Top 10 Bundesliga players to watch at the World Cup

Jude Bellingham

Age: 19

Position: Midfielder

Club: Borussia Dortmund

Country: England

Recently named as the world's fourth-best footballer under the age of 21, this season Bellingham has played his 100th competitive match for Dortmund and even captained the club for the first time. Named Man of the Matchday after scoring twice in a 5-0 win over VfB Stuttgart, he was also nominated for Bundesliga Player of the Month in October. Hailed as "extraordinary" by Dortmund coach Edin Terzic because of his consistency at such a young age, Bellingham has started all 15 league matches this term. He has won more duels than anyone else in the Bundesliga, and has shown an admirable ability to cope with being targeted more regularly by opposing teams. With three goals and two assists in the league, two goals in the DFB Cup and four in the UEFA Champions League, it's no surprise he has become a regular for England too. All but guaranteed to add to his 17 caps before the end of the year, Bellingham will be determined to make his mark at his first World Cup.

"Jude is phenomenal," declared England manager Gareth Southgate, who will surely be tempted to throw the teen sensation straight into his starting line-up against Iran on 21 November, before games against the USA and Wales. "He's hugely exciting, and he's going to be an important player for England." Not to mention a versatile one...

"I feel most comfortable playing as a No.8, a box-to-box midfielder, and having a bigger impact on the opposition goal," Bellingham explained last season. "When I'm playing as a defensive midfielder I can dictate the tempo of the game, but I'm a bit far away when we're creating chances and shooting on goal. I'd rather be part of the action."

Jamal Musiala

Age: 19

Position: Attacking midfielder

Club: Bayern Munich

Country: Germany

Having spent the best part of a decade in England, Musiala could well have been lining up alongside Bellingham at this World Cup. Instead, the precocious Bayern teenager will hope to transfer his club form to the international stage for Germany. Like his Dortmund counterpart, the former Chelsea academy player is making everything look easy right now, and finished just ahead of Bellingham in the Kopa Trophy vote.

"Our team is already unimaginable without him, even at his age," Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said of Musiala, who made his 100th appearance for Bayern on Matchday 15.

With nine goals (and six assists), Musiala is Bayern's leading goalscorer in the Bundesliga so far, while he also been on the scoresheet three times in other competitions. The teenager made two appearances from the bench at Euro 2020, but is likely to play a much more prominent role at the World Cup. One of six Bayern and 20 Bundesliga players in Hansi Flick's squad, Musiala's sharp footwork, quick thinking and lethal finishing make him a real asset for Germany.

"It's just a pleasure to see Jamal play," Flick said in September. "Even though he's still young, he's a real goal threat. He stays calm under pressure in the box and is able to put his shots where the goalkeeper can't reach. He does that really well."

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Sadio Mane

Age: 30

Position: Forward

Club: Bayern Munich

Country: Senegal

Mane's preparations for the World Cup were far from ideal, as he suffered an injury in Bayern's penultimate game of the year against Werder Bremen. The former Liverpool star had been enjoying his first year in Germany, getting six goals and three assists in the league while also scoring once in both the DFB Cup and on his debut in the Supercup. The pacy attacker also struck three times in the Champions League group stage as Bayern made the last 16 in style.

"Sadio Mane is an absolutely world-class player, and a unique character," Salihamidzic said in October, after Mane came second to Real Madrid's Karim Benzema in the Ballon d'Or vote. "He's proven himself as one of the best attacking players in the Premier League and Champions League. He's already a very important part of our team."

The famously humble Mane also picked up an award for his charity work this year, so football fans around the world will hope he's at his best in November and December. The African Player of the Year is Senegal's talisman, after all, and played a decisive role as his country become African champions and qualified for the World Cup.

Gio Reyna

Age: 20

Position: Attacking midfielder

Club: Borussia Dortmund

Country: USA

The World Cup might be coming at the perfect time for Reyna. The American's progress has been badly checked by injury in the last couple of years, but his three league starts this season have all come since late October. He scored in two of them, hitting the net in wins over VfB Stuttgart and Bochum. In total, he has made 16 appearances in all competitions.

At the World Cup, Reyna will team up with former Dortmund favourite Christian Pulisic, and one of the highlights will see him face his friend Bellingham in Group B on 25 November. The fixture will mean even more since the American was born in England, when his father Claudio was playing for Sunderland.

Former Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg playmaker Reyna Sr also served as captain of the USMNT, earning 112 caps and going as far as the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup. The USA certainly have a better chance of emulating that achievement with Gio in the team.

"We just have to play our game and believe in each other as a team," Reyna Jr told Insider. "I think that kind of recipe, with teamwork and no fear, can see us overcome any experience that we do lack."

Alphonso Davies

Age: 22

Position: Left-back

Club: Bayern Munich

Country: Canada

Davies is one of the main reasons Canada have qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1986. A tough group awaits with Belgium, Croatia and Morocco to contend with, but Davies has made a career out of defying the odds. Born in a refugee camp in Ghana after his parents fled civil war in Liberia, he grew up in Canada and first proved himself with Vancouver Whitecaps before moving to Germany in January 2019.

Davies is already one of the most successful North American players to have tested himself in Europe. The CONCACAF Player of the Year for 2021 has won four Bundesliga titles, and was a key part of the Bayern side that won a league, DFB Cup and Champions League treble in 2019/20. With a top speed of 36 kilometres per hour this season, he has once again been one of the first names on the teamsheet in his fourth year as a Bayern regular. A hamstring strain caused him to miss the league leaders' last two games of the year, but Davies is out to cause a stir with Canada.

"We have a good team and can now prove that on the biggest stage," he told Bayern's club magazine 51. "We're young and we're hungry."

Daichi Kamada

Age: 26

Position: Attacking midfielder

Club: Eintracht Frankfurt

Country: Japan

Germany's first World Cup assignment comes against Japan on 23 November, and there will be a familiar face lining up in midfield for the Samurai Blue. Kamada has long been an important player for Frankfurt, but seems to have found an extra gear this season as the Eagles have soared to fourth in the Bundesliga and reached the last 16 of the Champions League. With seven goals in the league, three in Europe and two in the DFB Cup, the midfield maestro is enjoying his most prolific campaign in Germany, and he's currently Frankfurt's top scorer. Ice cold in front of goal, he even boasts a better shot conversion rate than former Bundesliga goal machines Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski.

"I've rarely seen such an intelligent player," Oliver Glasner said of Kamada not long after taking over as Frankfurt coach. "He can be used very flexibly and I think he will play a very important role for us." Glasner correctly identified his No.15's potential to get more goals, while predecessor Adi Hütter described him as a Raumdeuter ('space interpreter'), the term generally applied to Bayern's Thomas Müller for his powers of anticipation.

The 26-year-old has already netted six goals in 21 appearances for Japan, including one in September's 2-0 friendly win over the USA. He is also a reliable penalty taker - which has its uses in tournament football - having put away all three of his spot-kicks for Frankfurt this season. If Germany want to avoid an upset against the world's 24th-ranked side next week, they will have to keep a close eye on Kamada.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting

Age: 33

Position: Forward

Club: Bayern Munich

Country: Cameroon

When Lewandowski left Bayern for Barcelona over the summer, few would have expected Choupo-Moting to slot so seamlessly into the sizeable gap left by the prolific Pole. The 33-year-old was sidelined with injury at the start of the campaign, but hasn't looked back since scoring in the 5-0 rout of second-placed Freiburg in mid-October. With six goals in six Bundesliga outings before the World Cup break - plus another five in the Champions League and DFB Cup - Choupo-Moting is on red-hot form as his country prepare to face Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil in a tough Group G.

"I'm very happy with Choupo's performances," Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann declared recently, with Bayern fans choosing Choupo-Moting as their Player of the Month for October. "I think he feels comfortable in the team, and he's one of our best players at the moment."

Born in Hamburg, Choupo-Moting played for Germany at youth level, but switched his allegiance to Cameroon ahead of the 2010 World Cup. His 68 national caps include group-stage appearances at the 2014 tournament in Brazil, but he missed out when his country landed their fifth Africa Cup of Nations title in 2017, having chosen to focus on club matters with Schalke.