Lionel Messi’s latest adidas-backed list of rising players offers a useful checkpoint on how modern talent develops. The campaign includes Kees Smit, while the previous two editions, released in 2024 and 2025, give a wider picture of where Messi’s earlier selections now stand.

Some have moved forward quickly. Kenan Yıldız had already built a reputation when he earned Messi’s backing, and he has since become a key figure for Juventus, taking the club’s No. 10 shirt and establishing himself as one of the more advanced young forwards on the list. Vicky López has also added to an already strong résumé at Barcelona Femení, where she has won 16 major honours and collected both the TuttoSport ‘Golden Girl’ award in 2024 and the Kopa Trophy a year later.

Jaedyn Shaw continues to carry her reputation across club and country. After debuting in the NWSL as a 17-year-old, she now has 30 USWNT caps and 10 goals, while 2026 has brought another productive spell in the NWSL. Antonio Nusa has responded well to his move to RB Leipzig, where Martin Demichelis called him “one of the best wingers in the world”. Assan Ouédraogo has also started to emerge after a quiet opening season in Saxony.

Elsewhere, the picture is less settled. Joel Ndala has struggled to turn early promise into sustained progress and is now at Cercle Brugge. Claudio Echeverri, still on Manchester City’s books, is spending the 2026-27 campaign with Benfica after loan spells at Bayer Leverkusen and Girona. Eliesse Ben Seghir, Rodrigo Mora, Lily Yohannes and Mika Godts have all shown flashes, but each is still at a different stage of development.

There are also cautionary cases. Kendry Páez has not yet made a senior Chelsea appearance, while Mohamed Kader Meïté has yet to fully deliver at Al Hilal. Brajan Gruda, meanwhile, is on loan at RB Leipzig from Brighton & Hove Albion, where he recently scored a decisive Champions League goal. Messi’s list, in short, has produced both clear successes and unfinished stories.

Norway manager Ståle Solbakken has moved to ease concern over Erling Haaland after the forward was withdrawn early, framing the decision as the result of exhaustion rather than anything more serious. He pointed to what he called a relentless workload, saying it is all part of an increasingly punishing football calendar.

“There are many players who are really exhausted,” Solbakken explained. “[Sander] Berge and [Martin] Ødegaard are practically scraping rock bottom. Erling was digging deep for a long time. I think he took a real beating and served as an excellent target man. We were hoping for 60, and he managed 65. That’s a lot of positives.”

Going into the match against Portugal in Porto, Haaland already knew he might not complete the full game. There was some thought given to protecting him for the second half, but that plan was quickly ruled out.

“He put in a good 60 minutes today,” Solbakken reasoned. “He played two full 90-minute matches against Denmark and Portugal. He was tired against Wales. That’s why we had a heart-to-heart yesterday. We went through the various possibilities.

“He could perhaps have played the last 45 minutes against Portugal. That was a topic of discussion. But he has a really bad feeling about that kind of thing. He’s had experiences where he was brought on in the League Cup, and it didn’t go particularly well. I’m very pleased that he managed to dig deep and deliver a good 60 minutes.”

With Norway’s internationals complete and Manchester City not back in action until Sunday’s trip to Anfield, Haaland now has a brief break. Norwegian outlet Dagbladet reported that he travelled from Portugal to Málaga for some warm weather after the fixture.

Solbakken was blunt about the broader strain on players, especially those in the Champions League and those with limited rest after major summer tournaments. “It’s a grueling schedule,” he lamented. “For those playing in the Champions League who’ve had little time off, it’s more brutal than for the others. Especially for the players who didn’t get a summer break because of the World Cup and going deep into the tournament. We did that.

“Having so little vacation and then heading straight into high-intensity leagues—and then you have this international break on top of that—it’s not about making excuses. It’s just insane. Especially for the smaller nations.”

Haaland remains near the top of the minutes table despite the heavy load, sitting third on 2,789 minutes. He is, as the draft notes, a victim of his own success: too important to leave out, and now feeling the strain that comes with that demand.

Cristiano Ronaldo has rarely been a player to absorb frustration quietly. Across club and international football, his reactions have often become part of the story, alongside the goals and the silverware.

One of the most talked-about moments came in a World Cup qualifier against Serbia, when Ronaldo believed he had scored a late winner after getting to the ball before the goalkeeper. Stefan Mitrović then cleared it from clearly behind the line, but with no VAR available the referee allowed play to continue. Ronaldo reacted with visible anger, threw his armband to the ground after being booked for dissent, and later wrote on social media: “There are difficult times to deal with, especially when we feel that an entire nation is being harmed.”

That was not the first time his armband became a casualty of frustration. In a 2010 friendly against Spain, Ronaldo produced a superb finish that should have stood, only for Nani to head in from an offside position. The goal was disallowed, and Ronaldo responded by making a strange little dance on the spot before dropping his armband to the grass. Portugal still won 4-0, though the decision clearly did little to calm him.

There was also his reaction during a league match for Real Madrid against Almería in the closing stages of the 2014-15 season. Álvaro Arbeloa scored from a cross when Ronaldo had been positioned at the back post and ready to add to his own tally. While the rest of the side celebrated, Ronaldo smashed the ball back into the net in anger.

His Manchester United return in 2021 also produced an ugly moment. After a 1-0 defeat away at Goodison Park, Ronaldo was filmed swiping a phone from a young fan’s hands as he walked down the tunnel. He later received a two-match ban and was cautioned by the police.

The 2022 World Cup brought another difficult chapter. Ronaldo scored once from the penalty spot in the group stage, then reacted badly when substituted in a 2-1 defeat to South Korea. Fernando Santos later said, “I didn’t like it, not at all. I didn’t like it.” Ronaldo was then left out against Switzerland, where Gonçalo Ramos scored a hat trick.