Granit Xhaka
One of those rare players who seems to control the entire rhythm of a game without necessarily doing anything flashy, this Swiss midfielder is basically the engine room of his national team — the guy who decides when to speed things up and when to slow them down. At 33, he's heading into what will almost certainly be his last World Cup, bringing a mountain of experience from years in the Premier League and now starring for Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, where he helped them win an unbeaten league title. For Switzerland, he's the heartbeat — when he's playing well, the whole team looks composed and dangerous, and when he's not, they can fall apart pretty quickly. Watch for the moment he picks up the ball in the middle of the park and starts dictating — it might not look exciting at first, but give it a second, because something interesting usually follows.