As the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches rage on, it’s time to continue our early preview of next year’s tournament in North America by narrowing our focus from the key teams to the key individuals that could shape the latest chapter of international football.
Although we don’t yet know the final field of the 2026 World Cup – and it looks like there are some giants who may not even make it to that point – the most important players to their countries are still going to be pivotal in these qualifying stages.
So let’s rank the top five players based on their importance to their team’s qualification efforts and eventual hopes of World Cup success. Since it’s too easy to pick the one star player at a smaller country and because one player can’t pull everyone up to success (look at Mohamed Salah at Egypt as one example), the focus of this list is on star players on good-but-flawed national teams who are THE pivotal stars and could turn their country from flops to standouts with big performances.
The list ended up being exclusively players at European nations, because, well, there are quite a few nations in limbo who are walking that fine line between being pretenders and contenders in 2026.
5. Croatia CM Luka Modric
Luka Modric is one of the greatest players of all time on the international stage, and it goes beyond the fact that he won the Ballon d’Or in 2018 on the back of an exceptional World Cup tournament in which he helped his country reach a historic Final against a stacked French side.
The fact is, Modric has been consistently performing at the highest level for club and country for years, and even last season, he was the best player in the UEFA Nations League week in and week out despite still being a key piece of the midfield puzzle for Real Madrid.
Although the soon-to-be 40-year-old Modric (in just three days from the time of this writing) is still a top player at his new Europan power, AC Milan, his importance to Croatia is magnified by a factor of 100.
Croatia have an old squad, though only a few of of the players from Modric’s standout 2018 squad, like Ivan Perisic, are still around. Modric remains the main midfield playmaker and anchoring point rolled into one: the man who has to read the game defensively and win possession yet make the plays and keep the ball ticking over.
No country has put more on one individual player’s plate than Croatia has with Modric over the years, and while the country’s current expectations are tempered in 2025, Lukita still has the power to give his side one last run deep in the World Cup knockout stages.
4. Netherlands CB Virgil van Dijk
The Netherlands have a squad filled with young star power with players like Frenkie de Jong and Xavi Simons in midfield, as well as Liverpool breakout star Cody Gakpo, who was arguably the best player – and certainly the most underrated star player – at the last European Championships.
But the Netherlands also have a lot of flaws, even beyond the fact that they have employed yet another dreadful manager in Ronald Koeman. There are holes surrounding captain and national team legend Virgil van Dijk, who is the best center back in the world since Sergio Ramos left the picture.
Van Dijk has been exceptional for the Dutch national team every single time he is out there, and he is so good both as a passer and defender that he can patch up quite a few holes defensively.
If Van Dijk can be the best center back at the next World Cup and the Netherlands can get over the line, the Liverpool star is perhaps the only central defender in the world with the star power and presence to carry a team multiple rounds beyond where their usual talent level would lie.
3. Germany DM Joshua Kimmich
Germany have been an unmitigated disaster on the international stage ever since winning the 2014 World Cup against Lionel Messi’s Argentina in miracle fashion, thanks to a former young phenom of their own in Mario Gotze.
In 2025, Germany have a couple of phenoms taking center stage, because when Jamal Musiala comes back from a brutal injury at the Club World Cup, the Mannschaft will have the twin powers of Musiala and Florian Wirtz wreaking havoc in the opposition half.
The problem is that the rest of the Germany squad is very poor. The defense is one of the worst of any big nation heading to the World Cup, and the striker position remains totally unsettled with the jury still being out on Nick Woltemade, regardless of how much hype certain sections o the media in his home country have been giving him.
Germany lack attacking firepower from a goal-scoring perspective, and they also have major question marks in defense and midfield. And that is going to lead to their best midfielder, Joshua Kimmich, having to take on a massive burden next year at the World Cup.
Over the past decade, the best player on the German national team was actually Toni Kroos, who was the highest-rated player during the entire tournament in their victorious 2014 World Cup run despite getting no credit.
Kroos even left the national team a few years ago because of the ridiculous pressure he was receiving, but the serial Champions League winner returned for one last run, rescuing Germany to their best international performance at the last European Championships, where they were a controversial call away from beating eventual winners Spain.
So with Kroos retired, the entire burden of running the show falls on Kimmich, who knows what it means to be disrespected and underappreciated in his own country and by the horribly toxic Bayern Munich fanbase and media circus.
Kimmich is a world-class player of the highest order defensively and offensively, and he is capable of producing moments of magic while having the consistency to run the midfield. Germany need him, because without a primed Kimmich, they are likely headed for another World Cup group stage exit.
2. England ST Harry Kane
Another incredible player who gets disrespected on a regular basis by his own countrymen, Harry Kane has been busy breaking records in the Bundesliga from the moment he stepped foot at Bayern Munich, proving to be a more consistent and complete striker than even the legendary Robert Lewandowski.
That’s no slight on Lewandowski, but, rather, it’s a testament to the unique way that Kane sees the game and his technical skill-set as a passer and even dribbler, which is still not fully appreciated.
If anyone is the heir to Karim Benzema, then it is Kane, but unlike Benzy, the England No. 9 has a much better track record on the international stage and has been crucial to multiple successful tournament runs, including two to the Final.
England do not have any other proven goal-scorers or forwards who show up internationally. Kane is an easy target if he ever misses a good chance or has an off game, but that criticism gets magnified because his mistakes are so rare.
Under Thomas Tuchel, there is real hope that this talented England squad can finally fulfill its potential as a champion, but central to their hopes is Kane’s dual ability to put away chances at a record clip and bring the mercurial forward talents around him into the game.
1. Italy GK Gianluigi Donnarumma
Italy have not been to a World Cup recently, and even though they won the 2021 European Championships over England in a dream of a tournament, the Azzurri have been back to square one and cycling through managers again.
New manager Gennaro Gattuso was a strange hire, as he has nowhere near the pedigree of predecessors Luciano Spalletti and Roberto Mancini, but perhaps anti-football and grinta are the best ways for Italy to win on the international stage with a squad clearly lacking in attacking talent and firepower in comparison to the other world footballing giants.
The big Serie A sides simply aren’t producing top Italian talent or developing and giving them chances to shine, and, actually, the best player they have produced in the last decade is former AC Milan shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
A phenom of the highest order who was starring at the age of 16 in goal, Donnarumma was something like Italy’s goalkeeping version of Lamine Yamal. If Yamal is Barcelona’s heir to Lionel Messi, then Donnarumma is Italy’s heir to Gianluigi Buffon, and he does have a standout, title-winning tournament at Euro 2021 under his belt.
Now, Donnarumma can only take Italy so far, but you can argue that no single position can change a team’s fortunes more than a goalkeeper can. Just ask smaller countries like Costa Rica and the United States what goalkeepers like Keylor Navas and Tim Howard have done for them.
Donnarumma made so many winning and tournament-altering saves for PSG in their run to the Champions League title, and if he can do the same for Italy, that could be enough under Gattuso in a defensive approach to help the Azzurri win significantly more matches than they otherwise should.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.