The last post covered the established names. Messi, Mbappe, Pedri, Rodri, Kane. All worth watching, all amazing players.
This one is different. There are teenagers at this tournament who are not squad fillers. They are starting. A couple of them were the best player on the pitch in their opening game and some of them are not that many years older than the kids we work with at South Van FC. That is worth sitting with.
Here are five of the youngest players at this World Cup, and what to specifically look for when you watch them.
Ayyoub Bouaddi 🇲🇦 : Setting Your Body Before the Ball Arrives
Bouaddi grew up in northern France. Came through Lille’s youth teams, all the way up through under-21. He switched to Morocco a few weeks before this started.
For his first World Cup game, Morocco drew with Brazil. 1-1. He was the best midfielder on the pitch with a 91% pass accuracy, five interceptions, nine duels won. When Morocco lost the ball he was first to press. When they had it, everything went through him.
Watch his body shape when he is about to receive. He is almost always angled forward already. The decision is made before the ball gets there. No hesitation, no extra touch. That work happens a full second before most players do it, and that is why he looks so unfazed once it arrives.
That Brazil game is worth going back and watching in full.
Gilberto Mora 🇲🇽 : Playing the Same Way Regardless of the Moment
Mora is 17. Youngest player at this entire tournament. He plays for Tijuana in Liga MX and the youngest player in the league’s history to both start and score.
South Africa was his first World Cup game. Came on as a sub and broke a record from 1930, theyoungest Mexican to play at a World Cup.
Watch him on the ball. Gets it and plays. No settling touch, no looking around for the easy option. Plenty of young players freeze up when the stakes get high, Mora plays exactly the opposite.
That took time and practice to build. He won the 2025 Gold Cup with Mexico, the youngest person in a senior international winning squad at a FIFA tournament. Big environments are not new to him.
For any young player who plays differently in a big game than in training, watching Mora is the right reference point.
Endrick 🇧🇷 : Moving When Your Team Does Not Have the Ball
Palmeiras had him in the senior squad at 16. This past season: six goals, five assists in 14 games, Player of the Month in there somewhere. A lot has been expected of him since he was very young. He has dealt with it.
He is a striker, but the thing worth watching is not the finishing. Coaches who worked with him when he was young describe a player who, when his team was struggling, would go get the ball himself. Drop into midfield, take control, make something happen. Not wait for someone to sort it.
When Brazil do not have the ball, watch where Endrick is. He is not standing still. He is already adjusting his position, working out where he needs to be for when possession comes back. The entire time the opposition has the ball, he is solving a problem.
That movement off the ball is the hardest thing to coach into young strikers. Watch for it every time Brazil lose possession.
Kendry Paez 🇪🇨 : Finding the Pass Nobody Else Sees
Paez is 19 playing for River Plate in Argentina. Been in the first team there since he was a teenager, and the youngest South American to score in a World Cup qualifier.
He plays behind the striker. Runs at defenders. Finds passes in spaces most players would not even look for. Safe options are not really in his thinking. He wants the ball into the gap between the lines, the one that actually opens something up.
Watch what he does when Ecuador are up against a team sitting in a compact low block. That is when Paez is most active, constantly shifting position, looking for the angle that opens something up. Most youth players try to force the ball into tight spaces. Paez tries to find the space first.
He is 19 and still improving. Nobody has seen the finished version of this player yet.
Yan Diomande 🇨🇮 : Accelerating Into the Duel, Not Slowing Down
Grew up in Abidjan. Moved to the States at 15. No English. Played high school soccer in Florida and last season at RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga: 12 goals, nine assists, 118 completed dribbles. That last number led the whole league.
He’s fast, direct, not worried about any one versus one situation. The thing to watch is right before he engages a defender. Most players drop a gear at that moment. Diomande goes faster.
That is what makes him so hard to read. There is no hesitation moment for the defender to read and act on. By the time the defender commits, Diomande is already past.
For any young winger working on one versus one play, watch his speed through the duel, not his skill moves before it. That is the thing.
How to Watch With Your Kid
Pick one player and give your kid one thing to look for before the game starts. Not everything. One thing. At halftime, ask what they noticed, and do not tell them first.
Watch Bouaddi’s body shape before he receives. Watch whether anything in Mora’s game changes when Mexico are under pressure. Watch Endrick when Brazil have just lost possession.
The interesting stuff is not in the highlights. It is in what these players do when the ball is somewhere else, and in the habits they have built so deeply that the biggest stage in soccer does not shake them.
That is what long-term development looks like. At South Van FC Soccer Academy, that is what we are building in every player we work with across South Vancouver. If you want to see whether it is the right fit, start with a free evaluation.
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.