The World Cup starts in three days. Forty-eight teams, the best players alive, and for the next several weeks the whole world is watching. For adults, it is entertainment. For your kid, if you sit with them and point them in the right direction, it can be one of the best development tools they have access to all year.
Most kids watch soccer and see the goals. Fair enough. But there is a lot more going on. The players on this list are not here because of their highlight reels. Each one does something specific that a young player can actually study. Here is what to look for.
Lionel Messi 🇦🇷 : Creating Space Before You Receive
Messi is 38. This is his sixth World Cup. No outfield player in history has played in more. He is still one of the most dangerous attackers here. Before the ball even arrives, he has already made his move. Small steps. A direction change. A shoulder drop. He manufactures space for himself before the pass even gets to him. By the time it does, he is already free.
The specific thing to watch is his scan before he receives. Two or three seconds before the ball is played to him, he looks behind him. He already knows what is there before he turns. That information is what allows him to move so decisively when the ball arrives.
He has been doing this for 20 years at the top level. The consistency of it, across clubs, coaches, and countries, is the real story. The pace he had at 22 is long gone, so he built something that does not expire. Your kid is not going to outrun every defender they face. But they can learn how to get open.
Lamine Yamal 🇪🇸 : Going at Defenders
Yamal turns 19 just after the tournament starts. He will be one of the youngest player in the field, and he’s a starter for Spain.
Watch what he does the moment he receives the ball. He does not look for the safe pass. He looks for the defender. He gets the ball and immediately goes at someone, at 18, in a World Cup, for one of the best teams in the world. With the current state of soccer, where players are told to be safe, Yamal brings back the one on one play. Lifting fans off their seats everytime he get’s the ball.
Most youth players take the easy option when it is available. A back pass. A square ball. Something safe. Yamal almost never does. Part of what makes him so hard to defend is that every time he touches the ball, the defender already knows he is coming. That directness is worth pointing out to your kid. Watch it every time he touches it.
Kylian Mbappe 🇫🇷 : Timing the Run in Behind
Everyone knows Mbappe is fast. That is not what to watch.
Watch when he goes. He does not sprint the second his teammate gets the ball. He waits, reads when the last defender is about to step up or turn, and that is the moment he moves. A run one second too early gets caught offside. The same run one second later scores.
Also watch his starting position before the run. He is usually standing close to the defender, looking passive. Then he goes. That stillness before the burst is deliberate, it stops the defender from reading him early.
The timing is the thing. Not the pace.
Harry Kane 🏴 : What a Smart Striker Does Without the Ball
Watch Kane when England does not have the ball.
He drops deep, drags a centre-back out of position, plays it off to a midfielder arriving late, and is already back in the box waiting. It never makes the highlights.
That movement does two things at once. It creates a passing option for the player on the ball, and it pulls the centre-back out of the penalty area, leaving space for someone else to run into. Kane is creating the chance before the chance exists.
That is what a modern striker actually does. For any young forward trying to understand the role, it is worth more than any tactical breakdown.
Pedri 🇪🇸 : Moving Before the Ball
Pedri is rarely where the ball is. He is where it is going.
Watch him when Spain has possession on the far side of the pitch. He is constantly moving, small adjustments, a shoulder check, finding a new angle. By the time someone looks up to play it to him, he is already there. He did not wait for the pass. He worked for the position.
The shoulder check is the detail to watch specifically. Every few seconds, he looks behind him. He is building a picture of what is around him so that when the ball arrives, he already knows what to do with it. That preparation is what makes him look so calm on the ball.
Youth players wait. Pedri does not.
Rodri 🇪🇸 : Being in the Right Place
Rodri does not look like he is working hard. That is the whole point.
Watch his positioning throughout a full Spain game, not the highlights, the full game. He is almost never out of position. He is rarely the closest player to the ball, but he is almost always in the right zone. Watch how rarely he has to sprint.
What he is doing constantly is managing distance, keeping himself close enough to be an option, far enough to give the player on the ball a clean passing angle. It is subtle and it is everywhere.
For any player learning to read the game from a deeper role, this is the most instructive thing at this tournament.
How to Watch With Your Kid
Before the game, pick one player and give your kid one thing to watch. At halftime, ask what they noticed, do not tell them first. Connect it to their own game if you can, even just a quick question. And remind them to track the player when they do not have the ball. That is where most of it is.
At South Van FC Soccer Academy, long-term player development is the whole point. The World Cup runs through June and July. Games are on across Vancouver and the rest of the country. Use it.
Harjit Kainth is the founder, head coach, and academy director at South Van FC. He built the club from the ground up in South Vancouver with a focus on long-term player development, and oversees both the youth academy and the VMSL men’s team. If you have questions about the programme or want to talk development, reach out at southvanfc@gmail.com.
South Van FC is a community football club based in South Vancouver, BC. We run a youth development academy and a VMSL Men’s team, built around one philosophy: develop real players, technically sharp, tactically aware, and mentally tough. Learn more at southvanfc.com.