In-form stars ready to debut: USA, England, Argentina, more

The persistent international breaks baked into any given club soccer season’s schedule can feel awfully disruptive. Every time the club season seems like it’s finding its rhythm, it’s interrupted for another two-week span. If you’re more a fan of the club game than the international game, this can create a steady supply of annoyance.

Each window, however, allows a small set of players an opportunity to fulfill an all-time dream. Getting called up to play for your national team for the first time is a life goal for many in the sport, after all. It can also serve as a form check of sorts: Which players are finding new levels of their game and achieving new heights at the club level?

Take Aleix García and Alex Grimaldo.

Garcia is a journeyman, a midfielder tied to Villarreal and Manchester City in the youth ranks who managed just 10 total appearances with those two clubs and played for Belgium’s Mouscron, Romania’s Dinamo Bucharest and Spain’s Eibar before landing permanently with Manchester City’s sister club Girona in 2021. He was a key figure during Girona’s promotion season and recorded five assists in LaLiga play last season.

This year, at age 26, Garcia has become one of LaLiga’s best players. He has already nearly reached a career high in combined goals and assists (seven), and has been the best player for a Girona team that holds a shocking two-point lead atop the table.

Grimaldo, meanwhile, perhaps hasn’t been the best player for Bayer Leverkusen, the current Bundesliga leader, but he’s getting awfully close. In his past eight matches in all competitions, he has combined six goals with two assists from 11 chances created, and all from a left wingback position that requires plenty of defensive responsibility.

It seems like every goal he scores is more spectacular than the last, as Union Berlin can attest after this gorgeous long-range strike over the weekend.

Garcia and Grimaldo were both called up to the Spanish national team for this window and could make their respective debuts, along with Atletico Madrid’s Rodrigo Riquelme and Real Sociedad’s Álex Remiro. It’s probably difficult to convince them that the international windows are an annoyance at the moment, huh?

If first-time call-ups are highlights of a given window, let’s lean into that a bit. Based solely on current club form, who should perhaps be the next first-time call-ups for soccer’s most dominant nations? Here are two names per country to consider for each of the top nine countries in the current FIFA rankings (listed in order of ranking), plus the U.S., Mexico and Germany. (We’ll go ahead and do three for the U.S. That gives us a nice, solid 25-man list.)

ARGENTINA (FIFA Rank: 1)

Matìas Soulè, Frosinone

The 20-year-old right-winger played 535 minutes with a goal and 11 chances created for Juventus last season. Loaned to freshly-promoted Frosinone in August, he has thrived with the extra playing time. He’s scored five goals (seventh in the league) from shots worth 4.0 xG (ninth), and he’s created 29 chances for teammates (second) with an xA (expected assist) total of 2.2 (eighth).

Frosinone is a solid 12th in Serie A thus far, and has scored more goals than any team outside the top seven. Soule is the primary reason why and while he is eligible for both the Italian and Argentinian national teams, he has made it clear he prefers Argentina at the moment.

Lucas Robertone, Almeria

The 26-year-old defensive midfielder has been a bit of a late bloomer, but he’s almost perfectly combining all of the offensive and defensive prowess you want from his position at the moment: He’s fourth in LaLiga in assists (four) and eighth in interceptions (17), and he’s borderline top-50 in both progressive passes (53) and shots blocked (four).

Argentina won the World Cup in part by perfectly placing a lot of willing role-players around Leo Messi. Robertone is one of the most willing role-players in Europe at the moment.

BELGIUM (FIFA Rank: 5)

Míchel-Ange Balikwisha, Royal Antwerp

The 22-year-old left winger has played for Belgium at just about every youth level, but has yet to debut for the senior team. That should happen soon. He scored six goals for Antwerp’s first title run in decades, and he’s already got four goals and three assists in league play this year. And in 476 minutes of Champions League qualification and group-stage play, he’s scored twice with an assist.

Balikwisha is a high-level presser and creates high-value shots. It’s a good combination.

Largie Ramazani, Almeria

Like Robertone, Ramazani has been a standout creator for a team that doesn’t create much. The 22-year-old, once a Manchester United product, is fourth in LaLiga with four assists, and in 46 career league matches he has produced four goals and five assists while playing everywhere from right midfield to left wing to center-forward. He’s a hell of a crosser, though he does still have room for growth from a finishing standpoint.

BRAZIL (FIFA Rank: 3)

Sávio, Girona

Like Aleix Garcia, Savio, a 20-year old midfielder, has been crucial to Girona’s early form. He leads the team in assists (four), xA (4.1) and passes in the attacking third (188), and he’s second in goals (four), chances created (15), cross attempts (46) and progressive carries (118). He forces the issue with his dribbling and, on occasion, shows up in the box to put home a rebound like Saturday’s game-winner over Rayo Vallecano.

Oh yeah, and he’s also only 19 years old! He scored in the Copa Libertadores right after his 18th birthday, left Atletico Mineiro for City Group-owned Troyes last year and joined another City Group team, Girona, this season. His stock is skyrocketing.

Juninho Capixaba, RB Bragantino

Brazil’s depth at fullback is almost always lighter than it is at all other positions, and while Atletico Madrid wingback Samuel Lino will probably get a call-up sooner than later, we’ll stick closer to home with this one.

We’re entering the home stretch of Brazil’s domestic season, and with a game in hand and five overall matches remaining, Red Bull Bragantino is only three points from the top of the table. Juninho, 26, is perhaps the primary reason why. He ranks first on the team in minutes and touches, plus most primary defensive categories – interceptions, blocked crosses, overall interventions. He also ranks second in chances created, fourth in shots on goal and sixth in goals. He and midfielder Lucas Evangelista are both prime-age players leading this Red Bull club to new heights.

ENGLAND (FIFA Rank: 4)

Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton

England boss Gareth Southgate is typically pretty good at sharing the love.

While he certainly has favorites he leans on regardless of form — hello, Harry Maguire — he’s still given minutes to 45 players over the past two years, and especially with Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa and youngsters Rico Lewis (Manchester City) and Cole Palmer (Chelsea) getting called up this month, it’s hard to find too many deserving guys who haven’t gotten at least a brief look. You could have made a strong case for Brighton’s Solly March before a recent knee injury, while Nottingham Forest’s versatile Morgan Gibbs-White might be getting closer to a call, but let’s instead go with a pair of defenders.

At just 21, Branthwaite has already become one of Sean Dyche’s most reliable defenders, his passing is improving, and he was a member of England’s U21 team at this past summer’s Euros. He’s just about ready for a shot.

Alfie Doughty, Luton Town

He’s only 23, and he plays wing-back for a very defense-centric team, but he’s recorded more shot-creating actions (42) than Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz, Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard and all but 17 other Premier League players. He’s proving to be one of England’s better transition players, and while England often dominates the ball just because of talent advantages, Southgate isn’t above counter-attacking when it’s an option.

FRANCE (FIFA Rank: 2)

Bafodé Diakité, Lille

If you plug Diakite’s name into the FBref.com Similar Players machine, it spits out some awfully impressive peers: Manuel Akanji, Nathan Aké, Jules Koundé, Oleksandr Zinchenko. The 22-year old can play center-back or roam up the sideline in almost a right wingback role. He’s scored three goals this season — two from set pieces and one, against Monaco in late-October, while filling an attacking role with natural ease on a counter-attack.

It’s hard to work your way up the depth chart in France, but Diakite’s flexibility could eventually give him a niche.

Melvin Bard, Nice

The subject of plenty of transfer rumors through the years, the 23-year old left back was vital for Nice’s run to first place (which ended, for now, with a 0-0 draw with Montpellier on Friday). He has proven dependable in Nice’s almost perfect defense — they’ve allowed only four goals in 12 matches — and he leads the team’s challenged attack in both assists (two) and passes made in the attacking third (95).

Nice is overachieving in 2023-24, and for anything good that’s happened, Bard hasn’t been too far away.

GERMANY (FIFA Rank: 16)

Waldemar Anton, Stuttgart

Stuttgart’s incredible early run of form — they’re currently third in the Bundesliga — hasn’t just been due to Serhou Guirassy’s unbelievable run of finishing form. They’re top-five in the Bundesliga in goals allowed and second in xG allowed, and they’ve got the best build-up game outside of Munich or Leverkusen. They’re third in the league in possession rate, pass attempts and pass completion rate, and the incredible steadiness from Anton, a 27-year old center-back, is a huge part of that.

Anton has made both the fourth-most clearances in the league in defense and the fifth-most progressive passes. At 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, he’s always been a rather imposing figure. But he keeps improving, too.

Angelo Stiller, Stuttgart

Let’s stick with Germany’s best rebound story (in maybe its most underrated city). While a lot of Stuttgart’s success has come from veterans like Guirassy, Anton and forward Deniz Undav finding a new level of form, Stiller, a 22-year old midfielder, is still only approaching his prime.

He spent his youth career at Bayern before enjoying a breakout campaign after moving to Hoffenheim in 2021-22. Last season was a bit of a lost year as he battled injury and fell out of the rotation at times, but he’s now back on the track that earned him 17 caps with Germany’s U21 team.

Despite his role as a defensive midfielder, he’s created the team’s second-most chances, completed the second-most progressive passes and completed 89% of his passes within the attacking third. He was the hand-picked replacement for Liverpool-bound Wataru Endo in August and has filled those shoes nicely thus far.

ITALY (FIFA Rank: 9)

Alberto Dossena, Cagliari

After a dismal start, Cagliari’s form has improved of late — they’ve pulled seven points from their last four league matches after managing just two from their first eight. In that span, Dossena has recorded a goal and an assist while generating 33 ball recoveries. At 6-foot-2, the 25-year old is already got of Italy’s more imposing aerial presences, and he’s proving to be a safe passer as well. But now he’s giving Claudio Ranieri’s squad scoring punch on set pieces, too.

There are plenty of good center-backs in the Italian player pool, but he’s beginning to stand out.

Michael Kayode, Fiorentina

Only 19, Kayode made his Italian U21 debut just last month against Norway. The right back has missed the last few club matches with injury, but in the nine matches he’s played, Fiorentina has lost only once. He’s a sure tackler and interventionist and a willing dribbler and ball progressor, and he’s already landed on the radar of clubs like Arsenal.

MEXICO (FIFA Rank: 12)

Miguel Rodríguez, Pachuca

You don’t see too many 20-year-olds thriving in Liga MX, but for a Pachuca team that barely missed the league’s Apertura playoffs, Rodriguez, a left back, ranked first in minutes, chances created, progressive carries, ball recoveries and cross attempts, plus second in passes received and fifth in progressive passes. He’s a willing worker in defense, too.

If something is happening on the left side of the pitch, you can bet Rodriguez is either creating it or preventing it.

Ivan Moreno, Leon

It almost feels like an oversight that he hasn’t been called up yet. The 25-year old is one of the best right backs in Liga MX. He leads Leon in assists this season (three), and he’s attempted the second-most passes in the attacking third despite playing as a wingback. He’s third in progressive carries, too. He’s a worker bee.

NETHERLANDS (FIFA Rank: 7)

Joshua Zirkzee, Bologna

Is the longtime prospect finally putting everything together? At age 18, Zirkzee looked like a future star at Bayern back in 2019-20. But Bayern gave up on him after a couple of loan spells (including a pretty productive one at Anderlecht), and he scored only two goals in 21 matches with Bologna last season. But he’s scored three goals with an assist in his last four matches, and his pressure numbers are fantastic.

Zirkzee is still not the volume shooter you would prefer from a center-forward, but after scoring 21 international goals at the youth levels, he might be ready to contribute at the senior level too.

Azor Matusiwa, Reims

At 25, Matusiwa is slowly becoming the ultimate pivot man for Reims. He protects the back line, leading the team in both tackles and interceptions and ranking second in ball recoveries, but he’s also fourth in progressive passes, fourth in pass completion rate and fourth in chances created.

PORTUGAL (FIFA Rank: 6)

Tiago Santos, Lille

In his first season in Ligue 1, the 21-year old right back is quickly proving to be a high-level ball carrier, above-average passer and reliable defender. He debuted for Portugal’s U21 team in September, and he seems to be taking on more and more responsibility for a Lille team now unbeaten in its last nine games in all competitions.

Aurelio Buta, Eintracht Frankfurt

A veteran of Portugal’s U16 through U20 teams, Buta fell off the radar with four years at Royal Antwerp and injuries that kept him sidelined for most of 2022. But the more involved he gets in Frankfurt, the better Eintracht perform. As a right wingback, he’s both a solid interventionist and ball progressor. He’s contributed a couple of nice assists, too.

SPAIN (FIFA Rank: 8)

Jon Guridi, Deportivo Alaves

He moves the ball from Point A to Point B without error, he plays everywhere from defensive midfield to right wing, and at age 28 he has already tripled his career high in assists (three) and chances created (15) barely one-third of the way through the season.

Just imagine what he might do on a team with more talent advantages. Like Spain’s.

Óscar de Marcos, Athletic Club

It’s not too late to right a wrong. De Marcos was called up to play for Spain in 2015 but didn’t see the pitch, and he still has yet to record a cap. (He did record one for Basque Country in 2013, at least.) But he’s as productive as ever in his 15th year with Athletic Club. he set a career high with six assists and 204 progressive passes last season, and at his current rate he’ll top both of those numbers this season. He’s traded physicality for finesse, and it’s looking great on him, even at 35.

UNITED STATES (FIFA Rank: 11)

Jack McGlynn, Philadelphia Union

He was selected for the U.S. Olympic team training camp, but stayed with his club and provided the game-winning assist that sent Philadelphia through to the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals last week.

Despite playing barely more than half of available minutes this season, he’s fifth on the Union in chances created, fourth in xA and second in pass completions. He’s a world-class ball progressor, and he only recently turned 20. He’s on the fast track.

Brian Gutierrez, Chicago Fire

Like Southgate, Gregg Berhalter has brought in loads of players for at least brief looks through the years, but a few more could still debut in the coming months.