Every big tournament discovers new names. Players who were hardly known to fans suddenly become heroes. Here are a few examples from the current World Cup.

Benjamin Pavard (France)

Many people were surprised when Didier Deschamps included Pavard into the French squad for the World Cup. However, the coach ingored sceptics, making the 22-year-old the first-choice right defender instead of Djibril Sidibe. And Deschamps' trust paid off, as Benjamin not just does well in defence, but also has scored a brilliant goal against Argentina. Two years ago, Pavar's home team Lille did not really need him, and the player took a gamble by moving to Germany's Stuttgart. Now it is obvious that he made the right choice - for the last two years, Benjamin has made a huge progress and is now just a step away from a world champion title.


Ante Rebic (Croatia)

Four years ago, he was seen as a possible revelation of the World Cup in Brazil, but did not live up to expectations. Later he was not called up for the national team during two and a half years - from June 2015 to November 2017. Rebic's club career also stagnated at the time, but last year he blossomed at Eintracht Frankfurt under the guidance of a fellow Croat Niko Kovac. In May, Rebic's two goals against Bayern helped Eintracht to win the German Cup. And now he is close to winning a much bigger trophy, the World Cup.

Yerry Mina (Colombia)

Despite spending the second part of the last season at Barcelona, Mina did not play much for the Catalan club. But now, after a successful World Cup, the 195-cm Colombian has a chance to establish himself as Barca's key central defender. After all, it was him who became the team's best scorer at the tournament - not Radamel Falcao, James Rodrigues or Juan Cuadrado. Mina's three goals is one of the best results in the World Cup history for a defender, and all his goals were very valuable. 

Kieran Trippier (England)

The 27-year-old Tottenham player is a late bloomer who made his debut for England only last year. Before the World Cup, he was already well-known in his homeland, but not so much in the outside world. But in Russia, Trippier has become a key element in Gareth Southgate's tactics. Now it is hard to imagine the Three Lions without Kieran, whose playmaking talent and the ability to deliver set pieces has helped England to reach the semi-final.


Denis Cheryshev (Russia)

Another 27-year-old, the Russian grew up in Spain, where fis father Dmitri, also a footballer, used to play in the 90s. He started his career at Real, but played just two matches for Madrid's main team before landing at Sevilla, Valencia and later Villarrereal. Cheryshev started the World Cup on the bench, but replaced the injured Alan Dzagoev in the opening match with Saudi Arabia - and went on to finish the tournament with four goals. Actually he boasts the same stats as Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaky, and only Harry Kane has a bigger tally with six goals.