For the purposes of this line-up I’ve only included players aged 22 or younger that I think will be used regularly for their country.
GK. Thibaut Courtois (22, Belgium)
An obvious, but worthy, pick to begin the XI, Courtois has flourished to become one of Europe’s finest goalkeepers since joining 
Atletico Madrid on loan from Chelsea in 2011.
The former Genk stopper has just capped off a brilliant season which saw Atleti clinch the La Liga title with the fewest goals conceded (26 in 38 games), while the Champions League could also be added to his list of honours next weekend.
Courtois was used in all 10 qualifying matches by Belgium head coach Marc Wilmots where they went unbeaten conceding just four goals.
RB. Serge Aurier (21, Ivory Coast)
It’s easy to get carried away with the attacking prowess on display from Ivory Coast with the likes of Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba and Wilfried Bony amongst their ranks but talent further down the pitch is sparse.
Aurier could be the exception – the right-back, who was used in five of the Ivorian’s six African qualifying matches, has had an impressive season with Toulouse in France’s top flight where he scored and assisted six goals.
According to whoscored.com he had the fourth highest average rating of any player in Ligue 1 this term and picked up player of the match (highest rated) in six of his 34 appearances.
It’s probably not surprising then to hear that Arsenal are pursuing the 21-year-old as a potential replacement for Bacary Sagna.
Aurier in action for Toulouse
CB. Rafael Varane (21, France)
French centre-half Varane is one player that has already made the move from France to a top European club, however
he’s found playing time limited this season at Real Madrid with Carlo Ancelotti preferring Pepe and Sergio Ramos as his first choice pairing.
That said, Varane has still made 21 appearances for Los Blancos this term including six Champions League outings but that has been enough to make him arguably Didier Deschamps’ first-choice central defender with Porto’s Eliaquim Mangala and Premier League duo Laurent Koscielny and Mamadou Sakho his competition.
Varane only made his international debut last year and has just five caps to his name, while his partnership with Mangala at the heart of the defence in a friendly against Holland in March was the 9th pair of central defenders to start for France under Deschamps.
CB. Fabian Schar (22, Switzerland)
Switzerland are a team that I think have the potential to surprise many in Brazil and could give group-favourites France a good run for top spot after being drawn alongside Ecuador and Honduras respectively, however their gruelling schedule may prove pivotal.
At the heart of their defence is Fabian Schar – a 22-year-old who has gone from bank intern in his local town to Champions League and World Cup star in the space of five years.
Schar studied for a back-up career whilst playing for hometown club FC Wil as a 17-year-old just in case he didn’t make the cut.
His worries were soon put to rest though after he was named Swiss rookie of the year in his first season in the top flight after helping Basle to win their fourth league title in a row, become runners-up in the Swiss Cup after losing the final on penalties and was influential in guiding his team to the Europa League semi-finals where they were beaten by Chelsea after defeating Tottenham in the previous round.
Schar has followed that success up with another league title this year and another run in Europe where Basle were narrowly knocked-out in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Despite featuring just three times in Switzerland’s qualifying campaign, Schar finished as top scorer with three goals, while he contributed to his side’s seven clean sheets in 10 matches.
Big future ahead for Fabian Schar
LB. Ricardo Rodriguez (22, Switzerland)
Schar’s compatriot Ricardo Rodriguez completes the back four and, unlike his teammate, Rodriguez was part of the Swiss team that won the U17 World Cup in 2009 in which he finished with three goals to his name.
The full-back has just completed a successful campaign with Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg where he scored five goals and assisted a further nine in 34 appearances, helping his side to a fifth place finish.
Whoscored.com ranked Rodriguez as the second top rated player in this year’s Bundesliga with an average rating of 8.01, beating the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus.
Watch out for his set-pieces and crosses where he is most dangerous and will provide numerous chances for the likes of Schar and striker Josip Drmic.
CM. Paul Pogba (21, France)
With a relatively easy group France should go further than four years go when they were knocked out at the group stage in South Africa.
Leading their charge will be midfielder Paul Pogba, who was just a 17-year-old during the last World Cup, playing in the Manchester United youth team. He went on to make just three appearances for the Red Devils before moving to Juventus after his contract expired, claiming that United failed to show him any respect.
How wrong were they? Pogba has blossomed since arriving in Serie A to become a word-class star and he now has the chance to showcase his talent on the biggest stage after being named player of the tournament at last year’s U20 World Cup which France won.
The strong midfielder has been influential this season for Juventus clinching his second title in just three years where he contributed with eight goals and eight assists.
Pogba: world-class talent
CM. William Carvalho (22, Portugal)
William Carvalho heads into the World Cup with a hefty £30m price tag to his name, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with the pressure of having to justify such a valuation.
Premier League duo Man Utd and Liverpool were touted as early favourites to sign the defensive midfielder who only burst on to the scene this season, however Monaco are now believed to be front runners for his signature.
The transfer speculation can be left to one side – for the time being at least – with Portugal looking to better their appearance in the round of 16 four years ago.
Despite a rocky road to Brazil, in which they had to beat Sweden over a two-legged play-off, the Portuguese usually save their best performances for the finals.
Carvalho only featured once in qualifying coming on as a substitute to make his international debut in the second-leg win against Sweden, before playing 75 minutes in a 5-1 friendly victory over Cameroon in March.
Don’t be surprised if we see Carvalho in the Premier League next season, even less surprising would be an impressive World Cup.
AM. James Rodriguez (22, Colombia)
Moving in to the attacking positions now and with Falcao struggling to regain match fitness in time for Brazil, James Rodriguez will spearhead World Cup ‘dark horses’ Colombia’s charge for glory.
The 22-year-old moved to Monaco in a £38.5m deal from Porto last summer and has enjoyed a successful campaign for the city-state club scoring nine goals and assisting a further 12 in 34 Ligue 1 appearances.
Having not played in any of the domestic cups and with Monaco not in Europe, it means Rodriguez will not have had a tiring campaign like many of the Champions League stalwarts that are set to feature.
Along with Switzerland, Colombia are a team that I think have the potential to go far this summer, after being drawn alongside Ivory Coast, Greece and Japan they should have enough quality to go through and could quite easily top Group C with Rodriguez as their linchpin.
RW. Raheem Sterling (19, England)
Even though I’m not the most optimistic of England fans, I’m glad that Roy Hodgson has chosen a youthful squad to take to Brazil.
Raheem Sterling may not start the opening group match versus Italy with many expecting Hodgson to revert to a conservative, more experienced side but should that work then it will ease any pre-tournament pressure and could mean a starting role for Sterling in the games against Uruguay and Costa Rica.
There’s no denying that Sterling was one of the performers of Liverpool’s season which saw them surprise everyone with a Premier League title challenge and the teenager played his part scoring nine goals and assisting five.
In form: Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling
LW. Neymar (22, Brazil)
The line-up wouldn’t be complete without an inclusion of a host nation player and that is Brazil’s golden boy Neymar.
The Barcelona attacker was ruled out for the remainder of the season after injuring his left foot in the Copa del Rey final loss to Real Madrid last month, although he did make his return in the final match of Barca’s league campaign on Saturday where his side lost out on the title following a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid.
The former Santos man still managed nine goals and eight assists in 26 La Liga games, while he also starred in their Champions League run to the quarter-finals scoring four and assisting three.
Neymar has a fantastic goalscoring record for his country netting 30 goals in 47 appearances and along with teammate Fred will most likely be Brazil’s biggest threat going forward.
ST. Josip Drmic (21, Switzerland)
The final entry into my young stars starting XI is Swiss striker Josip Drmic who has just been snapped up by Bayer Leverkusen in a fee reported to be around €7m.
Before confirmation of the deal, Arsenal were rumoured to be in the hunt for the 21-year-old and it’s easy to see why after he finished the Bundesliga season as third top scorer despite playing for relegated club Nurnberg where his 17 goals accounted for 46% of their total goals.
Drmic only started once during Switzerland’s qualifying campaign in which they failed to find a regular striker and finished with centre-back Schar as top scorer.
With the impressive season he’s had, I expect Drmic to start for the Swiss and may well prove a bargain for Leverkusen.
Bundesliga star: Josip Drmic
Just missing out (subs):
GK. Mat Ryan (22, Australia)
Many people think Australia will be the whipping boys of their World Cup group and it’s hard to see them causing any shocks with Spain, Holland and Chile as their opponents.
That does mean, however, that Socceroos ‘keeper Mat Ryan should see plenty of goalmouth action and he comes in to the tournament having won Belgium’s goalkeeper of the year award after his superb displays for Club Brugge, where he kept 14 clean sheets in 38 appearances.
41-year-old stopper Mark Schwarzer has now retired so it will give Ryan the chance to stake a claim for the number one jersey for the long term.
CB. Eder Alvarez Balanta (21, Colombia)
Colombia’s first choice centre-back pairing throughout qualification had a combined age of 73 with 35-year-old Luis Perea and 38-year-old Mario Yepes, so now is the perfect time for a new star to emerge.
That man is River Plate’s Eder Alvarez Balanta who’s making a name for himself in Argentina and as a result has been linked with a move to European giants Barcelona.
It may be considered a risk taking the 21-year-old as he’s made just one international appearance when he came on as a 65th minute substitute in a friendly against Tunisia in March.
Prior to that, he was called up to the senior squad for the friendlies against Belgium and Netherlands although he never made an appearance.
The left-footed centre-back was deemed the ‘best defender’ in the Argentine league within just half of his debut season and is powerful, quick, can read the game superbly while his passing isn’t bad either.
CB. Bruno Martins Indi (22, Holland)
Holland’s World Cup squad is the youngest for some time with just over half of the 30 players playing in the Eredivisie.
One of those is Feyenoord centre-back Bruno Martins Indi who was a key figure in the Dutch’s qualification for the finals making eight appearances and scoring two goals taking his total number of caps to 13.
Ever since Van Gaal was rumoured for the Man Utd manager’s job after the World Cup, it’s been suggested that he’ll bring Martins Indi, who can also play on the left flank, with him to Old Trafford as a replacement for Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic.
He has a strong physical presence and is comfortable on the ball highlighted by his 93% take ons success at Feyenoord.
Hot prospect: Could Martins Indi be off to Old Trafford?
CM. Jordy Clasie (22, Holland)
Another one of the Dutch squad’s home-based players now and it’s Martins Indi’s club teammate Jordy Clasie who has also been linked with a move to Manchester.
The youngster has been a regular in the Feyenoord starting line-up for the past four seasons now making 130 Eredivisie appearances.
Clasie, along with Martins Indi, started Holland’s 1-1 draw with Ecuador on Saturday where he laid on Robin van Persie’s spectacular volley which the United forward later described the pass as “world class.”
Class act: Jordy Clasie is one to watch this summer
CM. Mateo Kovacic (20, Croatia)
Croatia’s chances in Brazil have already been dismissed by many pundits mainly due to their harsh schedule which sees them visit Recife and Manaus in hot and humid conditions after they play the hosts.
However, their midfield oozes excitement with Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and Europa League winner Ivan Rakitic alongside Mateo Kovacic in what is expected to be a midfield three.
The Inter Milan number 10 put in a man of the match performance in his side’s 4-1 win over Lazio just over a week ago where he assisted three of the goals.
Kovacic had one of the best pass success percentages in Serie A this season with 89.8%.
AM. Xherdan Shaqiri (22, Switzerland)
Bayern Munich’s Xherdan Shaqiri is another member of what could be Switzerland’s ‘golden generation’.
He can play as an attacking midfielder on both flanks or in the centre but he’s found playing time limited at the Allianz Arena this term with just 17 Bundesliga appearances.
Despite this, he still contributed with six goals and two assists and was ranked the highest rated player by whoscored.com on three occasions.
Munich star: Xherdan Shaqiri
AM. Kevin De Bruyne (22, Belgium)
Wolfsburg’s Kevin De Bruyne has been revitalised since moving back to the Bundesliga from Chelsea in January in an £18m deal.
The Belgian made just three Premier League appearances for the Blues in the first six months of the season, although he was a regular in their Capital One Cup run and did feature three times in the Champions League.
The former Genk youngster, who said he “lost his joy” at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, impressed on loan at Werder Bremen last season where he scored 10 goals in 33 appearances and he’s continued to flourish in Germany where he finished the campaign strongly helping Wolfsburg to a fifth place finish with three goals and six assists in 16 appearances.
De Bruyne is a favourite of Marc Wilmots and that was shown by the fact he was one of five players to feature in all 10 qualifying games where he contributed with four goals.
AM/FW. Lorenzo Insigne (22, Italy)
The final player to make the bench is Italian attacking midfielder/forward Lorenzo Insigne who has just capped off an impressive season with Napoli as he helped them to a third place finish.
Insigne was used primarily as a left-sided attacking midfielder this term where he scored three and assisted a further six goals in Serie A.
He made three appearances under head coach Cesare Prandelli during qualification, while he netted his first senior international goal in a friendly against Argentina in August.
Last year Insigne was part of the Italian team that lost in the final of the European Under-21 Championships where he netted the winner against England.
Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne
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