Playing at a World Cup is deemed the pinnacle for any aspiring player, and the chance to represent your nation on the global stage may only come around once - if at all. Yet, for some, the door to such opportunity opens far earlier than others.
While most teams are stocked with the most established and battle-hardened footballers their countries can offer, there are a few rare exceptions for whom sheer raw talent at a tender age forces their national coach's hand.
Down the years, several young guns have had a major impact on World Cups, and the competition's list of 'Best Young Player' awards is illustrious. But not many have made their mark while still a teenager - still fewer have gone all the way and won it.
This winter, perhaps only a talented quartet are well placed to follow that path, as Spanish starlets Pedri and Gavi join German prodigies Jamal Musiala and Youssoufa Moukoko in heading to the Middle East.
Before the action kicks off in Qatar, Sports Mole recalls some of the teenage tyros to have created a stir at football's grand global gathering.
10. Vladimir Petrovic (Yugoslavia, 1974)
Having started out at hometown club Red Star Belgrade - making his debut in 1971, at the age of 16 - Petrovic went on to win five Yugoslav League Championship titles, six national cups, and reach the final of the 1979 UEFA Cup, before being named 1980's Yugoslav Footballer of the Year.
His early arrival on the scene as a schoolboy caught the eye of legendary national coach Miljan Miljanic, who selected the young midfielder for the 1974 World Cup in Germany, aged just 18.
At a tournament where Yugoslavia reached the second group stage, Petrovic played in two games - starting against Sweden, then coming on as a substitute versus Brazil.
In 1982, rules around transfers were relaxed and he moved abroad, briefly featuring for Arsenal during that year. In all, Petrovic represented Yugoslavia 34 times and went on to manage Serbia in 2010, as part of a peripatetic coaching career.
9. Norman Whiteside (Northern Ireland, 1982)
Not many men break one of Pele's World Cup records, but in 1982, Whiteside did so when he became the youngest player in the tournament's history.
An appearance in Northern Ireland's first game versus Yugoslavia, aged only 17 years and 41 days, was the start of a superb run in which his nation beat hosts Spain to top their group, before being knocked out in the following round - the teenager featured in all five of their games.
As a versatile forward or midfielder, Belfast-born Whiteside spent most of his playing days at Manchester United, where he made more than 200 appearances across seven years before hanging up his boots early once an injury-ravaged spell at Everton ended at the age of 26.
While that brought an untimely conclusion to a once-promising career, he had already broken records as the youngest player to score in League Cup and FA Cup finals, and the youngest player to score a senior goal for United, also going on to find the net for his country at Mexico '86.
8. Christian Eriksen (Denmark, 2010)
Having made a miraculous recovery from his pitchside cardiac arrest in Copenhagen at Euro 2020, Eriksen is now set for his third appearance at a World Cup finals.
As a talented teenager, fresh from the Ajax academy, the playmaker was selected by Denmark to feature at the 2010 tournament in South Africa, and ultimately appeared in two matches.
While the Danes failed to progress from the group stage, Morten Olsen's call-up made Eriksen the youngest player participating at the first-ever African finals. When he finally returned to the global stage at Russia 2018, he then affirmed his status as one of Europe's most gifted midfielders.
Twelve years on from his World Cup debut, the Manchester United maestro has surpassed 100 caps for his country, played in the 2019 Champions League final, and won the Scudetto during a brief spell in Serie A.
7. Manuel Rosas (Mexico, 1930)
A footballer born to break records, Manuel Rosas - who was born in Mexico City, in 1912 - took part in the inaugural World Cup, some 92 years ago.
Nicknamed 'Chaquetas', the 18-year-old not only had the honour of representing his nation at the first-ever finals, held in Uruguay, but also became the first player to score from a penalty.
His spot kick against Argentina set the bar for youngest World Cup goalscorer, later broken by Pele, and for good measure he then became the first player to score an own goal in the competition.
The defender, of Atlante FC, joined his older brother Felipe at the finals, and both names have been etched in Mexican football history ever since.
6. Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, 1998)
Some 16 years to the day after Whiteside made his World Cup debut, Eto'o took to the field in France, during Cameroon's 3-0 defeat to Italy. In the 1998 event, he was the youngest player to appear.
Then a highly-rated prospect at Real Madrid, the multi-talented forward had actually made his international bow a day before his 16th birthday, but his brief cameo versus the Azzurri barely offered time to make an impression.
Nonetheless, the then 17-year-old would reach three more global finals with the Indomitable Lions, while also winning the Africa Cup of Nations twice in two years and an Olympic gold medal at the Sydney 2000 games.
Finishing up as a multiple Champions League winner with Barcelona and Inter, the four-time African Player of the Year is also Cameroon's all-time leading scorer with 56 goals.
5. Gianni Rivera (Italy, 1962)
An iconic figure in Calcio throughout the 1960s and beyond, AC Milan legend Rivera is perhaps best known for his part in Italy's run to the World Cup final of 1970, where they were dismantled by the brilliant Brazil.
As the youngest player appearing at the 1962 edition, hosted by Chile, 18-year-old Rivera made his competition debut against West Germany, but the Azzurri were held to a goalless draw and ultimately crashed out.
The 1969 Ballon d'Or winner had already represented his country at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and went on to play at three more World Cups. He also became a European champion when Italy claimed the continental title on home soil in 1968.
At Milan, where he played for almost two decades - most of which as captain - the sublimely-talented midfielder lifted the European Cup twice, also winning three Scudetti for good measure.
4. Tostao (Brazil, 1966)
Aged 19, Eduardo Goncalves de Andrade - or simply 'Tostao' - was the youngest player at the 1966 World Cup in England, where Brazil defended their title won four years earlier in Chile.
With his attacking partner Pele being kicked from pillar to post during that tournament, though, the Selecao were sent packing after just three group games.
Small and slight, but a mercurial presence with great dribbling and passing ability, the boy from Belo Horizonte then became an essential cog in Brazil's incomparable 1970 World Cup-winning squad.
Having spent most of his career in his home state with Cruzeiro, due to injury, Tostao ('Little Coin') was forced to finish his career early, at the age of only 27.
3. Ronaldo (Brazil, 1994)
Kicking off a phenomenal career in the beautiful game, by the age of 17, Ronaldo was already a world champion with Brazil.
Though, as an unused squad member, the young forward did not play a single minute in the USA, his role was far more significant in the next three World Cups: he inspired the Selecao to the 1998 final before a pre-match illness diminished his presence in Paris, and then led from the front as Brazil were crowned champions again in 2002.
Scoring nine goals in the process, 'O Fenomeno' guaranteed he would go down as an all-time great in the South American nation, and he also took the European club game by storm throughout the 1990s.
Representing bitter rivals Barcelona and Real, and playing in both Nerazzurri and Rossoneri colours with Inter and then Milan, the multi-faceted forward redefined what it meant to be a 'number nine' and remained a prolific goalscorer despite suffering several serious injuries.
2. Kylian Mbappe (France, 2018)
Having already become the youngest player to score his 10th Champions League goal earlier that season, Mbappe also ended a successful 2017-18 campaign as a Ligue 1 champion with hometown club Paris Saint-Germain; therefore, Didier Deschamps had no hesitation in calling the jet-heeled forward up to the France squad for the World Cup in Russia.
His first finals goal - the decider in a 1-0 win over Peru - made him the youngest French goalscorer in World Cup history at the age of 19, and he was later named man of the match in Les Bleus' 4-3 win over Argentina - scoring twice and winning a penalty.
In so doing, Mbappe became only the second teenager to score twice in a World Cup match after Pele achieved the same feat back in 1958.
After the ex-Monaco man scored against Croatia in the final, he not only was crowned FIFA's Best Young Player but also matched the Brazilian icon again, as the second teen to score in the World Cup's showpiece finale. Pele then congratulated the prodigious forward on social media, stating: "Welcome to the club!"
1. Pele (Brazil, 1958)
Given numerous references throughout our rundown of teen talents to have graced the world stage, it comes as no surprise that top spot in this list goes to Pele.
The all-time great's first involvement in a World Cup came at the 1958 finals in Sweden, where the Santos striker started against the Soviet Union, becoming the youngest player to have featured at a finals.
Later on in a remarkable tournament for the boy from Minas Gerais state, he also wrote his name in the record books as the youngest player to score a hat-trick and the youngest to win a World Cup final; Pele found the net twice to help Brazil lift the trophy for the first time, at the age of just 17 years and 249 days.
Iconic images of the Selecao's young star crying with joy atop his teammates' shoulders were then shared around the globe, and that was just the start. The Brazilians established a football dynasty with Pele at the forefront, and he was a world champion twice more - in 1962 and 1970 - to become the first and still only three-time winner of the competition.
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