World Cups are where rising stars of football quickly transform into global icons.

AFP Sport looks at five of the contenders to become the game’s next superstar at this year’s finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada:

Nico Paz (Argentina)

The son of former Argentine international Pablo Paz has opted to play for the world champions despite being born and raised in Spain.

A rising star in the Real Madrid academy, Paz has flourished in two years working under Cesc Fabregas since a move to Como in Italy.

Madrid are reportedly set to exercise their buyback option on the 21-year-old.

His technical ability and eye for goal from range has alerted Europe’s other top clubs.

Paz could have the daunting task of filling in for Lionel Messi with Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni expected to manage the 38-year-old’s minutes during the champions’ title defence.

Desire Doue (France)

Doue has already lit up the biggest stage in club football, winning the man-of-the-match award and scoring twice in Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final thrashing of Inter Milan last year.

But this will be the 20-year-old’s first taste of a major international tournament.

Doue has a battle just to ensure he starts for Les Bleus among a dazzling display of attacking talent that includes Kylian Mbappe, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele and Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise.

But Doue gave Didier Deschamps a timely reminder of his quality with his first two international goals in a 3-1 friendly win over Colombia in France’s last outing in March.

Nico O’Reilly (England)

O’Reilly, 21, has already earned the trust of Pep Guardiola to become a regular for Manchester City.

Scorer of two goals from left-back in City’s League Cup final win over Arsenal in March, O’Reilly began his career as a goalscoring midfielder.

Guardiola has harnessed his blend of height, speed and skill as an attacking weapon from deep and may have solved a problem position for England coach Thomas Tuchel in the process.

England reached the final of Euro 2024 without a natural left-back for the majority of the tournament due to Luke Shaw’s lack of fitness.

“What a player,” said Guardiola. “He has made an incredible step up and he has had a lot of minutes, but he deserves it.”

Endrick (Brazil)

A teenage prodigy who made his Palmeiras debut at 16 and was snapped up by Real Madrid before his 18th birthday, Endrick’s hopes of shining at the World Cup have been rekindled by a successful loan move at French club Lyon.

Endrick burst onto the international scene by scoring the winner against England at Wembley two years ago and becoming Brazil’s youngest goalscorer since Ronaldo in the process.

Relegated behind international team-mate Vinicius Junior and Mbappe after his big move to Madrid two years ago, the 19-year-old has found his scoring touch since his switch to France in January.

Often compared to another Brazilian great Romario for his squat but powerful physique, Endrick will be hoping to recreate the former’s success in scoring five goals as Brazil won the World Cup on US soil in 1994.

Pedri (Spain)

Spain’s latest passing metronome, Pedri has proven to be a fitting heir to Xavi Hernandez for both club and country.

After first rising to prominence as an 18-year-old at Euro 2020, Pedri was key to Spain’s run to conquering Europe two years ago in Germany, but injury prevented him from featuring in the semi-finals and final.

For Barcelona he has put his fitness troubles behind him under Hansi Flick, playing a starring role in back-to-back La Liga title triumphs over the past two seasons.

FIFA announced on Friday (May 8, 2026) that it will hold separate ​opening ceremonies before the first ‌game in each of the three ​host countries for this ⁠year’s World Cup, which is being held in Mexico, Canada and the United States.

The ‌biggest World Cup in history kicks off on June ‌11 in Mexico City, where ‌Grammy ⁠Award-winning Mexican pop band Mana ⁠will be performing as part of a lineup that also includes Alejandro Fernandez and ​Belinda, FIFA said ‌in a post on X.

According to sources, Canadian singers Alanis Morissette, Michael Buble, Alessia Cara and Bangladeshi ‌American Sanjoy, who is a ​Los Angeles-based DJ, will perform ahead of Canada’s opening group ⁠stage match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12.

Later that ‌day, American singer-songwriter Katy Perry will headline an opening ceremony ahead of the U.S. team’s match against Paraguay in Los Angeles, where Atlanta rap star Nayvadius Wilburn, better ‌known as Future, will also perform, the ​sources said.

This year’s World Cup marks the second time the ⁠global soccer showcase is being co-hosted ⁠by multiple countries. The 2002 World Cup was co-hosted by ‌South Korea and Japan, with the former staging the opening ceremony. (Reporting ​by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Tom Hogue)

Amid widespread complaints about the cost of tickets and transportation related to World Cup games, FIFA announced on Tuesday (April 28, 2026) that it will ​hike the money received by all 48 teams participating this summer by ‌15%.

The national teams competing in the event in the ​United States, Mexico and Canada will see their preparation ⁠money rise from $1.5 million to $2.5 million. Qualification compensation goes from $9 million to $10 million, and contributions toward team delegation expenses and increased ticket allotments will go up ‌more than $16 million.

U.S. President Donald Trump was reminded on Wednesday (October 1, 2025) that FIFA, not any government, ultimately decides which cities will host 2026 World Cup games.

Mr. Trump suggested last week he could declare cities “not safe” for the 104-game soccer tournament next summer and alter a detailed hosting plan that FIFA confirmed in 2022. It includes NFL stadiums near New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The 11 U.S. host cities, plus three in Mexico and two in Canada, are contracted with FIFA which would face significant logistical and legal issues to make changes in the eight months before the June 11 kickoff.

“It’s FIFA’s tournament, FIFA’s jurisdiction, FIFA makes those decisions,” the soccer body’s vice president Victor Montagliani said on Wednesday at a sports business conference in London.

The Canadian president of North American regional soccer body CONCACAF said the sport is “bigger” than any current political debate.

“With all due respect to current world leaders, football is bigger than them and football will survive their regime and their government and their slogans,” Mr. Montagliani said in an on-stage interview. “That’s the beauty of our game, is that it is bigger than any individual and bigger than any country.” Mr. Trump’s comments last week were in response to a question about World Cup cities that oppose his immigration and crime crackdowns.

“If I think it’s not safe, we’re going to move it out,” the U.S. president said in the Oval Office.

Any city that “is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup,” Mr. Trump said, also referring to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, “we’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen.” The World Cup and Olympic Games do rely on host nation governments at all levels for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of commitments on security, visa processing and law enforcement. The past four hosts of the men’s World Cup were Qatar, Russia, Brazil and South Africa.

Mr. Trump has a close working relationship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino who is a regular visitor to the White House. Infantino has not publicly commented on the issue of cities being judged too dangerous to host games at the 48-team tournament that runs through July 19.