Some of the Other Names to Look Out for at the Club World Cup…

The FIFA Club World Cup gets underway this weekend, with some of the biggest clubs across multiple continents coming together to compete for some jaw-dropping prize money. Your traditional monster outfits, such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Paris Saint-Germain, are involved, while there are some lesser-known sides also competing from around the world.

Mexican sides Monterrey and Pachuca, South African outfit Mamelodi Sundowns, South Korean club Ulsan HD – there are a wide variety of players on show, many of whom supporters from other continents may not have heard of or seen play before. 

We’ve once again partnered with The Win Factory, to take a look at the data and unearth some potential gems who could be set to showcase themselves to the world on the big stage. After searching through the data, I went away and watched some footage to take a look at some of the players who stood out, and here are those who I feel are worth a mention…

Petar Ratkov

Petar Ratkov is a player who has struggled to make a significant impact at RB Salzburg throughout the whole season, but he saw his game time slightly increase towards the end of the campaign. The 21-year-old played just 857 minutes this term, but when given the chance to impress, he did just that.

Using The Win Factory, you can see he’s a player who gets himself into strong goalscoring positions, having a large number of touches inside the box and producing some high xG shots. The young forward is also comfortable linking play, and standing at 193cm’s tall, he’s a threat in the air for Salzburg. In their final game of the domestic season, Ratkov provided just three assists in 68 minutes, scoring in the game prior to that. As a result, we could see Salzburg opt to utilise him a little more in the Club World Cup, and he could be one to watch as a young, towering centre-forward.

Elias Montiel

Elias Montiel is a 19-year-old Mexican midfielder currently plying his trade for Pachuca in his home country. Looking at the data on The Win Factory, Montiel is a very balanced midfielder, winning a large percentage of his defensive duels while also being comfortable on the ball. The youngster plays a large percentage of his team’s passes, with a high number of them being progressive.

Despite his age, Montiel played a whopping 2702 minutes during the 2024/2025 season. Looking further into the data of Liga MX, Montiel is one of just two players in the league with over 6.50 progressive passes, 5.8 duels won, 45 passes, eight passes into the final third, and 1.98 dribbles per 90.

Marcos Leonardo

It’s no secret that plenty of big-name players are heading to Saudi Arabia to play their football, with many likely to head to the Middle East in the coming months. Superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, and Roberto Firmino completed moves to the Saudi Pro League over the last few years, with many enjoying successful periods in the country.

One name that may have gone slightly under the radar, who is set to feature at the Club World Cup for Al-Hilal, is Marcos Leonardo. A large percentage of European players who have headed to Saudi Arabia have been reaching the latter stages of their career, but Leonardo took the plunge before even entering his prime years.

Now 22, Leonardo is flourishing in Saudi Arabia after his move from Portugal, and he’s one of the standout stars in the league. The Brazilian forward provided 19 goals and assists combined during the 2024/2025 season. Leonardo produces high-quality shots, looks after the ball incredibly well, and gets into the box to provide a goal threat.

The likes of Joao Cancelo, Ruben Neves, and Aleksandar Mitrovic are the more high-profile, recognisable names from Al-Hilal, but Leonardo is one to watch. 

John Kennedy

While taking a look at some data from the previous Brazil season (rather than the current campaign, to give more of a sample size), a player named John Kennedy popped up when trying to find an exciting attacking option.

When looking for players with plenty of attacking actions and dribbles per 90 – typically players that can be exciting to watch – Kennedy shone through during his time at Fluminense. Ahead of the 2024/2025 campaign, Kennedy signed for Mexican club Pachuca, and he’s continued his fine form there, scoring nine goals in 17 games. At the age of 23, Kennedy is an exciting Brazilian who is now flourishing in Mexico, and his data continues to stand out, as seen below.

Of course, the likes of Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Jamal Musiala, Kylian Mbappe, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Ousmane Dembele are players who are likely to steal plenty of headlines during the Club World Cup, but those need no explanation.

With such a variety of different teams competing in the competition from all over the world, there are a host of players who might not have hit the limelight just yet. Hopefully, some of the names mentioned above you might not have heard of, and they’ll go on to have great tournaments. 

It’s always important to try and match the data to video footage, and you also have to take into account the strength of the league and the opposition the player is facing. It’s a real opportunity for some of these players mentioned to test themselves against some of the very best, and that will be the true test to discover whether they are capable of making a move to a top-five league in the near future.

Written by APFA Member, Tactically Matt