The big question driving today’s segment: who is about to become a household name on the global stage? The football nerds in the room may already know these players. After this summer’s FIFA World Cup, the casual fan will too.

Craig’s Pick: Jude Bellingham

Jude Bellingham has played 250 career matches, including international appearances with England, before his 22nd birthday. He came through at Birmingham, became a revelation at Dortmund, and won the Champions League at Real Madrid. The football world knows exactly who he is. The casual fan does not yet.

“For the casual fan, I think it’s Jude Bellingham.” Craig’s case is that he is “the full package, complete midfield player.” Pace, control, the ability to play through a press, genuine versatility. Injuries at Real Madrid have slowed his trajectory from the heights many predicted, but he is still only 22. “I think this is his moment to shine.” Craig expects him to be lights out.

The discussion came with a footnote: the situation at Real Madrid is, by the crew’s description, a complete gong show. Reports have José Mourinho potentially returning as manager. How Mourinho gets on with a player of Bellingham’s swagger and confidence is impossible to know in advance. The crew landed on a clean consensus: “It’s going to be one or the other. There’s no in between. It’s either going to be a match for the ages that’s going to bring the best out of club and manager and player or it’s going to crash and burn.”

At the World Cup, none of that club noise matters. Bellingham steps into an England team capable of going deep, and he is built to be the difference. The crew also acknowledged with considerable amusement that Morgan Rogers has been pushing for England starts, which would mean rather less of good old Jude. That competition is real. So is the talent.

Dubs’ Pick: Warren Zaïre-Emery

Warren Zaïre-Emery is 20 years old. He has been at PSG since age 18, is closing in on 180 career appearances for the club, and holds around 10 caps for France. He has convinced Didier Deschamps to include him regularly in the squad ahead of the tournament. He is not an automatic starter. The France squad is that deep.

Dubs built her case around the question of what it looks like when a young player drops onto the biggest stage and takes it. The reference point was Michael Owen at the 1998 World Cup, that moment when pace, power, and raw talent announced itself to the entire world in real time. Zaïre-Emery has that potential, and playing for France means he is doing it in the deepest possible end of the pool.

Whether deployed box-to-box or as a midfield anchor, the ability to “embody the game and imbue it with that youthful exuberance, but also be reliable and put his stamp on things” is already there at 20. “It’s all about minutes though, right?” If he gets on the pitch enough, “he will be a name that will be known after this World Cup.”

The crew’s reaction was genuinely enthusiastic. The broader point landed hard: how many countries in the world would have this player not starting? “Maybe Spain.” That framing says everything about both Zaïre-Emery’s quality and the absurd depth France are carrying into this tournament.

Jimmy’s Pick: Antonio Nusa

Antonio Nusa plays for Leipzig and carries the nickname “the Norwegian Neymar.”

Nusa is a wide player comfortable on either flank, explosive, direct, and difficult to stop one-on-one. “Fast as hell, loves to get up players. Very dynamic, explosive.” Jimmy’s framing was straightforward: this is the player to put on someone’s radar if they have not done so already. “This is one player to keep an eye out.”

What gives the pick extra texture is what Norway could do with him. For Nusa to really announce himself at this tournament, Norway need a run but that possibility is not as remote as it might seem for a team that tends to be underestimated.

A deep run from an unexpected nation brings exactly the kind of energy that defines a World Cup. A player with Nusa’s profile, electric and unpredictable, thrives in that environment more than most. The crew also noted the broader pattern this World Cup:

“These dynamic wingers, every team’s got one, it seems.” Nusa is Norway’s version, and Jimmy is backing him to make people sit up and take notice before the group stage is done.

Wonger’s Pick: Marcelo Flores

Marcelo Flores is 22, plays for Tigres in Liga MX, committed to Canada over his other international options, and came into a Canada fixture against Tunisia where he was, by the crew’s account, outstanding.

Wonger’s pick is not just about Flores in isolation. The context is the injury situation Canada is managing coming into the tournament.

Alphonso Davies’ fitness is a question mark. Richie is injured. Zorhan Bassong is carrying a hamstring issue. Ali Ahmed was forced off at halftime in a recent club match and has been limping since, with no public update on severity.

Flores, who might otherwise be managing expectations about his role, could find himself with considerably more minutes than originally anticipated. The crew floated the idea of him as a scheming number 10 underneath Jonathan David, or coming off the bench to unlock defences when needed. His ability to play both wings adds versatility Jesse Marsh will value.

Sharms’ Pick: Arda Güler

Arda Güler put up four goals and nine assists for Real Madrid this season. He broke through at the Euros with Turkey, is still young enough to be considered an emerging talent, and is coming into the World Cup as arguably the most technically gifted player in a Turkey squad that ground its way through qualifying playoffs to get here.

Sharms made the point that Lamine Yamal was the obvious choice, the player most likely to become the biggest name in world football off the back of this tournament, but choosing Yamal felt too easy.

Güler is the more interesting call. He is a schemer, comfortable in central positions, capable of finding pockets between the lines that most players walk past entirely. Sharms connected the Vincenzo Montella thread, the Turkey coach, known to Footy Prime as the aeroplane coach from his Roma days, now in charge of a team with a genuine wildcard in Güler.

The caveat is a hamstring injury Güler is carrying right now. If Turkey stay healthy and get out of a group that includes a United States side they could plausibly eliminate, Güler is the player most likely to turn the tournament into a personal coming-out party.