According to BBC Sport, Ayyoub Bouaddi is the eighteen-year-old midfielder who's making waves for Morocco at the World Cup—and he's the reason many thought he should've played for France instead. Born in northern France and representing Lille in Ligue One, Bouaddi chose Morocco, inspired by watching the national team at the two-thousand-eighteen World Cup. In his debut against Brazil last week, the teenager put on a masterclass: eighty-seven touches, sixty completed passes—more than any other Moroccan player—and nine duels won, including an unforgettable encounter with veteran Casemiro. Olivier Giroud, his Lille teammate and World Cup winner, says Bouaddi reminds him of a young Kylian Mbappe. At just seventeen, he helped Lille beat Real Madrid in the Champions League. Off the pitch, Bouaddi's equally impressive—he's studying mathematics while breaking records as Lille's youngest-ever senior player. He's been linked with Arsenal, PSG, and Liverpool.

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