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By • Clay Birmingham
Following on from groups A and B, these are the young players from groups C and D that could go on to feature at this summer's FIFA World Cup and if they get the chance to go, they could surprise fans all over the world and prove to be successful.
France Lucas Tousart Club: Lyon Age: 20 Position: Defensive Midfield International Appearances: 0 Likelihood of going to the World Cup: 2/10 Potential: 7/10 Right now, the French national team has a plethora of young talent. They have a whole bunch of talented players to choose from and even if they fielded a full team of U23s, they would probably do very well at the World Cup. With all the talent at their disposal, I’ve decided to go for one of the smaller names. Lyon’s Lucas Tousart was a squad player for Lyon last season, while this season he’s become a starter. At just twenty years old, he’s composed and is a traditional defensive midfielder. There’s an awful lot of competition in midfield for the national team, so it’s difficult to see him making the World Cup squad, but if Didier Deschamps was willing to take a punt, Tousart could play a role in the squad.
Australia Milos Degenek Club: Yokohama F. Marinos Age: 23 Position: Defender International Appearances: 15 Likelihood of going to the World Cup: 10/10o Potential: 3/10 Milos Degenek is a versatile defender who can play anywhere in the back four, as well as in defensive midfield. Degenek has represented Australia at U17 and U23 level, as well as representing Serbia U19s. He’s been a mainstay in the Australia senior team since he made his international debut last year against England. He spent two years at Stuttgart, playing just nine times for Stuttgart II, before transferring to 1860 Munich for a year, before then joining Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos. Degenek’s diversity could see him impress at the World Cup should Australia not struggle too much. But with France, Peru and Denmark to take on, they could be frail and, as a defender, Degenek will have a lot of work to do.
Peru Edison Flores Club: AaB Age: 23 Position: Attacking Midfield International Appearances: 25 Likelihood of going to the World Cup: 10/10 Potential: 4/10 Peru are one of those teams that doesn’t have many superstars and only a few recognisable names, but they always go to big tournaments and impress. They go to play, and not just defend. Their players always seem to be better for their nation than their clubs intriguingly. Edison Flores spent a couple of years at Villarreal before returning to Peru. Last year he joined Danish club AaB. While he’s not setting the Danish League alight quite yet, he has scored eight times in twenty-five appearances for Peru; scoring against Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. He’s a talented boy and I think he’ll be up for the challenge in Russia.
Denmark Pione Sisto Club: Celta Vigo Age: 22 Position: Winger International Appearances: 10 Likelihood of going to the World Cup: 10/10 Potential: 9/10 If you read part one, you’d recognise this name. Pione Sisto currently has eight assists this season, which is the most in La Liga. Skilful, unselfish, fast, aware, and amazingly balanced, Sisto is a force to be reckoned with. He’ll be a starter for Denmark and, while they have difficult opponents in Peru and France to overcome, Sisto will be a danger on the counter. He’ll need a hard working striker in support and he’ll come away from the World Cup with some new admirers. His impressive start for Celta Vigo this season will already have clubs on high alert. To me, he’s one of those players Barcelona may surprisingly sign.
Argentina Leandro Paredes Club: Zenit Saint Petersburg Age: 23 Position: Midfielder International Appearances: 1 Likelihood of going to the World Cup: 3/10 Potential: 8/10 Google search the versatile midfielder with ‘Liverpool’ after his name and you’ll see all the rumours from the last couple of years that Klopp wanted him. Liverpool fans and Serie A enthusiasts highly rate the former Roma man. He can operate anywhere in midfield and is best utilised as a hard working box-to-box midfielder. Hard working midfielders and talented attackers typically produce the best end product. Argentina have had attacking talent in abundance for the last fifteen years. While Paredes has just played once for Argentina, he could be the midfield engine that could drive Argentina through the competition. I don’t claim to know better than a professional manager, but if I were Jorge Sampaoli, I’d have Paredes as the director of my team.
Iceland Hjörtur Hermannsson Club: Bröndby IF Age: 22 Position: Centre-Back International Appearances: 5 Likelihood of going to the World Cup: 7/10 Potential: 4/10 Standing at 6’3”, Hermannsson is an enforcing defender. Having applied his trade in Iceland, Holland, Sweden and now Denmark, Hermannsson looks comfortable in the current Brøndby side. Iceland will be a defensive unit at the World Cup, just as they were at Euro 2016. If they find similar success, every Icelandic defender will find themselves being linked with transfers, and at just twenty-two years old, Hermannsson certainly has room to grow.
Croatia Marko Rog Club: Napoli Age: 22 Position: Midfielder International Appearances: 11 Likelihood of going to the World Cup: 7/10 Potential: 8/10 Croatia are one of those teams that always churn out constantly good talent. Rog played just nineteen times in all competitions for Napoli last season. This season so far, he’s already featured eighteen times. He’s still just a squad player and it is unlikely that he'll start for Croatia, especially with Rakitić, Modrić, and Kovačić, but should Croatia need an impact player, Rog is hard working and can also dictate the attacking play.
Nigeria Wilfred Ndidi Club: Leicester Age: 21 Position: Defensive Midfield International Appearances: 14 Likelihood of going to the World Cup: 10/10 Potential: 9/10 I may be biased when it comes to Ndidi, as I wanted to give him 10/10 potential. I may not be a Leicester or Nigeria fan, but Ndidi is just one of those players I can't help but love. He's very hard working, particularly with the dirty work. He joined Leicester last January and has been instrumental in their midfield ever since. He’s currently the Premier League's top tackler. I can certainly see Ndidi joining a European club in the summer and throwing in my Liverpool bias, just imagine a midfield pairing of Ndidi and Naby Keita. One can only dream.