FIFA World Cup 2018 fever is on: These are the hottest footballers to look out for

Position: Forward

From the Japan National Football Team, Yoshinori made his international debut back in September 2014. Since then, this tall (1.78m) football player has scored a total of 49 goals throughout his career that eventually put him in the international spotlight. In 2015, Chelsea made a £4 million (S$7.2 million) bid to sign him over to their team, to which Muto declined and joined the German club, Mainz, instead, in order to play at his own level. We give him a top marks for humility. If Japan performs well this FIFA season, the boyish forward might just walk away with the best birthday present of his life: He turns 25 next month in July on the 15th, incidentally the very last day of the 2018 World Cup.

Photo: Instagram/ @yoshinori_muto_09

ALSO READ: A WOMAN’S ALL-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW SURVIVAL GUIDE TO FIFA WORLD CUP 2018

Position: Centre-back

This head-turner has quite an appetite for celebrities. In 2014, he was romantically linked to Japanese media personality tarento Arie Mizusawa. This year, marriage is on the cards with yet another celebrity: Tomoaki will be marrying Japanese film and television actress Takanashi Rin, whom he has been dating since 2016.

Now, onto more serious matters: Chosen to play for the Japanese team in this season’s FIFA World Cup, the 31-year-old Japanese footballer debuted internationally back in 2010. With a charming maturity, the tanned Hiroshima-born player tallied a total of 28 goals during his tenure at Urawa Red Diamonds since 2012 — a track record that would come in handy when Japan goes up against Colombia during their first match. 

Photo: Instagram/ @makino.5_official

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Position: Central midfielder

As the captain of the South Korean National Football Team, this 29-year-old Korean heart throb made his country proud at the Summer 2012 Olympics Football game, where his team came in as second runner up, and later helped his team seize a silver at the AFC Asian Cup in 2015. He is known for his superb long-range ball passing and shooting. But alas, Ki is off the market, and there should be no problems finding Instagram shots of his wife and with his wife on Instagram: She is after all, Korean celebrity Han Hye-Jin. Both devout Christians, they have a beautiful three-year-old daughter together.

Photo: Instagram / underhiswings2016

ALSO READ: A WOMAN’S ALL-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW SURVIVAL GUIDE TO FIFA WORLD CUP 2018

Position: Forward

This year, the 19-year-old Mbappé will play for Paris’ Saint-Germain Football Club. His loan fee to Monaco was tagged with a cool €180 million (an approximate S$284million!) paid by Paris Saint-Germain to Monaco. And why not? Back with Monaco’s football club, he scored an impressive total of 31 goals in just 4 years. At this price tag, he’s the second most expensive player the Parisian team had invested in, the first being his teammate, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior.

Photo: Instagram/ @k.mbappe29

ALSO READ: WE’RE WISHING A HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO THESE HOT CELEBRITY DADS

Position: Forward

Joining the Italian club Napoli for a whooping €35 million back in 2016, the 24-year-old Polish football star suffered from a series of unfortunate injuries — he had tore both of his anterior cruciate ligament, first with his right knee, followed by his other knee within a period of 12 months — during his tenure. After going through recoveries, Milik is back for this year’s World Cup. Though he has not won any awards to date, he will always be remembered as that guy who scored the opening goal against both Germany and Northern Ireland at the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Euro in 2016.

Photo: Instagram/ @arekmilik

ALSO READ: WE’RE WISHING A HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO THESE HOT CELEBRITY DADS

Position: Defender

From the Morocco’s National Football Team, da Costa stands at a statuesque 1.94m, owns a bad boy swagger and a full sleeve tattoo. The 33-year-old Portguese-Moroccan had quite a nomadic career. He was first with France’s AS Nancy, Dutch’s PSV Eindhoven and then Portugal U-21 (Under 21), before settling down at Lions of the Atlas (a nickname for Morocco’s team). He managed to score two goals that eventually sealed the victory against Uzbekistan in a friendly match early this year in March. Guys who score? We adore.

Photo: Instagram/ @manueldacosta_official

ALSO READ: A WOMAN’S ALL-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW SURVIVAL GUIDE TO FIFA WORLD CUP 2018

Position: Midfielder

Spanish heartthrob Isco plays for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. Starting off his career at Valencia and being a part of Spain’s final squad for the World Cup 2018, Italian star Marco Verratti once complimented him on his outstanding talent, telling the reporters that he had “suffered a lot against [the game with] Isco” back in the World Cup qualifiers in 2017. Making his international debut back in 2009 with Spain’s U17 team, Isco will be remembered for a few memorable game-plays — which include perfect passes, drifting a shot that scores into the goal’s top corner, as well as the ability to effortlessly dribble through two to three incoming players. This hombre’s got some moves.

Photo: Instagram/ @iscoalarcon

ALSO READ: A WOMAN’S ALL-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW SURVIVAL GUIDE TO FIFA WORLD CUP 2018

Position: Forward/Midfielder

South American Paulo Dybala, 24, plays for Juventus Football Club and Argentina’s national team. Labelled by football media (including The Independent UK) as Lionel Messi’s “heir apparent”, his playing style is often compared to Messi’s. The boyish Dybala is known for his versatility as a forward to play in any offensive position — he has been deployed to be a main striker, a centre-forward and a supporting forward before in a few of his previous games. 

One of the top names in world football, Dybala has a way with extremely beautiful women. Since 2017, he has been dating Italian model Ginevra Sozzi, whom he encountered by chance on the Spanish island of Formentera. Sozzi claims she has no idea who he was when they first met, but fell for his charms: “Since then, he flirted with me through messages and charming gestures.” Hmmm, we wonder what those flirty messages were.

Photo: Instagram/ @paulodybala

ALSO READ: A WOMAN’S ALL-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW SURVIVAL GUIDE TO FIFA WORLD CUP 2018

Position: Midfielder

Playing for Uruguay’s national team in this year’s FIFA World Cup 2018, we set sights on the 20-year-old Rodrigo Bentancur, not just for his charming looks, but for his exceptional passing ability too. He was noted as a key player with the Uruguay team that emerged champion during the American U-20 Championship back in February last year. Not only is he suave, but he’s also a versatile midfielder, who is able to play switch up defensive midfielder, central midfielder and winger roles too.

Photo: Instagram/ @rodrigo_bentancur

ALSO READ: WE’RE WISHING A HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO THESE HOT CELEBRITY DADS

Position: Defender

Rezaeian will be playing for the Iran National Football Team at this year’s FIFA World Cup. Recognized for his strong dribbling and swift legwork, this 28 year old Iranian player can be categorised as one of those lookers who are “tall, dark and handsome”. And bearded. Aside from his suave looks, together with his ex-team Persepolis FC, they won the annual Iranian Pro League in the 2016/17 season.

Photo: Instagram/ @raminrezaeian

ALSO READ: A WOMAN’S ALL-YOU-NEED-TO-KNOW SURVIVAL GUIDE TO FIFA WORLD CUP 2018