the biggest upset of the tournament

Yassine Bounou

• National team: Morocco
• Club team: Al-Hilal
• Opponent: Netherlands
• Penalties saved: 1 (stopped Crysencio Summerville)
• Shootout: Round of 32, won 3-2 (1-1 after extra time)

Gregor Kobel

• National team: Switzerland
• Club team: Borussia Dortmund
• Opponent: Colombia
• Penalties saved: 1 (stopped Cucho Hernández)
• Shootout: Round of 16, won 4-3 (0-0 after extra time)

The 2026 World Cup was spoiled for amazing stoppers, here’s our pick of the best.

Emiliano Martínez

• National team: Argentina
• Club team: Aston Villa
• Clean sheets: 2
• World Cup team performance: Final (runner-up)

Unai Simón

• National team: Spain
• Club team: Athletic Club (Bilbao)
• Clean sheets: 7
• World Cup team performance: Champions (winners)

Jordan Pickford

• National team: England
• Club team: Everton
• Clean sheets: 2
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (third place)

Mike Maignan

• National team: France
• Club team: AC Milan
• Clean sheets: 4
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (fourth place)

Yassine Bounou

• National team: Morocco
• Club team: Al-Hilal
• Clean sheets: 2
• World Cup team performance: Quarter-finals

Honorable mentions

Some players who had great world cups are either at the beginning or end of their careers. Others played exceptionally well for teams that got knocked out earlier. Here’s our pick of the ‘best of the rest’.

Julián Álvarez

• National team: Argentina
• Club team: Atlético Madrid
• World Cup team performance: Final (runner-up)

Anthony Gordon

• National team: England
• Club team: Tottenham Hotspur (now Barcelona)
• World Cup team performance: Semi-finals (third place)

Vinícius Júnior

• National team: Brazil
• Club team: Real Madrid
• World Cup team performance: Round of 16

Cristiano Ronaldo

• National team: Portugal
• Club team: Al-Nassr
• World Cup team performance: Round of 16

Kevin De Bruyne

• National team: Belgium
• Club team: Napoli
• World Cup team performance: Quarter-finals

Alphonso Davies

• National team: Canada
• Club team: Bayern Munich
• World Cup team performance: Round of 16

Cody Gakpo

• National team: Netherlands
• Club team: Liverpool
• World Cup team performance: Round of 32

Brahim Díaz

• National team: Morocco
• Club team: Real Madrid
• World Cup team performance: Quarter-finals

FAQs about best World Cup 2026 players 

Who is the best soccer player in the world?

Many would argue that Lionel Messi is still the best individual player in the world and the best to ever do it. But Argentina came second and he was out of sorts in the final. Rodri was imperious and guided Spain to glory in the final. Kylian Mbappé is unplayable on his day. Vitinha stands out for Paris Saint Germain but couldn’t drag Ronaldo and the rest of the Portugal team beyond the round of 16.

Who are the best players at the 2026 World Cup? 

Arguably Rodri who never put a foot wrong and eventually lifted the trophy. Jude Bellingham, Michael Olise, Vinícius Júnior, Ousmane Dembélé, Pedri and Erling Haaland could all have been named best player at previous world cups.

Who are the best US soccer players? 

The US Men’s National Team did fairly well at the World Cup, eventually being knocked out by Belgium in the last 16. Standout players include Folarin Balogun, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Antonee Robinson and Chris Richards.

Who are the best young soccer players?

The tournament's brightest young things spanned 18-year-old Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal (Spain), who scooped the official Young Player award, his 19-year-old Barça and Spain teammate Pau Cubarsí at centre-back, Brazil's 19-year-old Chelsea winger Estêvão, France's 20-year-old PSG midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery, and England's 21-year-old Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.

There’s high hopes for Turkey and Real Madrid’s 21-year-old Arda Güler, but Turkey didn’t fare well at this World Cup, failing to progress beyond the groups.