While a huge amount of attention has been paid to the footballing stars, there will be numerous relatively unknown players participating in Brazil. However, while they’re not as famous as others, they are just as vital to their teams.

Viktor Fayzulin (Russia)

Fayzulin is an essential part of Fabio Capello’s 4-3-3 formation for the Russian team. He is lesser-known for a variety of reasons, he rarely scores and he doesn’t have the quickest feet in the world. However, he is a real leader and organiser and absolutely central to the team.

Frickson Erazo (Ecuador)

It is perhaps unfair that Erazo isn’t better known. He is the core of Ecuador’s defence and leads an extremely disciplined back four. Erazo is highly experienced and clearly a reassuring leader to newer members of the team.

Teofilo Gutierrez (Colombia)

Colombia has a number of famous players which have made their names in European football. However, less known is Gutierrez who plays for River Plate. He is a trusted member of the team and is likely to start at the World Cup.

Kenneth Omeruo (Nigeria)

Omeruo will be coming to the World Cup after an excellent season playing in defence at Middlesbrough. While he has never played in a major European league, he does have 14 international caps and started in all three of Nigeria’s games at the 2013 Confederations Cup.

Marcos Gonzalez (Chile)

Gonzalez has been an important part of Chile’s team for a while. There were worries about him when he left Flamengo earlier this year and didn’t move to another club. However, he is a permanent fixture in the South American football scene and it is a shame he’s never made it across to play domestically in Europe.