Five forgotten superstars we’d love to see play at the 2026 World Cup: Pogba, Neymar…
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba is set to make his long-awaited comeback by signing for Monaco – but could he play at the 2026 World Cup?
Pogba, having barely played for three seasons since he departed Old Trafford, isn’t the only former world-class superstar looking to make up for lost time and show the world of football what they were missing ahead of next summer’s finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Here are five big-name footballers we’re keeping our fingers crossed will return for the World Cup.
Paul Pogba
One of Les Bleus’ most outstanding players when they lifted the World Cup in 2018, we can’t quite believe the only further silverware that Pogba has lifted in the seven years since was the lesser Nations League trophy in 2021.
But then again: Manchester United. Caught in the eye of the storm at arguably Europe’s most dysfunctional, underperforming football club, Pogba’s peak years weren’t what they might’ve been. And the less said about his return to Juventus, the better.
A move to Monaco and a year in Ligue 1, playing in his home country for the first time, might be exactly what he needs.
Didier Deschamps is blessed with a bounty of riches when it comes to his squad selection, but you imagine he’ll always have room for the 32-year-old if back fit and firing.
Neymar
A series of bad career decisions and mounting injury issues have left us in a strange position whereby Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer is arguably underappreciated.
Even at PSG, which never quite delivered the Ballon d’Or as planned, he notched 118 goals and 79 assists in just 173 appearances.
Those are obscene numbers; when available, he was invariably brilliant.
But after arguably wasting his prime (his accountant might disagree), Neymar’s twilight years also threaten to underwhelm.
He’s back at his boyhood club Santos after an ACL injury sidelined him for almost his entire spell in Saudi Arabia and has identified next summer’s World Cup as his ultimate goal.
Injured and absent when the Selecao won the Copa America in 2019, Olympic Gold remains the only silverware that Neymar has lifted with his country.
The road to recovery has been rocky, but Brazil haven’t looked right without their talisman over the past couple of years. Carlo Ancelotti is crying out for him to get back to his best.
Isco
“Forgotten” might be a stretch for Isco given that he’s featured in two European finals over the past couple of months, dazzling in the first half for Real Betis in the Conference League against Chelsea before appearing off the bench for Spain in the Nations League.
The Spanish playmaker has been consistently brilliant for two seasons now at Manuel Pellegrini’s Verdiblancos. A Spain recall was arguably overdue, and only injury denied him a place in La Roja’s Euro 2024-winning squad.
But Isco had his own time in the wilderness. He can serve as an inspiration for the other names on this list, a couple of steps ahead on his comeback trail.
His Betis resurgence follows a year in the bomb squad at Real Madrid, six months without a club and a failed stint at Sevilla.
He’s 33 and proving that class is permanent. Take note, Pogba and Neymar.
Dele Alli
Now we’re firmly into pipe dream territory.
“I have a reminder on my phone every single day at 11 o’clock – World Cup 2026,” Dele told Sky Sports last year.
“People will be like ‘he hasn’t played in a year’ but that’s my aim. I know where my level is.”
Time is running out for the midfielder to realise that ambition. He was sent off in his one nine-minute cameo for Cesc Fabregas’ Como last season.
Dele remains contracted to the nascent Serie A outfit for another season and is working under a top young coach.
He’s only 29 and theoretically could enjoy a resurgence, but it’s at least five years since he was anywhere near his best. His last England cap was in 2019.
We’re rooting for him to prove us all wrong.
Mario Gotze
Famously the scorer of the match-winner in Germany’s 2014 World Cup final victory over Argentina, Gotze’s career has – inevitably – never reached anything like those heights again.
The attacking midfielder never quite reached the heights anticipated at Bayern Munich and his return to Borussia Dortmund was something of a damp squib, but he’s kicked on with a solid if unspectacular late career at PSV and Eintracht Frankfurt.
After five years away from the national team, Gotze even earned a surprise Germany recall as part of Hansi Flick’s squad for the 2022 World Cup.
He hasn’t had much of a look-in under Julian Nagelsmann since, but stranger things have happened.
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