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The twilight of Lionel Messi’s glittering career has thrust him into conversations that transcend mere greatness.
After inspiring Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022, Messi, at the age of 39, almost single-handedly guided a distinctly flawed Albiceleste side at the end of its tether to back-to-back successes on the biggest stage. He subsequently bade a dignified farewell to the national team this fall and is continuing to dominate Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.
For all his majesty, Messi has seldom portrayed himself as a soccer obsessive. You couldn’t imagine him churning out a multi-hour Football Manager session, for example, or even tuning into a match in which he doesn’t have a vested interest.
Yet adidas would lead you to believe that Messi is spending his downtime, of which he does have more of nowadays, watching AZ Alkmaar’s latest Eredivisie encounter, keeping tabs on their exciting young midfielder, Kees Smit.
Smit is one of the 10 rising stars backed by Messi in adidas’s latest campaign. The Argentinian great has provided such lists sporadically since 2015; the latest batch of rising stars follows two sets of 10 offered in both 2024 and 2025.
It may be too soon to discern whether Messi—or rather adidas, given that the players included are all adidas-sponsored—“knows ball,” as the chronically online generation would say. Nevertheless, enough time has elapsed to gauge whether he/they were onto something.
Here’s a breakdown of how Messi’s tipped future stars from the previous two years have since fared.
Joel Ndala joined Manchester City in 2017 and garnered plenty of buzz after a string of impressive performances for England at the U-17 World Cup in 2023.
The winger travelled with Pep Guardiola’s senior team on its preseason tour the following summer, but joined PSV Eindhoven at the end of the transfer window. The Dutch club, however, didn’t fulfill their obligation to buy, and Ndala, who struggled in PSV’s reserves for half a season, subsequently endured forgettable loan spells at Nottingham Forest, Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday.
He failed to make a single Premier League appearance during his loan spells, and even had his Wednesday loan terminated early due to disciplinary issues.
The 20-year-old joined Belgian club Cercle Brugge for an undisclosed fee in the summer.
There’s much for Argentinians to be exciting about in a post-Messi world, but it remains unclear whether the once-highly regarded Claudio Echeverri will be part of the Albiceleste’s long-term plans.
Nicknamed "El Diablito" (little devil) for his impish playmaking abilities, Echeverri grew up idolizing Messi but failed to share the field with his hero before the 39-year-old’s retirement.
Manchester City had great success converting River Plate’s Julián Alvarez into a star, and they perhaps thought that Echeverri would embark on a similar path once he wound up in Pep Guardiola’s grasp. The creative midfielder remains on City’s books, but he’s still trying to find himself on European soil.
Echeverri had rather uninspired loan spells at Bayer Leverkusen and Girona, and is spending the 2026–27 campaign with Benfica. The early signs haven’t been promising.
Kenan Yıldız was already well-established when he received Messi’s endorsement. The Turkish starlet dazzled for Juventus’ Next Gen outfit and made his debut for the first team in 2023.
Yıldız was a hit right away, becoming the club’s youngest foreign goalscorer and taking the club’s venerated No. 10 shirt previously worn by the likes of Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Baggio and Paulo Dybala.
You wouldn’t say superstardom has been acquired yet, but the sharpshooting Yıldız is well on his way.
Emma Hayes’s snub of Jaedyn Shaw for the USWNT’s October matches garnered plenty of attention, even if the manager assured that the Gotham FC forward remains central to her plans.
Shaw has been a familiar name for seemingly forever, becoming the NWSL’s second-youngest debutant in 2022 when she appeared for the San Diego Wave at the age of 17. She’s since earned 30 caps for the USWNT, scoring 10 times.
Success has followed Shaw everywhere she has been at the franchise and international level. 2026 has been another productive year for the 21-year-old versatile forward, who has scored 10 times in the NWSL and, in September, became the youngest player to score 25 goals in the competition.
A failed medical means Antonio Nusa hasn’t yet lit up the Premier League, but it won’t be very long until the RB Leipzig winger earns his big move to the financial juggernaut that is the English top flight.
Leipzig signed Nusa from Club Brugge in the summer after a switch to Thomas Frank’s Brentford fell through.
The Norwegian international has relished the step up in Saxony, with new Leipzig boss Martin Demichelis recently describing Nusa as “one of the best wingers in the world”. He’s an electric talent, and glimpses of his scintillating brilliance were on display at the World Cup this summer.
Another one on the long list of Messi adorers, Vicky López has worn the No. 30 shirt donned by the Argentine during his formative years in Catalonia.
The Barcelona Femení midfielder has already achieved so much at such a young age. López has collected 16 major honors as part of a dominant Barça team, contributing heavily to those successes in recent years.
López was named TuttoSport‘s ‘Golden Girl’ in 2024 and got her hands on the Kopa Trophy a year later. She remains one of the rising stars of women’s soccer and will inevitably add to her impressive collection of silverware in the coming years.
Like Yıldız, Eliesse Ben Seghir was already pretty well-established at the highest level in 2024. The 21-year-old broke through at Monaco in 2022, enjoying one of the most memorable debuts in Ligue 1 history.
At 17 years old, Ben Seghir scored a stunning second-half brace to help Monaco to a 3–2 victory over Auxerre. He became the youngest player since Thierry Henry to score twice in the same match for Les Rouge et Blanc, seemingly destined to emerge as the next star from the Principality.
Ben Seghir certainly had his moments beyond his outstanding maiden appearance, but never quite fulfilled the lofty projections that arrived in the aftermath. The attacking midfielder joined Bayer Leverkusen in 2025, and he‘s awaiting ignition in the Bundesliga.
Assan Ouédraogo was a late call-up to Germany’s World Cup roster in the summer, having scored on his sole appearance for the national team the previous year.
RB Leipzig are never too far away from the nation’s most promising starlets, and they snapped the versatile midfielder up in 2024. Ouédraogo had made a name for himself in the 2. Bundesliga with Schalke the season before, and even turned down a move to Bayern Munich to join Die Roten Bullen.
The U-17 European and World champion barely featured during his debut campaign in Saxony, but burst into life last season. The 20-year-old, who stands at 6'3" tall, is a unique midfield profile, continuing to manifest as one of the continent’s most intriguing young prospects.
The United States may well be dealing with Christian Pulisic fatigue. "Captain America" has carried the hopes of the USMNT for the best part of a decade, and although discernible progress has been made with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm, it might be time for a fresh protagonist to emerge.
A new tournament cycle started with Poch’s youthful revolution, and 17-year-old record-breaker Cavan Sullivan is at the forefront.
The Philadelphia Union starlet became the USMNT’s youngest goalscorer in October 2026 and is certainly delivering upon the hype he’s generated for years across the country. Sullivan still intends to join Manchester City when he turns 18, despite the club’s damning guilty verdict.
Okay, he/they nailed this one. Although, it didn’t take a literal genius to work out that Lamine Yamal would blossom into something otherworldly in 2024.
There simply cannot be an heir to Messi’s throne for the national team. Argentina’s immortalized No. 10 meant far too much and eventually inspired so much success that thrusting onto anyone else the responsibility of single-handedly mitigating his retirement would be far too much of a burden.
But Nico Paz will certainly help Argentina blossom without their greatest-ever player since Diego Maradona hung up his cleats.
Paz has so far teased his magic on the international stage, but a burgeoning Como side is treated to his majesty weekly. The young playmaker is a captivating performer who makes the sport look so simple.
While Paz is shining at the highest level, things haven’t yet worked out for Ecuadorian starlet Kendry Páez.
He was only 16 when Chelsea agreed to sign him from Independiente del Valle for £17.27 million ($23 million) in 2023, with the Blues expecting Páez to quickly develop upon his arrival in west London. But Páez has yet to appear for the senior team and was told by Xabi Alonso in the summer that he isn’t in the Spaniard’s plans.
There have merely been glimmers from the teenager in Europe, primarily while on loan at Strasbourg, but attitude issues have been reported, and there are concerns that Páez, once Ecuadorian soccer’s next great hope, will never live up to the hype.
Andrey Santos returned to Chelsea in 2025 off the back of an excellent season with their sister club Strasbourg.
The Brazilian is a sturdy, solid midfielder. He’s fundamentally sound without offering anything spectacular. Inoffensive is an apt way to describe him, not one of soccer’s defining talents.
Santos moved to Manchester United in the summer, but he has yet to convince Michael Carrick that he’ll alleviate the Red Devils’ midfield concerns.
The Portuguese playmaker certainly has the early Messi locks going on, and he is diminutive in frame.
A precocious talent out of Porto, Rodrigo Mora jumped ship in the summer in a bid to take the next step in his young career. Roma came calling, and although he hasn’t yet broken into Gian Piero Gasperini’s strongest XI, Mora is combining with Paulo Dybala on the regular.
There’s much to like about Mora, but he lost momentum after a proposed move to Al Ittihad fell through in 2025. Last season was a struggle, and Roma feels like a reset.
The 19-year-old midfielder has exposed herself to an array of unqiue experiences during the formative stages of her soccer career.
The Virginia-born Lily Yohannes moved to the Netherlands when she was 10 and signed a three-year contract with Ajax at 15. Yohanned initially committed to the Dutch national team, but then chose to represent the USWNT and received her first call-up to the senior team as a 16-year-old.
Yohannes is the youngest American to play in the Women’s Champions League and already has 22 USWNT caps to her name. Now representing a dominant Lyon team in France, the teenager is seemingly only growing stronger.
Ajax may no longer be a relevant force on the big European stage and have even seen the likes of Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven dominate domestically in recent years. Even so, one of their brightest starlets, Mika Godts, had to bide his time to enjoy a breakout campaign in Amsterdam.
And after the winger scored 17 league goals in 2025–26, he caught the eye of back-to-back Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain, in need of retooling their frontline.
A slick wide man with excellent close control, Godts is likely to feature heavily for PSG in Ligue 1 as Luis Enrique rests his first-choice attackers for Champions League nights.
If Brighton & Hove Albion are sniffing around, that’s a pretty good indicator of the level of talent you’re working with.
It hasn’t yet worked out for Brajan Gruda with the Seagulls, but the winger remains on their books. He’s spent 2026 on loan at RB Leipzig, recently scoring a stunning winner in their Champions League victory over PSV.
The 22-year-old is a versatile playmaker who can create from central and wide areas. While he might not make the grade on English soil, Gruda is bound to excel on the continent for years to come.
The young striker had been linked with a move to Manchester United amid his breakout in France with Rennes, but opted for the riches of Saudi Arabia in a bid to set himself and his family up for life.
Mohamed Kader Meïté hasn’t exactly struck gold for Al Hilal after joining the club at the start of 2026, and it seems likely that he’ll return to Europe soon enough. There’s bound to be plenty of interest, even if the teenager hasn’t yet proven himself to be prolific at the highest level. It’s the 19-year-old’s potential and what he could evolve into that excites clubs.
Liverpool’s youngest-ever goalscorer has been forced to be patient at Anfield despite the summer departure of club icon Mohamed Salah, as new manager Andoni Iraola is only using the ebullient teenager sporadically at the start of his reign.
An electric one-on-one dribbler who’s proven in the Premier League that he can execute Arjen Robben-esque finishes on the opposite flank, there’s no doubting that the Reds have a gem in Rio Ngumoha.
Iraola cannot allow big-money arrivals to stagnate his development, though. He’s good enough to eat into the minutes of those ahead of him in the depth chart.
There was more Barcelona Femení recognition from Messi in 2025, although Clara Serrajordi isn’t quite as established as Vicky López in Catalonia.
18-year-old Serrajordi has shone at the youth level for Spain, with her cultured midfield play garnering plenty of plaudits at the U-19 European Championship last year. She’s since earned four caps for the senior team.
2026–27 has all the makings of a breakout campaign.
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