4 Lee Seung-Woo (South Korea)

Lee is the youngest player in South Korea's 23-man squad

Is this 20-year-old winger the biggest bolter at the tournament? He only received his first call-up last month, and out of nowhere, he’s been handed his country’s No.9 shirt, played both warm-up games so far, and provided the assist for Son Heung-Min’s stunning goal against Honduras on his debut.

Aged 12, Lee caught the eyes of Barcelona scouts, who whisked him off to Europe’s finest finishing school, La Masia. There, he spent five years developing his game. He was bought by Italian club Hellas Verona at the beginning of last season and racked up 14 appearances in Serie A, scoring his first goal at the end of the campaign away to AC Milan.

The odds are stacked against a South Korea side that relies far too heavily on Son. If Lee can ease the burden and continue his recent upward trajectory, it could have a huge impact on his very-near future - Barcelona retain the right to buy him back before 2019.


5 Joshua Kimmich (Germany)

Kimmich has a reputation to uphold as Germany begin their defence of the trophy

Two years ago, with just one senior cap to his name, Kimmich was included in Germany’s UEFA Euro 2016 squad merely as versatile back-up. By the end, he was named in the Team of the Tournament.

Some 87 club appearances and back-to-back Bundesliga titles later, Russia presents an all-new acid test for the 23 year-old right-back. It’s his first tournament as a bona-fide, fully-established senior international. He’s set his own bar very high, and Germany expects. It hasn’t been the smoothest couple of weeks in the training camp - Kimmich had a brief scuffle with Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger after being on the sharp end of a late challenge. Speaking to the press pack with typical maturity afterwards, however, he was quick to dismiss the incident. “It wasn’t that unusual,” he said. “On the contrary - if everyone wants to win, let’s get down to business.”

He’s no one-cap kid anymore. He’s a man on a mission.