GERMANY – Timo Werner
He’s already scored seven international goals, but Werner could be the breakout star of the entire tournament. This is Germany’s first World Cup since 1998 without Miroslav Klose, but in Werner, Jogi Loew may have finally found his replacement. Werner will start in Russia, allowing Thomas Muller to deut the raum around him. Given Germany’s likely route to the quarter-finals, either of the two looks a good bet for the Golden Boot.
MEXICO – Hirving Lozano
Sarah Winterburn is president of the Edson Alvarez fan club, but I’m ignoring Mexico’s right-back in favour of Lozano, who could genuinely be a contender for the Best Young Player award. He’s been magnificent at PSV, and while he does strictly have too many caps to be considered here, only three players in the squad have fewer and Lozano is still only 22.
SWEDEN – Emil Krafth
Nobody in the Sweden squad is aged under 23 and nobody in the Sweden squad plays in Sweden. Instead, let’s go for Emil Krafth and lay out some puns to use this tournament: Learning his Krafth, Krafth work, Krafth-manship, Krafth-y wank.
SOUTH KOREA – Lee Seung-woo
Wrote the majestic Winterburn, S in her No 10s feature: ‘He is only 20 and he marked his South Korean debut with an assist against Honduras just last month. Recently relegated with Hellas Verona but Barcelona have a buy-back clause that they may well exercise this summer if he excels in Russia.’ That’ll do for me.