The World Cup remains perhaps the only redoubt where the weight of the shirt still counts, plays and even wins the matches. The pink of South Korea is not the same as the blue of France. The elastic from Poland does not scare the same way as the one from Germany, although both are white. But none impresses more than the yellow of Brazil, the team of Pelé, Garrincha, the five tens, Sócrates, Zico, Romário, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho or now Neymar. The Canarinha is looking for her sixth world title in Qatar, a tournament that will enlighten a generation that has never seen the five-time champion win.
There is a group of stars, who will already have a weight in this edition, who were born after June 30, 2002. That day Brazil defeated Germany in the Yokohama stadium with two goals from Ronaldo to Oliver Kahn. So they were not traumatized by the hairstyle of the Brazilian Phenomenon's doormat, they missed Hakan Sukur's goal 11 seconds into the match for third place or they do not remember the invention of the golden goal because the last one in a World Cup was scored by Ahn in the extension of the South Korea-Italy round of 16.
These are young promises that in some cases will already wear stripes in their national teams, others will try to present themselves in society and there will also be those who will be left with an anecdotal role in their first World Cup, which has come to them soon. Without forgetting that Pelé won in Sweden in 1958 at the age of 17 or that Mbappé did the same thing four years ago without having reached twenty.
The case of Pedri (2002), who will turn 20 in the middle of the World Cup, is special because for the Barcelona canary it is already his second major tournament after the 2021 European Championship, where he was already a starter and was chosen best youngster of the tournament. It is not new that Luis Enrique likes to work with young people. Because three of this generation play with Spain. They are, in addition to Pedri, Ansu Fati (from October 2002) and Gavi (2004). Since 2019, the striker has held the record for the earliest scorer in the Champions League. The Andalusian interior was barely five years old the day Iniesta beat Stekelenburg in Johannesburg to give the red team their first star on their chest.
Barça's academy will be well represented as Xavi Simons (2003) also makes his debut on a list from the Netherlands. The Dutchman was at La Masia from 2010 to 2019 until he signed for PSG, where he played eleven times with the first team. This summer he has arrived at PSV, where he already has ten goals despite his midfield position.
Germany is another of the countries that cares for and promotes the beardless. Flick has not hesitated to call Jamal Musiala (2003), who this Saturday reached 100 games with Bayern, and Youssoufa Moukoko (2004), who will come of age the same day the World Cup opens. Without being 18, the striker has already played 59 games with Borussia Dortmund in which he has celebrated 11 goals (6 this year).
In Dortmund, Moukoko is a teammate of Jude Bellingham, one of England's hopes, who has been waiting 56 years to repeat victory. Born in 2003, he was already in the last European Championship (55 minutes) but now he is much more mature.
Another good fishing ground is Belgium, where central defender Debast stands out, 1.91 meters tall, who made his debut at the age of 16 at Anderlecht, where he is already a regular. At 19 it's not uncommon to see him form a national team defense with veterans Vertonghen and Alderweireld. In Modric's Crocia, the other Luka is Sucic, from Salzburg and who in 2021 scored a goal against Barça in preseason.
For its part, the United States has been working in the lower categories for some time, ahead of its World Cup, and the fruits are beginning to be seen with Yunus Musah (Valencia), Scally (Mönchengladbach) and Gio Reyna (Dortmund), whose father played four World Cups. Meanwhile, in Australia they rave about Garang Kuol (2004), by refugee parents from South Sudan, who Newcastle has already tied up with since January.
They will not be alone in Qatar. Africa, represented by Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon and Senegal, is a guarantee of youth. On the other hand, in France, Argentina or Brazil, their technicians have opted for consolidated teams. The 2002 generation asks for a step.
