The first-ever winter world cup is almost here. It’s time to look at which teams are the strongest and which players are the ones to watch out for specifically. In order to list down the players to look out for, we have specifically looked at the U23 category and players who play quite often for their respective clubs this season. It is to be noted that, these players might not start all the matches for their teams in the World Cup and could potentially miss out on getting called up altogether, but if and when they do represent their country in Qatar, they definitely have the potential to be game changers.

Group C consists of runners-up from 2014 – Argentina, one of the surprise packages from 2018 – Mexico, with Saudi Arabia and Poland.

The below visualization shows the players to watch out for from Group C. All the data is from the current season.

Enzo Fernández | Benfica | Argentina | 21 years old

One of the most talked about midfielders right now in European football is Benfica’s Enzo Fernández. The 21-year-old Argentinian is the only outfield player to have started every game for Benfica in the league this season. The midfielder usually plays in a midfield two this season in a 4-2-3-1 formation. His radar shows his strengths which include his passing. The midfielder’s ability to find his teammates by passing between the lines and create chances for them to score puts him top tier for a number of passing metrics. One couldn’t ask for a better all-round midfielder than Enzo Fernández and after his senior international debut only last month, World Cup 2022 could very well be the tournament that helps Enzo Fernández secure his move to a club in Europe’s top five leagues next summer.

Firas Al-Buraikan | Al Fateh | Saudi Arabia | 22 years old

Al Fateh’s 22-year-old forward Firas Al-Buraikan is the top scorer for his club this season with four goals and one assist to his name. Having made his senior debut in 2019, Firas has been an important part of the national team setup and played an important part in helping his team secure qualification for the tournament in Qatar. It will be interesting to see if the forward can continue his form at the biggest tournament.

Diego Lainez | Braga | Mexico | 22 years old

We have another midfielder to watch out for from the Portuguese League in Group C. Mexico’s 22-year-old Diego Lainez has started just only one league game for Braga this season. However, Lainez has shown what he is capable of during his time on the pitch. The versatile midfielder can pretty much play in any of the attacking midfield positions. As seen in the visual above, Lainez brings a bit of pretty much everything to the table whenever he is on the pitch. Having made his senior international debut in 2018, Lainez has been a regular since then, however, he has not started regular games. He will definitely be one of the players to watch out for from Mexico this year if they are to repeat their heroics from 2018.

Jakub Kamiński | Wolfsburg | Poland | 20 years old

Jakub Kamiński, from Wolfsburg, has played in a number of different positions for his club this year, showing his versatility. Kamiński, having made his senior international in a World Cup qualifier as a 19-year-old, is an attacking midfielder who likes to stay in and around the box and create chances for his teammates. His awareness of the game is one of his biggest defensive strengths. Poland have lacked a lot of consistency in recent times and as a result of that, a number of new players are getting their chances. Jakub Kamiński is one of those, the player impressed in the Nations League games in June and is expected to fly to Qatar 2022.