The second edition of the men’s side of FIFA Series 2026™ action concluded earlier this week in Astana, with Kazakhstan downing Comoros. That completed a perfect tournament for the hosts, with the dynamic right winger Islam Chesnokov again impressing as he created the Kazakh winner.
The 26-year-old forward was named the Player of the Tournament for the Kazakhstan round of matches, with the other eight winners representing a cross-section of emerging and established stars.
FIFA recaps each of the individual award winners from the nine series, played across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and Oceania.
One of the most electric attacking talents to have emerged from the country in many years, 20-year-old Nestory Irankunda lived up to that billing with a late brace helping Australia cruise to an eye-catching 5-1 win against Curaçao in their second match.
There were seven different scorers in Azerbaijan’s back-to-back wins over St Lucia and Sierra Leona (on penalties) and while Elvin Cafarguliyev wasn’t on that list he did play a crucial creative role. Lining up as the left midfielder in his team’s 3-4-1-2 set-up, the 25-year-old produced two assists in the opening match and was a constant threat in the second.
Saudi-based forward Marin Petkov was a key attacking force in a Bulgarian side that dazzled with back-to-back wins over the Solomon Islands and Indonesia. A pair of goals in the first and another in the second enhanced the 22-year-old right winger’s growing reputation.
Aggressive in his pressing off the ball and dynamic on it, Islam Chesnokov was a constant threat down the Kazakhstan right, laying on his nation’s winner in their second outing against Comoros.
Somewhat surprise table-toppers in the New Zealand round of matches, Finland were powered by the versatile Naatan Skytta. The 23-year-old Germany-based forward started on the right flank in the opener against the hosts and then the left in a 1-1 draw with Cabo Verde, where he scored his nation’s lone goal before they fell on penalties.
Part of the Real Madrid set-up, Jeremy de Leon is the great young hope of Puerto Rican football and lived up to that billing in the home series in Bayamon. The versatile forward had an assist in the team’s opening win against Guam and was on target as they backed that up with victory over US Virgin Islands.
A new-look Rwanda side were one of the more dominant nations across the nine series and at the heart of back-to-back wins over Grenada and Estonia was debutant forward Leroy-Jacques Mickels. One of three brothers in the Amavubi set-up, the Azerbaijan-based striker scored in both of those impressive victories.
Aruba have been in an impressive vein of recent form and they continued that in Kigali, with consecutive 4-1 wins over Macau and Liechtenstein seeing them win the Rwanda B series. The versatile 21-year-old Jaybrien Romano lined up in both midfield and defence, scoring twice in the opener and again in the title-clinching second fixture.
In the same week when he was named Manchester City’s Player of the Month for March, star Uzbekistan defender Abdukodir Khusanov scooped top honours as the White Wolves topped the table at their home-hosted series. Part of a three-man central defence, the 22-year-old helped keep Venezuela scoreless in the nation’s crucial second fixture.
