The list of MLS-based players at the FIFA World Cup seems to grow a little longer every four years, and that progression continues with 44 partaking in this summer’s tournament.
Let’s be honest, though: Some of them will inevitably grab more of the spotlight than others. So we took a few moments to jot down a dozen top talents who have the biggest role to play for their country, are most likely to be a conversation topic… or might be must-see TV given their own particular story, style and charisma.
Considering everything that transpired in the last World Cup and the four years since, you won’t be surprised by where we start.
He might be the most recognized living human being on planet Earth, and he’s also the face of the defending World Cup champions.
The GOAT is back, defying even his own predictions that the emotional roller coaster of Qatar 2022 – where he led Argentina on a cathartic run to their first Mundial triumph in 36 years – would be his last.
That’s a tough act to follow, even for La Albiceleste’s most-capped player and all-time leading scorer. But having finally conquered MLS with Inter Miami last year, Messi looks primed to climb the mountain one more time in his record-tying sixth career World Cup.
For all the records Messi has set since his 2023 arrival in MLS, here’s one he doesn’t own: most expensive arrival in league history.
That distinction belongs to Son, the South Korean icon who moved from Tottenham Hotspur to LAFC in a reported $26.5 million-plus transfer last summer and immediately showed it was money well spent, racking up 12 goals and four assists across regular-season and Audi MLS Cup Playoffs action. Notably, he tops the MLS assists chart (nine) in the current campaign, a sign of his increasingly sophisticated striker’s skill set.
Now his South Korea side will again look to him for inspiration in his fourth World Cup, where they face a tricky Group A assignment with Czechia, South Africa and tournament co-hosts Mexico.
‘Sonny’ has talent around him like rising Paris Saint-Germain winger Lee Kang-In and former Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Hwang In-Beom; can they drive the Taegeuk Warriors to new heights?
Backstopping a host nation’s World Cup dreams is no small responsibility, particularly when it’s only the second major international tournament of your national-team career.
That’s the weight on Freese’s shoulders this summer, though we reckon his remarkable personal journey from the Philadelphia Union academy to New York City FC by way of Harvard University has prepared him for the moment at hand.
Confident, composed and communicative, the 27-year-old has all the tools to be the USMNT goalkeeper of the present and future. Even still, his starting job isn’t quite assured, with New England’s Matt Turner, the program's No. 1 at the 2022 World Cup, hard at his heels. That says much about the culture of cutthroat competitiveness head coach Mauricio Pochettino has sought to install in his squad.
It’s probably a strange sight for the uninitiated: One of the top strikers for European powerhouse Croatia, runners-up at the 2018 World Cup and third-place finishers in 2022, donning a black cowboy hat emblazoned with the FC Dallas crest.
That stately Stetson is FCD’s man-of-the-match award, and it’s become a common prize for Musa as he racked up 46g/11a in his 73 league appearances for the North Texans so far, earning 2024 MLS All-Star honors and a World Cup call-up from his national team.
Powerful, clever, instinctive in the opponents’ penalty box, Musa is a prototypical modern No. 9, and the Vatreni (Blazers) believe his skills can magnify the qualities of a squad brimming with elite veterans like Luka Modrić, Ivan Perišić and Mateo Kovačić.
Note: He'll also feature alongside Orlando City winger Marco Pašalić, who memorably proclaimed "my left foot is my weapon."
Whatever your level of Spanish fluency, here’s a phrase to remember during this summer’s tournament: El guardaespaldas de Messi.
It translates to ‘Messi’s bodyguard,’ and it’s become another nickname for De Paul thanks to his close friendship with the GOAT and the watchful eye with which he protects Messi from excessive physicality by adversaries. The two bonded over years of Argentina duty together, so much so that Messi helped recruit De Paul away from Spanish giants Atlético Madrid last summer to become his colleague at Inter Miami, too.
Hard-running, sly, tenacious, ‘RDP’ is the proverbial ‘piano mover’ whose labor makes life easier for Messi and the Albiceleste’s other attackers.
For all the hype around the United States, where the lion’s share of this tournament will be played, the stakes might be even higher for Canada.
This is just the third-ever men’s World Cup for Les Rouges, who are still seeking their first win or draw on this stage as they try to inspire their rapidly-growing soccer nation. But head coach Jesse Marsch & Co. believe this year’s group is the program’s most talented ever, led by Whitecaps product Alphonso Davies and Laryea, a street-smart fullback who can shut down opposing wingers and range forward into the attack with equal aplomb.
Voted ‘Best Trash Talker’ in the 2025 edition of the MLS Players Association’s annual poll, the Toronto FC veteran knows how to get inside an adversary’s head, and he’s superb at drawing fouls that lead to dangerous set pieces – which could well make a difference in high-leverage moments.
Soccer players and motor vehicles make for common comparisons; you might hear sleek attackers described as race cars or a well-rounded central midfielder analogous to a smooth luxury sedan. Mbokazi’s rugged style has drawn a different sort of vehicular nickname back home in South Africa: TLB.
That’s short for Tractor-Loader-Backhoe, a versatile piece of heavy equipment found at construction sites around the world, and an apt avatar for the compact center back’s blend of steel, athleticism and flair.
Mbokazi has been a smash hit at Chicago Fire FC since his arrival over the winter, shoring up the back line while also attracting hundreds of thousands of South African fans to the club's social media platforms.
Still just 20 years old, he’ll have European scouts watching his every move as he aims to lead Bafana Bafana through Group A and into the World Cup knockout rounds.
Whatever happens this summer, ‘Miggy’ is already an Atlanta United legend thanks to his central role in the Five Stripes’ euphoric arrival in MLS in 2017-18, where they stunned the league with huge crowds and explosive attacking soccer en route to the 2018 MLS Cup title.
After a prolific English Premier League stint with Newcastle United, he made an emotional return to ATLUTD last year, and now he’s leading Paraguay into their first World Cup appearance in 16 years.
Dogged, diligent and defensively sturdy, La Albirroja will need a spark of inspiration from their No. 10 if they are to make a run out of Group D.
The Colorado Rapids didn’t turn too many heads when they announced the signing of an unheralded teenager from A-League side Brisbane Roar last August.
Herrington isn’t unheralded anymore, though – he’s been one of the best defenders in MLS this season, playing every minute for the club. That earned him his first senior call-up from Australia in March, and a spot on Socceroos coach Tony Popovic’s World Cup squad several weeks later - “a meteoric rise,” in the words of ESPN Australia.
The 18-year-old center back is the 11th-youngest player in the tournament, and a steady buzz of interest from European clubs figures to grow louder in the months ahead.
“This is the hardest decision I've had to make in my coaching career.”
So said CanMNT coach and MLS alum Jesse Marsch on Thursday as he announced that Crépeau had edged out Inter Miami’s Dayne St. Clair for Les Rouges’ starting goalkeeper job ahead of their World Cup opener vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto. And just imagine what it means for the Quebecer and 13-year MLS veteran, who’s walked such a long, winding path to reach this milestone.
Four years ago, Crépeau’s World Cup dreams were deferred in agonizing fashion as he suffered a broken leg while defending a breakaway for LAFC in the epic 2022 MLS Cup final vs. Philadelphia, with the tournament in Qatar a matter of days away. He’s weathered adversity this season too, conceding an MLS-high 38 goals behind a leaky Orlando defense, but stepping up in his country’s colors to gain the nod from Marsch.
How can we not root for the man?
You’re probably familiar with the last name: The Whitecaps’ engine-room dynamo is indeed the son of former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter, who’s now overseeing the renewal project at Chicago Fire. And Sebastian was in attendance for the Yanks’ matches at Qatar 2022, a self-described “super fan” not just supporting his dad, but dreaming of someday representing his country on that stage, just as Gregg did in 2002 and 2006.
No one else would have guessed it at the time, but Sebastian carried the vision to reality, finding his stride as an all-action, box-to-box terror as Vancouver reached both the Concacaf Champions Cup and MLS Cup finals last season, earning MLS Best XI honors and the trust of USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino in the process.
Might he even be a starter for the home nation at this point?
If you love a sports Cinderella, cast your gaze upon Cape Verde and their Ohio-based defender.
The small, Portuguese-speaking archipelago off the West African coast has a land area not much bigger than Rhode Island and a population smaller than Sacramento, California’s. And for decades, their national team, known as Tubarões Azuis (‘Blue Sharks’), was seen as an inconsequential also-ran in African soccer.
But here they are, joyous participants in their first-ever World Cup thanks to the remarkable achievements of Moreira and his comrades. A center back in name but an attacking midfielder in spirit, Moreira loves to maraud forward and create overloads that disorganize opponents, a unique outlook that helped him win the 2024 MLS Defender of the Year award at the peak of the Wilfried Nancy era in Columbus.
Hopefully he brings that very same vibe to Cape Verde’s underdog campaign against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia in Group H.
