Erling Haaland, Lamine Yamal, 9 others playing World Cup for first time (Full List)
More Updates on Erling Haaland
It’s now less than a week before 2026 World Cup starts in United States, Mexico and Canada. With 48 teams having qualified, this is by far the biggest World Cup ever. It also means that a whole lot of players would be making their debuts at the greatest sporting event on planet.
Some of these first timers are superstars already, who have not had the rare opportunity due certain factors such as age.
Erling Haaland (Norway)
After 28 years of taking the seat of a spectator, Norway has qualified to play at World Cup again since 1998. Among the hig names who would be making debut for the Norwegian team include Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa and Alexander Sorloth.
But there is no doubt that Erling Haaland would steal the show for the team. The Manchester City striker is also going to the World Cup for the first time. Already speaking ahead of him is his impressive international record – 55 goals in 49 caps.
Norway would face Iraq, Senegal and France in the group stages. Team managers of these three team would certainly be giving more attention to their defences ahead of Erling Haaland onslaught.
Lamine Yamal (Spain)
Lamine Yamal, Spain’s wonderkid would be playing for the first time at World Cup. At only 18 years old, Yamal is already a superstar. Debuted in Barcelona at 15, his performances have been indeed mesmerising, but he came of age at Euro 2024, scoring one sensational goal – in the semi-final against France.
Lamine Yamal could repeat the performances at World Cup and have himself crowned the best player in the world.
Florian Wirtz of Germany, Luis Diaz of Columbia, Michael Olise of France, and Joao Neves of Portugal are other great names who would be making their debuts at World Cup. Others include Nico Paz of Argentina, Folarin Balogun of United States, Arda Guler of Turkiye, Yan Diomande from Ivory Coast.