Bouaddi, Vite, Nakamura and the Breakout Players Who Could Be on the Move After Impressing at the 2026 World Cup

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Opta Analyst

20 July 2026

With the

2026 World Cup

concluded, we look back by identifying seven players who saw their stock increase considerably thanks to their performances.

After 39 days and 104 matches, the 2026

World Cup

is over.

It was a tournament that often came to be defined by the performances of the superstar players; at least, it was until the best

team

, Spain, left with the trophy, just as the Opta supercomputer had suggested was most likely before a ball was kicked.

But while there were some memorable performances from the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham and other high-profile stars, there were plenty of lesser-known talents who caught the eye.

Here, we’ve highlighted seven who stood out to us as breakout players.

A contender for best young player at the tournament,

Ayyoub Bouaddi

may not have been a household name going into the tournament, but he did his reputation no harm in North America.

Despite being a very new face in the

Morocco

squad, the teenager went straight into the starting XI for their Matchday 1 meeting with Brazil, and he laid down a marker.

Carlo Ancelotti’s midfield could hardly get near him as he stroked the ball around with an effortlessness that was hard to ignore. He completed 60 of his 66 passes (90.7%), making him the second-youngest player (18 years, 254 days) at the time to complete 50+ passes in a

match on record (since 1966), proving himself a reliable and tidy facilitator in deep areas despite his tender age.

Throughout Morocco’s stay at the tournament, Bouaddi impressed with his willingness to receive possession and his confidence on the ball; it’s no wonder Manchester City are now supposedly pushing to sign him in a deal reportedly worth around €100 million.

A confident carrier, dribbler and passer, he looks set for a long career at the top of the game.

Fresh off helping Racing Santander end a 14-year absence from La Liga,

Gustavo Puerta

was a key figure in the

Colombia

team even though he’d only played six times for

Los Cafeteros

before the start of the tournament.

Puerta showed himself to be of use in many respects.

Firstly, he was extremely reliable on the ball, completing 92% of his passes, and he found a teammate with 88.3% of his passes in the final third – both saw him place second for

Only centre-back Davinson Sánchez (125) tallied more carries than Puerta (94) and his seven carries ending with a shot or chance created was the most of anyone in the

squad, Luis Díaz (six) included.

He also tallied 61 more pressures than any other

player, evidence of his work rate off the ball.

Puerta’s stock has risen considerably over the past two years at Hull City and Racing, and the

saw him continue along that promising trajectory.

Paraguay

played a conservative but effective brand of football this summer. They would not have been able to do so without the rock-solid

Orlando Gill

in goal.

Gill went into the tournament with limited senior international experience. He’d made one competitive appearance for

, with five of his previous six outings coming in friendlies. But he surely won the hearts of the nation with his performances.

The 26-year-old made 23 saves at the

, more than any other goalkeeper, with 15 of them from shots taken inside the box, the joint most with Gregor Kobel and Eloy Room.

Admittedly, Paraguay’s style of play meant Gill would naturally face more shots, but his save percentage (78.6%) was bettered by only six keepers (3+ appearances) in North America. Alisson (77.8%), Emiliano Martínez (71.4%) and Thibaut Courtois (70.0%) all came in below Gill.

His shot-stopping ability helped

to clean sheets against Türkiye and Australia in the group stage, but it was in the knockouts where Gill really made his name.

He was a key part of one of the upsets of the tournament against Germany in the round of 32, making six saves inside 120 minutes, before becoming the hero of the penalty shootout. Gill saved spot-kicks from Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade, sending

La Albirroja

through to the last 16.

The giant goalkeeper left the

with a greatly-enhanced reputation.

Ecuador

may have only made it to the last 32 of the 2026

, but

La Tri

still earned plenty of admirers, particularly after a late win over Germany secured their passage out of the group stage.

Pedro Vite

was arguably their standout player.

Confident on the ball, a clever passer and someone who works hard off the ball, Vite was a force of nature at times in the group stage.

Ahead of the knockouts, only four players had created more chances than Vite in open play (8); he ranked third for tackle attempts (14); just Granit Xhaka (24) and Rodrigo Bentancur (29) had recovered possession more often than him (29); and he was fifth for passes attempted (234).

Although he ended up only playing four games, Vite’s 15 tackles was bettered by only eight midfielders, five of whom played more matches.

He particularly stood out in the win over Germany, winning 11 duels and tallying nine tackle attempts, both of which were match-highs.

His performances reportedly caught the eye of scouts from European clubs. At 24 years old, he still has a long career ahead of him – the

may well have influenced what level he gets to next.

It quickly became apparent that

Keito Nakamura

is unlikely to be spending another season in France’s Ligue 2 after catching the eye this summer.

With Kaoru Mitoma missing for

Japan

, Nakamura had the opportunity to make the left wing-back role his own at the

. He did that and made a strong impression.

Quick, agile and direct, he was a real nuisance out wide for

. He scored their first goal of the tournament, a smart finish into the bottom-left corner from about 18 yards in the 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, and then he did brilliantly to set up their opener against Tunisia, skipping past his man before drilling low and hard into the six-yard box.

In the group stage, he completed five of his seven dribbles, and his nine shot involvements (five shots, four chances created) put him fifth among nominal full-backs and wing-backs.

He was quiet as

fell 2-1 to Brazil in the last 32, but the Samurai Blue were generally a little disappointing as a collective in that game, so he can’t be apportioned too much blame.

Either way, his dynamism and bravery caught the eye, with numerous bigger clubs around Europe – and in the Premier League – supposedly alerted to his talents.

Egypt

’s

Haissem Hassan

had just 126 minutes on the pitch during the

, so lauding him as a breakout player might sound a little farfetched. But in those 126 minutes, he made his presence known.

He came off the bench in Egypt’s penalty-shootout win over Australia before making his first start of the tournament against Argentina, where he was one of the best players on the pitch.

Hassan’s brave and direct playing style, coupled with his dribbling ability, made him a real threat on Egypt’s right flank.

It was his sensational run from the right-back area that culminated in the Mostafa Ziko goal that was infamously ruled out.

However, he did go on to set Ziko up for a goal that was allowed to stand shortly after, shimmying past a defender before a pinpoint pass into the danger zone.

In his mere 126 minutes on the pitch, Hassan recorded nine dribble attempts at a very respectable rate of 6.4 per 90.

His club side

Real Oviedo

have also reportedly received considerable interest in him since Egypt’s elimination, with Celtic said to be pushing hard to sign him.

He certainly took his chance.

Ghana

were fairly impressive defensively throughout their stint in North America, and it was

Marvin Senaya

who arguably stood out the most on the right of the back four.

The full-back’s tenacity in one-v-one situations was a feature of his performances and aided Ghana’s broader solidity at the back.

A metric called ‘true tackles’ measures defensive ability in one-v-one duels, rewarding defenders for getting a touch on the ball even if their opponents retain possession. Senaya boasted a ‘true tackle’ success rate of 74.1%, the fifth best out of 230 players to tally at least 20 tackle attempts.

Similarly, of players to play at least 200 minutes at the

, no one made as many tackle attempts per 90 as Senaya (6.43).

His competitiveness was particularly apparent when

held England to a goalless draw on Matchday 2, one of two clean sheets the Black Stars kept at the tournament.

Anthony Gordon, who went on to be one of the Three Lions’ standout players, was hardly given a sniff by Senaya. The right-back won five tackles, the most of any player on the pitch, and a team-high nine duels, during that game.

Unfortunately, Senaya was forced off injured 13 minutes into Ghana’s round-of-32 tie against

, which they narrowly lost. The defender was ruled out for about eight weeks after having hamstring surgery, so any hope of a post-World Cup move will be on the backburner.

But don’t be surprised to see his name linked with top-flight clubs around Europe towards the end of the transfer window.

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