The best players in the world will be on display this summer at the 2026 World Cup. So, let\u2019s rank them.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the world’s premier sporting event, our on-air experts \u2014 Alexi Lalas, Maurice Edu and Stu Holden \u2014 and production staff ranked the 100 best stars who will likely feature at this summer\u2019s World Cup, hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. We\u2019ll count down to No. 1 over the next five weeks, starting with Nos. 100-76.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just how good is USA captain Christian Pulisic? Where do living legends like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo stack up compared to the latest generation of stars, led by Kylian Mbapp\u00e9? What about players making their World Cup debuts, like Erling Haaland or Lamine Yamal?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some big names kick things off for us. Is South Korea’s Son Heung-min too low? Is Mexico’s Ra\u00fal Jim\u00e9nez way overrated? And where does Pulisic really<\/i> rank? Let’s get into it!<\/p>\n
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100.<\/p>\n
Pervis Estupin\u0303a\u0301n | Defender | Ecuador<\/p>\n
(Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 28 Estupin\u0303a\u0301n thrived in the Premier League for three seasons with Brighton before making a move to AC Milan last summer. He is one of the impressive talents that make Ecuador a potential sleeper this summer.<\/p>\n 99.<\/p>\n Alexander Isak | Forward | Sweden<\/p>\n (Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 29 Kim won Serie A with Napoli in 2023 before making a big move to Bayern Munich. He hasn\u2019t established himself as a first-choice player for the German giants, but he will be a pillar in the Korean defense this summer.<\/p>\n 97.<\/p>\n Bradley Barcola | Forward | France<\/p>\n (Photo by Catherine Steenkeste\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 28 Marti\u0301nez would start at center back for most teams in this tournament, but he\u2019s likely going to start as the third option behind Cristian Romero and Nicolas Otamendi, who started during Argentina\u2019s winning run in 2022. He can fill in at left back, as well, and will play a role somehow for the reigning champions.<\/p>\n 95.<\/p>\n Phil Foden | Forward | England<\/p>\n (Photo by Michael Regan – The FA\/The FA via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 28 Mitoma is an exciting winger who broke out two years ago for Brighton. He scored the winning goal for Japan back on March 31 in a friendly against England and will be the key player in attack for his country this summer.<\/p>\n 93.<\/p>\n Marcus Thuram | Forward | France<\/p>\n (Photo by Antonio Borga\/Eurasia Sport Images\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 29 A winger by trade for Real Sociedad, Oyarzabal has stepped up as a striker for the national team in the past. The best example was in the Euro 2024 final, when he scored the winning goal for Spain against England.<\/p>\n 91.<\/p>\n Gonc\u0327alo Ramos | Forward | Portugal<\/p>\n (Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 34 Jime\u0301nez is a fixture in the Fulham starting lineup and will be the main man for Mexico this summer. With 44 goals for El Tri, he\u2019s two goals behind former striker Jared Borgetti for second most all time.<\/p>\n 89.<\/p>\n Kenan Y\u0131ld\u0131z | Forward | T\u00fcrkiye<\/p>\n (Photo by Hakan Akgun\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 27 Eze made a huge move to Arsenal last summer and immediately became a big part of Mikel Arteta’s squad. He normally plays an attacking role, but he could push for the spot in England’s midfield that is usually occupied by Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham.<\/p>\n 87.<\/p>\n Mikel Merino | Midfielder | Spain<\/p>\n (Photo by Diego Souto\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 34 Casemiro is a four-time Champions League winner at Real Madrid, but he hasn\u2019t maintained his high level of quality since moving to Manchester United in 2022. His former Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, is now in charge of Brazil and brought the midfielder back to the national team last year.<\/p>\n 85.<\/p>\n Fabia\u0301n Ruiz | Midfielder | Spain<\/p>\n (Photo by Fran Santiago – UEFA\/UEFA via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 25 Gue\u0301hi was the captain for Crystal Palace last summer when the South London club won the FA Cup. He moved to Manchester City earlier this year and has immediately become a fixture in the reigning Premier League champion\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n 83.<\/p>\n Jeremie Frimpong | Defender | Netherlands<\/p>\n (Photo by Rico Brouwer\/Soccrates\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 26 James will be an important player for England this summer with versatility to play either right back or midfield. Staying healthy has been James\u2019 problem at Chelsea, although he has played in more than two dozen games in the Premier League this season.<\/p>\n 81.<\/p>\n Son Heung-min | Forward | South Korea<\/p>\n (Photo by Marc Atkins\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 27 Kounde\u0301 will likely start at right back for the French, who are among the favorites this summer. He has made at least 40 appearances in each of the last four seasons for Barcelona.<\/p>\n 79.<\/p>\n Christian Pulisic | Forward | United States<\/p>\n (Photo by Robin Alam\/ISI Photos via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 21 G\u00fcler is finishing up his third season at Real Madrid and has emerged as a key player in the squad. He will be the main man for T\u00fcrkiye for years to come, starting with this summer\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n 77.<\/p>\n Viktor Gy\u00f6keres | Forward | Sweden<\/p>\n (Photo by Sebastian Frej\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Age<\/strong>: 27 Olmo emerged as a key player for Spain at Euro 2024. He scored three goals \u2014 finishing in a six-way tie for the Golden Boot \u2014 including one in the quarterfinal and semifinal against Germany and France, respectively.<\/p>\n We will continue to unveil FOX Sports’ FIFA World Cup Rank Top 100 Players each week. Up next are Nos. 75-51 on May 11.<\/i><\/p>\n The World Cup will run from June 11\u2013July 19, 2026. Spread across three countries, the tournament will culminate with the final on July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. All 104 tournament matches will air live across FOX (70) and FS1 (34) with every match streaming live and on-demand within both the FOX One and the FOX Sports apps. A record 40 matches, more than one-third of the tournament, will air in prime time across FOX (21) and FS1 (19).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY The best players in the world will be on display this summer at the 2026 World Cup. So, let\u2019s rank them. Ahead of the world’s premier sporting event, our on-air experts \u2014 Alexi Lalas, Maurice Edu and Stu Holden \u2014 and production staff ranked the 100 best stars who will likely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
National team appearances<\/strong>: 52
Club team<\/strong>: AC Milan (Italy)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 77
Club team<\/strong>: Bayern Munich (Germany)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 26
Club team<\/strong>: Manchester United (England)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 31
Club team<\/strong>: Brighton (England)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 52
Club team<\/strong>: Real Sociedad (Spain)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 125
Club team<\/strong>: Fulham (England)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 16
Club team<\/strong>: Arsenal (England)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 84
Club team<\/strong>: Manchester United (England)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 27
Club team<\/strong>: Manchester City (England)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 22
Club team<\/strong>: Chelsea (England)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 46
Club team<\/strong>: Barcelona (Spain)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 28
Club team<\/strong>: Real Madrid (Spain)<\/p>\n
National team appearances<\/strong>: 48
Club team<\/strong>: Barcelona (Spain)<\/p>\n