The 6 Wonderkids Tipped To ‘Dominate’ World Football in 2019

In 2019, French outlet L’Equipe singled out six stars who would go on to ‘dominate world football’, but not all the picks have lived up to expectations so far. There should be a lot of emphasis on the latter part of that statement, considering the famous six all have plenty of years left in the tank.

The list included players from across Europe, notably Spain and Italy, but a Scotland-based superstar also made the cut. It was part of their ‘The Wonders of European Football’ where the sole focus was to introduce football fans, from all corners of the world to the stars they expected to be at the forefront of the game for years and years to come.

But that has turned out not to be the case. Although some of the listed players have continued their careers at a reasonable level, others have struggled – with one currently without a club. With that in mind, here is the latest on all the players touted by L’Equipe as being stars of the future.

L’Equipe’s Stars of the Future

Player
Club Then (2019)
Club Now (2024)

Ansu Fati
Barcelona
Barcelona

Sebastiano Esposito
Inter Milan
Inter Milan

Karim Adeyemi
Red Bull Salzburg
Borussia Dortmund

Mohamed Ihattaren
PSV
Free Agent

Joelson Fernandes
Sporting Lisbon
Hatayspor

6Karamoko Dembele

Current club: Stade Brestois

Lauded as “vivid and agile” by L’Equipe, the London-born star has now left Celtic to play in France for Stade Brestois. Karamoko Dembele was just 16 years of age at the time and was in the middle of a tug-of-war battle between Scotland and England as the two nations locked horns to win his allegiance.

A widely known starlet from a young age that will be synonymous among British fans, Dembele made his debut for the U20 side at Celtic at just 13, and it was just three years later that he was thrown in the deep end with the first team. Destined for greatness while plying his trade in Scotland, it’s fair to say that it never quite happened for the former prodigy – with injuries playing a key role in his struggles.

Still only 21, his time in France has been underwhelming and he is yet to score or even register an assist for Brest, although did enjoy his time on loan at Blackpool in 2023/2024 netting 9 goals and claiming 14 assists in 47 outings. This was enough to see him pick up the Players’ Player of the Season’ and ‘Supporters’ Player of the Season awards.

5Ansu Fati

Current club: Barcelona

Ansu Fati, who spent the majority of his early career at Barcelona, is the most high-profile name on the list and may well still hold the most promise despite his difficulties of late. Admittedly, the youngster has probably not been helped by receiving the fabled number 10 shirt on Lionel Messi’s departure, while also being handed an eye-water £850m release clause.

2023/24 was seen a crucial campaign for the Spaniard as he looked to fully bounce back from a damning string of injury woes, but he sadly failed to impress in England. Spending the campaign on loan at Brighton, Fati bagged just two goals in 19 appearances, struggling to nail a regular spot in the team. He will hope to impress new Barca boss Hansi Flick upon his return to Spain, but the 21-year-old’s career is in danger of faltering before ever really firing, having been linked with a move to Turkey this summer, while Wolves could also be a destination.

Big things were expected from these guys and while some of them more than lived up to the hype, others certainly didn’t.

4Sebastiano Esposito

Current club: Inter Milan

At the ripe age of 16, Sebastiano Esposito made his league debut for Inter Milan which just highlighted how much belief the club’s staff had in him. Back in 2019, the centre-forward, who continued to show heaps of promise, also became the club’s youngest player to feature in a European competition. But, his career since has panned out in quite dissimilar to what L’Equipe had predicted.

He may still be on Inter’s books, but the youngster, now 21, has made just 15 senior appearances, having been loaned out on six separate occasions, spending the 2023/24 campaign with Serie B side Sampdoria (bagging six goals and six assists in 23 outings). The latest news is that he could go on loan again next season, this time to Empoli.

3Karim Adeyemi

Current club: Borussia Dortmund

The Munchen-born ace was part of the Borussia Dortmund squad that were a mere 90 minutes away from Bundesliga glory in 2022/23 and then fell just short a season later, losing to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

Karim Adeyemi was highly thought of when he arrived at Signal Iduna Park – having spent a couple of years at Bayern Munich at youth level before impressing with Red Bull Salzburg – but with just three league goals to his name in his second season with Dortmund, his time with the club has been a bit hit and miss.

In his first season for his current employers, he picked up nine goals and six assists in 32 games, but managed just five and two in 34 matches across the next campaign. Still, playing in all but one game as his side made the Champions League final hasn’t hurt his reputation, and he is now consequently being linked with a move to Chelsea.

2Mohamed Ihattaren

Current club: Free Agent

Off the back of winning the Euro U17 championship a year prior to when the list was formed, Mohamed Ihattaren caught the eye of the L’Equipe. Not forgetting he was primarily a highly-rated youngster in the PSV Eindhoven ranks. His ever-growing promise he showed at PSV was rewarded with an under-the-radar move to Serie A outfit Juventus, but he failed to hit the ground running in Turin.

Two loan moves to Sampdoria and Ajax followed, but the 22-year-old couldn’t impress during those spells either. Reports did actually claim the Utrecht-born player was considering retirement amid struggles with depression but he made a move to Turkish outfit Samsunspor before being picked up by Slavia Prague. However, in March 2024, Ihattaren’s contract was terminated by mutual consent having failed to make an appearance for the Czech club.

finds himself low down the pecking order at the Allianz Stadium, with reports suggesting the Utrecht-born player is considering retirement.

Sadly, the Dutchman has been on the verge of a very premature retirement for a while due to suffering from depression.

1Joelson Fernandes

Current club: Hatayspor

The former Sporting Lisbon academy prospect was linked with Premier League side Arsenal in the past, proving that his inclusion in L’Equipe list had some, albeit little, substance to it. Joelson Fernandes left Lisbon – having failed to score a senior goal in four outings – to permanently join Hatayspor in Turkey in the summer of 2023.

Being dubbed as the ‘new Cristiano Ronaldo’ is probably one of the most unhelpful labels to have, but being mentored by the seasoned Bruno Fernandes during his sporting days would have helped drastically. He once spoke about the ‘pressure’ of being compared to some of football’s great and how he handles it, telling Joueurspt:

“It is sure that being compared to his players puts a little extra pressure on me. I try to follow their example and play the best I can in every game.”

He is still yet to register a goal in 35 outings for Hatayspor but does have four assists. Maybe that ‘extra pressure’ hasn’t helped or maybe, sill at just 21 years of age, the best is yet to come.