What happened to the 50 players L'Equipe named the best young footballers on the planet in 2021

Talent identification in football is getting better and better, and the media are as good as the recruitment industry when it comes to picking out the top prospects for tomorrow.

Back in 2021, renowned French sport title L'Equipe published a list of the best 50 young players in world football. The list offered up a half-ton of players born in 2001 or later whose futures in the game were set to be the stuff of dreams.

Lists of this kind are hit and miss by definition but the scouts and analysts compiling them are people who really know their football and four years, really, isn't very long.

But there are always players who have to settle for mere success in football rather than superstardom, and there are others who drift away from the spotlight altogether.

The 2021 L'Equipe list includes plenty of big winners identified early.

Pedri, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala haven't surprised anyone with their progress.

Some others have outdone expectations. Others still have a way to go.

Here's a selection of the most eye-catching surprises four years later.

Myron Boadu

Now 24, former AZ striker Boadu moved to Monaco soon after the publication of the list from L'Equipe. He has played more than 50 league matches for his new club but was loaned to both Twente and Bochum last year. He has a single Netherlands cap to his name after his international debut in 2019.

Mohamed Ihattaren

Another young Dutch forward, Ihattaren left PSV for Juventus in 2021 and has frequently been accused of lacking fitness and professionalism throughout a handful of unsuccessful loans. He left Turin by mutual consent in 2023 having never played a game, joining Slavia Prague as a free agent and then having his contract terminated without an appearance there, too. He signed for RKC Waalwijk last September.

Josko Gvardiol

After impressing at the 2022 World Cup, Zagreb-born defender Gvardiol got the move to Manchester City that sealed his long-expected ascent to the top. In 2021, he was a relatively new signing for RB Leipzig from Dinamo Zagreb. Big things were expected in his future but those World Cup displays for Croatia supercharged his rise.

Josko Gvardiol in action for Manchester City (Image: Getty)

Charles De Ketelaere

24-year-old De Ketelaere can be regarded as a more modest success but he has won more than 20 Belgium caps and is highly regarded in Italian football. He joined AC Milan from Club Brugge in 2022, moving on loan and then permanently to Atalanta, where he has been lauded for his consistency in the past two seasons.

Kaio Jorge

In 2021, Brazilian striker Jorge was being lined up for a move from Santos to Juventus. He suffered a quad injury six days after his move was announced. He played a few games as a substitute for the Bianconeri but another injury, sustained while playing for the U23 side, dented his development further. After a season on loan with Frosinone in Serie A, Jorge returned to Brazil and signed for Cruzeiro last summer.

Becir Omeragic

23-year-old Swiss defender Omeragic was picked out by L'Equipe as a Zurich player in the Swiss Super League and has just been relegated to France's second tier with Montpellier, part of the first Paillade squad to drop out of Ligue 1 for 16 years.

Michael Olise

He's now a globally recognised star and was one of the key players in Bayern Munich's Bundesliga win in 2024-25, and Olise's evolution has been phenomenal. He's long been considered a top prospect but Reading to Bayern in four years is terrific progress in anyone's money.

Fabio Silva

Silva signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers from Porto, obviously, and Wolves are still his parent club. He's had loans at Anderlecht, PSV, Rangers and Las Palmas, where the occasionally divisive 22-year-old finally earned a maiden senior cap for Portugal.

Nicolas Raskin

A former Rangers teammate of Silva, Belgian midfielder Raskin moved from Standard Liege to Ibrox in 2023 and has been wrapped up in two-and-a-half tame seasons for the Gers. Earlier this year he was selected for Belgium for the first time and made his international debut in March.

L'Equipe's list in full

Ansu Fati

Eduardo Camavinga

Ryan Gravenberch

Pedri

Giovanni Reyna

Jude Bellingham

Yari Verschaeren

Mason Greenwood

Bukayo Saka

Myron Boadu

Florian Wirtz

Nuno Mendes

Harvey Elliott

Mohamed Ihattaren

Youssoufa Moukoko

Josko Gvardiol

Curtis Jones

Thiago Almada

Yunus Musah

Noni Madueke

Charles De Ketelaere

Jeremy Doku

Ilya Zabarnyi

Kaio Jorge

Becir Omeragic

Filip Stevanovic

Jamal Musiala

Kamaldeen Sulemana

Adam Hlozek

Anatoliy Troubine

Benoit Badiashile

Rodrygo

Gabriel Martinelli

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Gabriel Veron

Moises Caicedo

Christos Tzolis

Michael Olise

Ander Barrenetxea

Aster Vranckx

Fabio Silva

Matias Areza

Leonidas Stergiou

Nicolas Raskin

Aaron Hickey

Alan Velasco

Arnaud Kalimuendo

Lassina Traore

David Strelec

Rayan Cherki