The 2026 FIFA World Cup was supposed to be about goodbyes. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two players who have defined football for nearly two decades, arrived in North America with the understanding that this would likely be their final act on the sport’s grandest stage. Instead, a wave of teenagers and twenty-somethings has stolen the narrative right out from under them.

A record 85 players aged 21 or under are competing in this tournament.

The kids who crashed the party

Start with Ayyoub Bouaddi. Morocco’s 18-year-old midfielder has been the most talked-about young player through the group stages, posting exceptional passing numbers against both Brazil and Scotland. Bouaddi’s composure on the ball looks less like a teenager finding his feet and more like a veteran who forgot to age.

Then there’s Yan Diomande. The 19-year-old Ivory Coast forward, who plays his club football at RB Leipzig, has been a nightmare for opposing defenders with his chance creation and dribbling.

The list keeps going. Johan Manzambi, a 20-year-old representing Switzerland, has caught eyes with his performances. Kerim Alajbegovic, just 18, has been a bright spot for Bosnia-Herzegovina. And Australia’s Nestory Irankunda, 20, has added another chapter to the Socceroos’ tradition of producing attackers who punch above their weight.

Perhaps the most statistically significant breakout belongs to Senegal’s Ibrahim Mbaye. At 18, he became the fourth-youngest goalscorer in World Cup history.

Spain’s Lamine Yamal, also 18, continues to make the rest of the football world feel inadequate about their teenage years. Already a key contributor at Euro 2024, Yamal has carried that form seamlessly into this World Cup.

And then there’s the record that might age the best of all: Gilberto Mora, at 17 years old, became the youngest player ever to represent a host nation at a World Cup. Mexico, co-hosting with the US and Canada, gave Mora his moment, and he took it.

The emotional backdrop of Messi and Ronaldo

None of this diminishes what Messi and Ronaldo have meant to football. These two have been the sport’s central characters for the better part of 20 years, and here they are, still competing at a World Cup that runs from June 11 to July 19, while surrounded by players who weren’t born when they first started breaking records.

What this means for the sport’s future

The expanded 48-team format for 2026 also plays a role. More teams means more roster spots, which means more opportunities for managers to blood young players on the biggest stage.

The risk, of course, is the same one that accompanies every young player who bursts onto the scene at a major tournament. For every Kylian Mbappe, who turned his 2018 World Cup breakout into sustained dominance, there’s a James Rodriguez, whose 2014 golden boot was more of a peak than a launching pad.