The Most Stylish Players to Watch

As North America prepares to host the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1994, soccer fever has never been as rampant.

Fans are eagerly awaiting the start of the tournament in Mexico on Thursday, and the first game in the U.S., in Los Angeles, the next day.

The players who were selected to participate in the five-week tournament are often household names globally — known not just for their stellar soccer skills, but also their style.

WWD reached out to several designers to ask who they thought led the way in fashion. Among those who agreed to play along were KidSuper‘s Colm Dillane, a former professional soccer player and mega-fan, as well as Willy Chavarria, who just designed a collection for the Mexican National team with his longtime partner Adidas.

Dillane singled out several stylish former stars such as David Beckham, Eric Cantona, Ian Wright and Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho, along with two current stars: Spain’s Hector Bellerin of Real Betis and France’s Jules Kounde of FC Barcelona.

“Hector was one of the first soccer players to really research and try to experiment with fashion,” Dillane said. “He paved the way for this generation. David [Beckham]: he and Posh [his wife, Victoria Beckham] are still on everyone’s mood board. Ronaldinho is the most effortless cool guy ever, and Jules Kounde is a real fashion student. He loves it and puts together amazing outfits with different brands that you rarely see footballers wear. Eric Cantona: the popped collar to play — iconic. Ian Wright, the gold tooth.”

Chavarria also has his favorites, singling out former Brazilian star Marcelo Vieira along with current stars — Spain’s Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona, England’s Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid and Mexican Edson Alvarez of Fenerbahce.

Here, WWD weighs in with our picks of the most-fashionable athletes who will be playing in this year’s World Cup tournament.

Player: Jude Bellingham

Age: 22

Team: Real Madrid

World Cup team: England

Number of Instagram followers: 41.2 million

Player: Kylian Mbappé

Age: 27

Team: Real Madrid

World Cup team: France

Number of Instagram followers: 130.3 million

Player: Jules Koundé

Age: 27

Team: FC Barcelona

World Cup team: France

Number of Instagram followers: 15.7 million

Player: Lamine Yamal

Age: 18

Team: FC Barcelona

World Cup team: Spain

Number of Instagram followers: 43.2 million

Player: Achraf Hakimi

Age: 27

Team: Paris Saint-Germain

World Cup team: Morocco

Number of Instagram followers: 23.4 million

Player: Rafael Leão

Age: 26

Team: AC Milan

World Cup team: Portugal

Number of Instagram followers: 7.1 million

Player: Trent Alexander-Arnold

Age: 27

Team: Real Madrid

World Cup team: England

Number of Instagram followers: 17 million

Player: Marcus Rashford

Age: 28

Team: FC Barcelona

World Cup team: England

Number of Instagram followers: 22.2 million

Player: Son Heung-min

Age: 33

Team: Los Angeles FC

World Cup team: Republic of Korea

Number of Instagram followers: 14 million