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 G consists of high-flying Brazil with Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon.

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

Matheus Cunha | Atlético Madrid | Brazil | 23 years old

Matheus Cunha signed for Atlético Madrid in the summer of 2021. The forward after a decent first season for the Spanish club is gradually becoming a constant presence in the Brazil national team setup as well. Cunha, primarily playing as an attacking forward, ranks average for a number of attacking metrics. He hasn’t started every game so far this season for Atlético Madrid. However, his numbers go on to show he has put up a decent display every time he has been on the pitch. Cunha will find it difficult to get into this Brazil team given the level of talent, especially on the attacking side, this Brazil side possesses. However, Cunha adds a bit of variety to what other player offer and it will be interesting to see if he gets his chance during the World Cup.

Dušan Vlahović | Juventus | Serbia | 22 years old

Juventus secured the signature of Dušan Vlahović in January 2022. Since then, the Serbian has been one of the best players, if not the best player at Juventus. Juventus have not been up to their mark this season so far. Vlahović, however, has continued to rise and rise in his performances and has currently 6 goals to his name(joint-top). When we look at the overall gameplay of Vlahović, it is very typical of a perfect no.9, staying closer to the box and finishing off the chances. Vlahović made his senior debut for Serbia in 2020 and has since been on a hot streak of goalscoring. Vlahović is surely expected to rock at Qatar 2022.

Noah Okafor | Red Bull Salzburg | Switzerland | 22 years old

Noah Okafor, the centre-forward from Red Bull Salzburg has five goals to his name at the time of writing and is the club’s second-highest scorer in the league this term. Okafor has played most of his minutes as a centre-forward but has also played as a winger on either side. The above visualization shows Noah Okafor brings a lot of variety to his game on the pitch as indicated by his high percentile ranks for some of the key attacking metrics. Okafor has not been a regular starter for the Swiss national team since making his debut in 2019. However, he has been involved in the squad regularly and is definitely expected to go to Qatar as well with his team. When given the chance, the electric Noah Okafor will definitely be a player to watch out for in this World Cup.

Bryan Mbeumo | Brentford | Cameroon | 23 years old

One of the key players in Brentford’s journey to the top flight of English football is Bryan Mbeumo. Mbeumo, originally of Troyes’ academy signed for the English club in the summer of 2019, since then Mbeumo has been one of the best U23 players in English football. Mbeumo can play anywhere in the front three but prefers to play on the right side. His pace allows him to dribble past opponents at ease and finish chances. Mbeumo, after choosing to represent Cameroon at international level only a couple of months back, made his senior debut last month. Given his current form and the timing of his decision to choose Cameroon, it would be no surprise if Mbeumo starts every game at the World Cup for Cameroon.