- Ally McCoist picks his players to watch at the World Cup
- Man City’s Rayan Cherki receives a special mention
- The pundit has high hopes for the France international
Ally McCoist has made a prediction about Rayan Cherki ahead of France’s opening game of the FIFA World Cup.
Football’s biggest international tournament is officially underway, with Mexico and South Korea already putting points on the board.
The French national team will aim to do the same on Tuesday, when they take on Senegal at the MetLife Stadium.
Man City fans will be interested in that match, as it could be the one which sees Rayan Cherki make his World Cup debut.
Ally McCoist makes Rayan Cherki prediction
Commentator and ex-Scotland international Ally McCoist certainly thinks Cherki will have a role to play for France.
In fact, he has predicted the 22-year-old to be the standout player of the tournament, while speaking with TNT Sports.
Ally McCoist makes his World Cup predictions 👀 pic.twitter.com/UrtneBZLO9
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) June 11, 2026
McCoist has chosen France as the team he reckons will win the World Cup, and his prediction for Kylian Mbappe to score the most goals hints at Cherki delivering with his creativity.
When will Cherki be in action?
France’s first match takes place on June 16, kicking off at 8pm BST. This could well be their hardest fixture of the group stage, as Senegal are a very good team these days.
Les Bleus then have a six-day break, before locking horns with Iraq on Monday, June 22, in a match which begins at 10pm.
Finally, it is City vs City, as Cherki’s France take on a Norway side spearheaded by Premier League golden boot winner Erling Haaland.
Cherki needs to get back in form
There were moments over the past season where Cherki was nothing short of outstanding for Manchester City.
However, he was noticeably lacking what makes him such a good player during the final weeks of the campaign.
The midfielder did score in one of France’s World Cup warm-up matches, so hopefully he is finding his feet again.
Because if Cherki is able to deliver his best football, he could indeed be one of the players to watch this summer.
