What happened to the 10 players named the best U21 footballers in the world in 2012

A list of the best young players in 2012 has resurfaced, with Stephan El Shaarawy, Oscar and Eden Hazard featuring alongside World Cup winner Mario Gotze.

Back in September 2012, Bleacher Report ranked 50 of the world's most talented players based on "success and the career performances they have displayed so far in their football lives" – with every candidate selected being under the age of 22.

In terms of who featured from 50 to 11, some of the names mentioned include Raphael Varane, who would lift four Champions League titles with Real Madrid before joining Manchester United in 2021.

Former Liverpool players Sebastian Coates, Joel Matip and Georginio Wijnaldum also feature alongside James Rodriguez and David Alaba, who played together at Bayern Munich.

But we've decided to narrow it down and select the top 10 young players of 2012. So who makes the list?

10.) Thiago Alcantara

At the time, Thiago was making a name for himself in Barcelona's stacked midfield. He'd made 20 league starts for the Catalan giants alongside Xavi and Andres Iniesta, scoring two goals and making four assists.

After a four-year spell in Barcelona's first team, the Spanish midfielder joined Bayern Munich, where he won 16 trophies, including the Bundesliga seven times in a row. He then joined Liverpool in 2020 and won a League Cup and FA Cup double under Jurgen Klopp in 2021/22. He recently retired at the age of 33 – a decision driven by injuries.

9.) Stephan El Shaarawy

El Shaarawy was tipped to "shoulder a heap of the Rosoneri's goal scoring responsibilities following the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic" when this list was created and he did exactly that during the 2012/13 season, scoring 19 goals in 46 appearances for AC Milan.

After earning his first international cap in 2012, it looked like El Shaarawy would go on achieve great things for Italy but the winger struggled to live up to those lofty expectations. He has played for AS Roma since 2021 following a two-year spell in China with Shanghai Shenhua.

Image credit: Getty

8.) Danny Welbeck

Welbeck scored nine goals in 23 league starts for Manchester United during the 2011/12 campaign; a run of form that placed him eighth on this list.

After notching 29 goals in 142 games for United, he moved to Arsenal in the summer of 2014 for a reported £16 million. A decade later and the former England international is a regular for overachievers Brighton. So far this season, he has netted six goals in 12 games.

7.) Oscar

At the time, there was "a mountain of expectation" surrounding Brazilian midfielder Oscar following his £25 million move to Chelsea from Internacional. He was a regular at Stamford Bridge in the coming years but in 2017, he shocked world football by joining Chinese Super League side Shanghai Port.

Seven years on and he still plays for Shanghai. In fact, the 33-year-old has scored 58 goals in 175 league games for the reigning CSL champions.

6.) Andre Schurrle

When this list was published, the Germany international had just made 30 starts for Bayer Leverkusen in his debut season. A year later and Schurrle would become Oscar's teammate at Chelsea but it didn't go to plan at Stamford Bridge and in 2015, he would return to Germany to play for Wolfsburg.

Spells at Borussia Dortmund, Fulham [loan] and Spartak Moscow [loan] followed before his early retirement in 2020, aged just 29.

5.) Christian Eriksen

Eriksen was widely regarded as one of Europe's biggest talents in 2012. He'd just finished the 2011/12 campaign with 19 assists and seven goals in 33 starts for Ajax and after picking up 26 caps for the Denmark national team, he was being chased by many top clubs.

After joining Spurs in 2013 for around £11 million, he would notch 51 goals and 59 assists in 226 appearances for the North London club before joining Inter Milan in 2020. He currently plays for Manchester United.

Image credit: Getty

4.) Lucas Moura

Another future Spurs player, Moura had just agreed to become a Paris Saint-Germain player after turning down the lure of Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. He would go on to spend five years in Paris before joining Tottenham Hotspur in 2018.

The Brazilian scored 39 goals in 221 appearances for the Premier League club. He now plays for boyhood side Sao Paulo.

3.) Mario Gotze

At the time, Gotze was being described as "the man responsible for a great deal of Borussia Dortmund's most recent successes" after forging a great partnership with Robert Lewandowski.

As we all know, the attacking midfielder would go on to score the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina – a moment that cemented his legacy in German football history.

In terms of his club career, Gotze spent three years at Bayern Munich between 2013 and 2016 but later returned to boyhood club Borussia Dortmund. He currently plays for Eintracht Frankfurt.

2.) Neymar

Neymar was tearing the Brazilian league apart with Santos when he was included in this list. Soon, a move to Barcelona would elevate his reputation to new heights as he formed Blaugrana's greatest ever front three alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

After leaving Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 for a record-breaking £200 million, he made 173 appearances for the Ligue 1 giants before completing a move to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal last summer.

Image credit: Getty

1.) Eden Hazard

The man to knock Neymar off his throne was Eden Hazard, who had just joined Chelsea from Lille for a reported £32 million.

In his first three Premier League appearances, the Belgian notched six assists, which brought the following description. "With superior agility, a ferocious turn of pace and exhilarating dribbling control, Hazard is one of the main reasons that Chelsea are enjoying the early season success they currently are."

Hazard would go on to spend seven successful years at Stamford Bridge before completing a much-anticipated £88 million move to Real Madrid. Unfortunately, it never quite worked out at Los Blancos and after four injury-plagued years, he announced his retirement in 2023, aged just 32.