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With under 100 days to go, Joe Donnohue dabbles in a World Cup version of 'The Boy's A Bit Special.' Under the microscope today, there's Barcelona's defensive youth product whose size isn't an issue, plus PSG's midfield maestro who looks more and more at home with each passing season. This is FourFourTwo, and these are the 2 wonderkids destined to run the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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It's less than 100 days until the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, Canada and Mexico
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And for the first time, 48 countries will do battle to be crowned world champions
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which means that with 16 more squads to pick from, there'll be more wonder kids at the finals than ever before
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Here at 442, we've handpicked two of the best who, fingers crossed, you'll be seeing plenty of this summer's tournament
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So stick around with me, Joe Donoghue, and get ahead of the curve with this latest World Cup instalment of The Boys A Bit Special
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the 4-4-2 video series spotlighting world football's best and brightest youngsters. Warren Zaire Emery is a name plenty of you will be familiar with in passing
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pun very much intended, but maybe not in as much detail as we're about to provide
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He is, of course, the young midfielder belonging to Paris Saint-Germain, who made France's Euro 2024 squad at the tender age of 18
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But there's so much more to the Parisian tempo setter. Zaire Emery has made well over 100 appearances for PSG
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has a handful of senior France caps to his name and will probably walk, stride and ball carry into most Premier League midfields
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What sets Zaire Emery apart is twofold and it affects both his club and international football
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In the modern PSG era, an academy graduate having such a pronounced impact
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at such a young age, he was starting regularly as a 17-year-old by the way
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is pretty much unheard of at this club. Sustaining that run in the team when other academy grads
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many of whom are very accomplished in the game but have had to go elsewhere to further their careers
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is a ringing endorsement of Zaya Emery's. PSG are, of course, a club that can afford whoever they like in the transfer market
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and they've no issue showing their cash. Zaya Emery, however, has broken and continues to break the mould
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The PSG man was genuinely one of the best players we've ever seen in the UEFA Youth League
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which is an under-19 competition that mirrors the Champions League. And that was when he was 15
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At 17, he was made France Under-21 captain, and at club level has rarely missed a game for the reigning European champions over the past three years
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not to mention his trophy cabinet reads as follows one Champions League one UEFA
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Super Cup one FIFA Intercontinental Cup two Coupe de France titles three French
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Super Cups and finally three Ligue 1 titles described as a player of action
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rather than a player of words by former youth coaches Zaya Emery is said to have
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had a detrimental effect on his teammates at a younger age that because previous coaches noted that whenever the team lost the ball Zaya Emery himself would recover possession putting his team back on the front foot pretty much single And so he was promoted from under 9s to under 11s
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and that was a pattern which continued throughout his youth career. Now, you don't need us to tell you that the boy's a bit special. He's done that himself
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by becoming both PSG and France's youngest ever player. Only Mamadou Sacco of Champs-Élysées
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Scooter and Liverpool fame as captain PSG at a younger age. He's worked under Thierry Henry
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Didier Deschamps and Luis Enrique all of whom recognise he's an elite level talent. But what
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you were really waiting for was the Joe Donoghue 4-4-2 co-sign weren't you? It's okay just admit
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you were. Colleagues of mine in the youth football world have compared Zaire Emery's emergence to
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that of Lamine Yemal minus of course the attacking highlight reel because of the different positions
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the two play. That's how good he's considered to be. Either way scouts and real ball appreciators
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has spot an outstanding natural talent, regardless of where they feature on the pitch
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It's got to the point now where, having only just turned 20, Zaire Emery's inclusion in Ballon d'Or long lists, PSG team sheets
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and Le Bleu's 26-man squad at this summer's World Cup isn't that notable anymore, when it really still should be
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Once upon a time, a leading sporting director told me that when he's watching young players, it's not about how much they get right
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but how little they get wrong. That particular individual was describing a midfield player
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and the same rings true for Zaire Emery. He just always seems to be in control, whether it's making passes, protecting possession, creating chances
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or simply being in the right position on the pitch when the opposition have the ball. He's there
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It's perhaps why, increasingly, Zaya Emery is being used as a right-back for PSG
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something which many managers have done with their sitting central midfielders to create a numerical superiority in that area of the pitch
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It also helps that Zaya Emery is an extremely effective ball progressor
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taking the ball in his stride and carrying upfield, often through lines. Could we see Zaya Emery playing right back for France this summer? Possibly, don't rule it out
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France boss Deschamps has tended to prefer Jules Koundé in that role, or Chelsea's Malagusto
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but Koundé recently suffered a minor hamstring tear, and Gusteau were not sold on
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particularly if the game doesn't require an overlapping, underlapping full-back. The World Cup is the global stage, and frankly, knockout football is the sort of environment
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where you need a cool head on young shoulders And we believe Zaya Emery is the man for the job When games can become stretched and the clock is ticking down he can defend and attack the big spaces that open up Now of course France have an abundance of midfield options
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all slightly different. But, in our humble opinion, we think the World Cup will be a far richer place
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with Zaire Emery in the States. Senegal and Norway in the group stage is no easy task
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and France could probably do with a player who's been making light work of the best that France and the rest of Europe has to offer for the past three years
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Do you want more from 442? then why not join our community with a completely free membership
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There's loads of benefits, including extra content, quizzes, Q&As, fan discussions, plus plenty more
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La Masia is the creme de la creme when it comes to producing young footballers
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It's where Lionel Messi came through after joining Barcelona at the age of 13
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And there's no greater argument than that for the place being a tremendous environment for developing players
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I would like to reel off a list of fellow academy graduates, but we're on a schedule here, there's other people wanting to use the studio and I really want to tell you about this one in particular
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If Zaire Emery is in with a good chance of making the France squad this summer, then Barcelona's Pau Cubasi is a near certainty for Spain's 26-man list
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Cubasi made his Spain international debut about two years ago at the age of 17, and strangely enough he was a full Spanish international before appearing with the under-21s for the first time
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There aren't going to be many players at the 2026 World Cup who jumped from under-17 to senior international in one leap, which was over the span of four months. Ridiculous
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The babyface central defender is the advert for Barcelona and Spain's youth football pathway
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If you're good enough, you're old enough, and it's never been truer than in Kubarsi's case
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He's not particularly tall, six foot and maybe a little bit, possibly even half an inch less than that, and how often can you say that about modern-day centre-halves
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He's not built like a brick shithouse either. But then again, name me a Barcelona Academy player, literally ever
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a Dama Traore aside, who has been. Koubasi is, oddly enough, the type of defender you line up against for the first time as an attacker
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and think, you know what, I could bully you today. And yet time and time again, it's the Barca boy who comes out on top
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He's a great passer of the ball because he keeps it simple and for his size does alright in the air, even if that isn't really his primary task
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And I know what you're thinking because I assumed it too. Ah Joe he does so well in Spain because La Liga isn anywhere near as physical as the Premier League And you be right it isn That doesn mean he hasn faced his fair share of imposing centre and rapid wingers cutting inside
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Take the 2024 Olympic final, for example. Kubarsi, Spain beat France in extra time
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a team which included the experienced front two of Alexandre Lacazette and Jean-Philippe Mateta
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Michael Alisse, as well as Ryan Shirky and Desiree Douay off the bench. Kubarsi made 14 clearances, seven of which were with his head
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and that's something he's not been forced to do week in, week out for Barcelona but crucially, it shows that he's capable
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Not convinced by his handling of those players? Alright, let's take a look at the forwards he faced as a 17-year-old
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during his first two Champions League appearances, Victor Ossiman and Kylian Mbappe
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Barcelona won both games against Napoli and PSG and while Mbappe grabbed a brace in the second leg that year
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ultimately knocking Barcelona out, 29th minute red card for Koubasi's centre-back partner, Ronald Arrojo
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definitely didn't help. Kubarsi's knowledge of the game is top of the pile. He reads it like he's been doing it a decade
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And this is a small thing, but given his age, it's noteworthy. He likes dinking the ball out towards the left flank with these mini switches of play
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from that right-sided centre-back position. Yes, he keeps it simple most of the time, but when a more ambitious pass is on, he makes it
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And that long passing is only going to improve the more he matures and the longer he remains in this possession-dominant Barca team
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Just a quick side note. Can you imagine two players of La Minha Mal and Pau Kubarsi's quality
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coming through the same academy at the same time. That's the reality at Barcelona
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Both born in 2007, separated by six months in age, arguably the best teenagers in the world in their respective positions
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How much are they going to save Barcelona in transfer fees? You know what? It doesn't bear thinking about
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Would Koubasi get on as well in the Premier League? No, he wouldn't, not right now. But this is the World Cup we're talking about
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Games decided by moments and Koubasi's pretty effective at snuffing them out as a last man when the situation requires it
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And considering Spain's group, alongside Uruguay, Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia, they're very likely going to see loads of the ball
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So who better to be starting your moves from the back than the youngster schooled at the home of Tiki Taka
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Remember to subscribe to 442 for more Boys A Bit Special, unique stories, wonder kids, scout reports
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football documentary shorts and so much more. We'll have much more pre-World Cup content coming on this channel in the coming weeks and months
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and we've got exciting plans for the tournament itself this summer. So make sure you're subscribed
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Until next time, bye for now
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