NXGN 20 for 2034: Lamine Yamal, Talal Haji & the young players on track to star at the World Cup in Saudi Arabia

Lamine Yamal might only be 17, but within the corridors of La Masia his name has been whispered for some time already. The talk has long been that Barcelona’s famed academy had done the seemingly impossible by conjuring up a worthy successor to Lionel Messi. At Euro 2024, he was perhaps the best player in the best team, and he will only be 26 when the 2034 World Cup begins.

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  Warren Zaire-Emery (PSG, France, 18)

  Nominally a defensive midfielder, Zaire-Emery is able to dictate games from a deep position while also showing a willingness to get forward and join in with attacks. His passing ability is already among the best in Europe, and Pep Guardiola is a noted fan, having tried to sign the teenager for Manchester City in the past.

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    Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United, England, 19)

    Finding reliable central midfielders has been one of Manchester United’s many issues over the past decade of discontent at Old Trafford, but it seems that in Kobbie Mainoo they may finally have produced a player who is capable of controlling games at the very highest level. At Euro 2024, he thrived for England, as they reached the final.

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    Arda Guler (Real Madrid, Turkiye, 19)

    Having emerged from the Fenerbahce academy in 2021, by the end of the 2021-22 campaign he had become the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer while earning comparisons to then team-mate Mesut Ozil. Some even went as far as to christen him ‘the Turkish Messi’ due to his dribbling ability and the way in which Guler was able to pick a pass even when in the tightest of spots, and he was soon snapped up by Spanish giants Real Madrid.

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      Leny Yoro (Manchester United, France, 18)

      “Leny Yoro is extraordinary. Never in my career have I come across such a mature young man.” Those were the words of former Lille manager Paulo Fonseca, who oversaw the development of one of Europe’s – if not the world’s – top defensive prospects, and whose performances led to a huge move to Manchester United last summer. He is injured currently, but remains a world-class prospect.

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      Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona, Spain, 17)

      After Pau Cubarsi shone for Barcelona against Getafe in February, his team-mate Joao Cancelo wrote on the teenager’s Instagram, “Franz Beckenbauer Cubarsi”, so impressed was the Portuguese by the defender’s mature performance. He has started all four of Barca’s league games this season and looks certain to a mainstay in the side for the next decade – if they can keep hold of him.

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        Francesco Camarda (AC Milan, Italy, 16)

        It was always going to take a special talent to usurp Paolo Maldini as AC Milan’s youngest-ever player, but that’s just what Francesco Camarda did when he made his Rossoneri bow in November 2023. The striker also became Serie A’s youngest-ever player that night against Fiorentina, having long been earmarked as a potential star at San Siro.

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        Desire Doue (PSG, France, 19)

        From Ousmane Dembele to Eduardo Camavinga to Mathys Tel, Rennes’ recent hit rate when it comes to academy products is among the best in Europe, and Desire Doue is the latest to make the move to a huge club, having agreed a deal worth over £40m to join PSG last summer.

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          Mathys Tel (Bayern Munich, France, 19)

          Capable of playing as either a wide forward or a central striker, Tel’s pace and dribbling ability has earned him comparisons to Kylian Mbappe, while his unerring finishing ability has been likened to that of Karim Benzema. He has already led France to glory at the U17 Euros in 2022 and could now partner Mbappe for Les Bleus.

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          Mikey Moore (Tottenham Hotspur, England, 17)

          Perhaps the most exciting player to come out of Tottenham’s academy since Harry Kane. A winger with the ability to operate in attacking midfield, he has already clocked 12 appearances for England’s Under-17s, scoring 10 goals. A new contract at Spurs to ward off interest from Manchester City and Manchester United shows just how highly-rated he is, and he has already made his first-team debut.

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            Endrick (Real Madrid, Brazil, 18)

            The youngest player in Palmeiras history, Endrick has been making defenders look foolish for much of his short career thus far. He is able to skip past opponents with ease, while his unerring finishing ability means he will likely carve out a career as a central striker. He also possesses an eye for the spectacular, with clips of him scoring overhead kicks from outside the penalty area having gone viral since his breakthrough into the wider footballing consciousness.

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            Claudio Echeverri (Manchester City, Argentina, 18)

            Many young Argentines have wilted under the pressure of being dubbed ‘the next Messi’, but Claudio Echeverri certainly seems to have both the talent and character to carry the burden. Certainly, Europe’s biggest clubs went out of their way to secure his signature over the past year, only for Manchester City to win out in the end.

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              Estevao Willian (Chelsea, Brazil, 17)

              The 17-year-old has been keen to shake off the comparisons to Messi, but there is no doubt that his small stature, incredible agility and pace in the open field is similar to that of the diminutive Argentine legend. Brazilian fans have known about Estevao ever since he signed a deal with Nike aged 10, but fans around the world will soon know his name, too, especially as Chelsea have agreed to sign him.

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              Kendry Paez (Chelsea, Ecuador, 17)

              Chelsea have shown they are not afraid to spend big to ensure they acquire the superstars of tomorrow and, in Kendry Paez, they look to have secured themselves a gem. The 17-year-old will join up with the Blues in the summer of 2025 after they agreed to pay Independiente del Valle £17m ($21.5m) to bring the talented playmaker to Stamford Bridge.

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                Franco Mastantuono (River Plate, Argentina, 17)

                Mastantuono actually rejected River’s first invite to their academy as he eyed a career in tennis, and he was ranked within the top 10 Argentine players for his age. However, he ended up choosing football and the versatile midfielder looks to have made the right choice having already become River’s youngest-ever goalscorer, aged 16.

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                Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union, 14, United States)

                Sullivan is already bound for Manchester City at the age of just 14. At his tender age, he has already become MLS’ youngest-ever player, and has signed the biggest homegrown deal in the league’s history. When he turns 18 – in 2027 – he will head to the Etihad and aim to make a significant impression.

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                  Amara Diouf (Generation Foot, 16, Senegal)

                  Diouf is currently developing at Senegal’s famed Generation Foot academy, where he has been compared to former graduate Sadio Mane because of his pace, finishing ability and willingness to dribble at speed. He will follow in Mane’s footsteps, too, when he joins Metz in 2026, as the French club beat off serious competition to sign him.

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                  Karim Konate (RB Salzburg, 20, Ivory Coast)

                  Konate is just 20 but he already has 17 caps and two goals for the Ivory Coast, as well as a 20-goal season in the Austrian Bundesliga. He has a lengthy contract in Austria but one has to expect him to follow in Erling Haaland’s footsteps soon and move to a bigger European club.

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                    Talal Haji (Al-Ittihad, 16, Saudi Arabia)

                    Still just 16, Haji already has one cap for Saudi Arabia and is gladly sitting under the learning tree of Karim Benzema at Al-Ittihad. He is both the youngest player in Super League history and the youngest goalscorer, with five goal involvements in just nine senior games.

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                    Nestory Irankunda (Bayern Munich, 18, Australia)

                    Not since Tim Cahill retired have Australian soccer fans had a genuine world star to call their own, but that might be about to change following the emergence of Nestory Irankunda. The forward has already agreed to join Bayern Munich in the summer of 2024 for a fee that will double the previous record sale by an A-League club.