15 Players Who Are Their Nation's Youngest Goalscorer | OneFootball

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Lamine Yamal continues to break records as the Barcelona wonderkid scored on his Spain debut, in a 7-1 thrashing of Georgia in their Euro 2024 qualifier in September 2023.

This means the winger is now the youngest international goalscorer in his nation's history, aged just 16 years, 1 month and 26 days old. Everyone always sits up and takes notice when a youngster bursts onto the big stage like this and Yamal continues to defy expectations with this latest feat potentially being his most impressive achievement to date. It's always interesting to see how a wonderkid's career pans out so at GiveMeSport, we thought we'd look at some other countries and their youngest-ever scorers in a competitive international fixture to see what became of their careers.

Brazil - Pele (17 years, 7 months and 2 days old)

No surprises here. Brazil's youngest-ever goalscorer is also the youngest scorer in World Cup history. Arguably the greatest footballer of all time, Pele burst onto the international scene aged just 17 when he inspired his country to World Cup success in 1958, scoring six goals. He would win two more World Cups during his career and was his country's record goalscorer until Neymar overtook him on Friday night.

Cameroon - Fabrice Olinga (16 years, 5 months and 2 days old)

While he may have faded into obscurity now, Fabrice Olinga was once tipped to go on to big things. The forward became the youngest goalscorer in La Liga history when he found the net for Malaga, at the age of 16, and a few months later, he repeated the feat for his national team. It would prove to be the only goal he scored for either side as his career swiftly declined, and the 27-year-old now plies his trade for Romanian side, FC Botosani.

Canada - Alphonso Davies (16 years, 8 months and 6 days old)

Despite only being 22, Alphonso Davies is probably already the greatest talent Canada has ever produced so there was only going to be one answer to this question. The pacey full-back broke into the senior national team aged 16 and was selected for that year's Gold Cup, scoring twice in the first match, a 4-2 win over French Guiana, to become his country's youngest ever goalscorer in a competitive game. He would go on to win the Golden Boot for the tournament and already has 41 caps to his name, despite his young age.

England - Wayne Rooney (17 years, 10 months and 13 days old)

Every England fan remembers 18-year-old Wayne Rooney's explosive performances at Euro 2004. It seemed he would drag the Three Lions to glory all by himself before injury in the quarter-final against Portugal ended his tournament. A year before that, he had become the country's youngest-ever scorer with a goal in North Macedonia and was their record goalscorer for a while before Harry Kane overtook him earlier this year.

France - Kylian Mbappe (18 years, 8 months and 11 days old)

Another fairly predictable one as Kylian Mbappe became France's youngest-ever goalscorer in a competitive match, with a strike in a 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over the Netherlands in August 2017. Within a year, he was bagging a brace in a World Cup Final as Les Bleus defeated Croatia 4-2 in Russia. At the age of 24, the PSG forward has already scored 40 goals in 71 international appearances, including a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup Final, only the second in the competition's history.

Germany - Jamal Musiala (18 years, 7 months and 15 days old)

Still one of the top prospects in European football, Jamal Musiala played the majority of his youth international matches for England but elected to represent the country of his birth at senior level. The attacking midfielder won his first cap in 2021 and scored his first goal in a 4-0 win over North Macedonia later that year to become Germany's youngest-ever goalscorer in a competitive match.

Italy - Wilfried Gnonto (18 years, 7 months and 9 days old)

Leeds United successfully fought to keep the young winger at Elland Road this summer after Everton deemed their asking price too high. Perhaps one of the justifications for the Whites' demands is that Gnonto is Italy's youngest-ever goalscorer, thanks to a goal scored in June 2022 during a 5-2 defeat to Germany.

Netherlands - Ryan Babel (18 years, 3 months and 7 days old)

A name that will evoke a smile from the more nostalgic Liverpool fans, Ryan Babel was hot property when he made a big-money move to Anfield from Ajax in 2007. He had become the Netherlands' youngest-ever goalscorer in a competitive game two years previously, finding the net on his debut in a 2-0 win over Romania. He didn't become the star for the Reds that everyone had anticipated, and the Dutchman departed for Hoffenheim in January 2011.

New Zealand - Chris Killen (18 years, 8 months and 13 days old)

Chris Killen is a name that may be familiar to Scottish League fans from the 2000s, as an impressive season at Hibernian earned the striker a move to Celtic in 2007. He failed to kick on there or at his next club Middlesbrough and eventually moved to China before retiring in 2013. Killen ended his career as New Zealand's youngest-ever goalscorer in a competitive match with a strike against Vanuatu in the 2000 Nations Cup when he was 18.

Northern Ireland - Norman Whiteside (18 years, 4 months and 4 days old)

Many people may have expected George Best here, but a future Manchester United attacker managed to pip him by just over a month. Norman Whiteside had already set numerous records with the Red Devils, including becoming the youngest scorer in an FA Cup Final, by the time he scored his first Northern Ireland goal against Austria in September 1983. Injuries eventually derailed what was shaping up to be an extremely talented career and Whiteside was forced to retire in 1991, aged just 26.

Republic of Ireland - Robbie Keane (18 years, 3 months and 6 days old)

One of the greatest goalscorers in Premier League history, Robbie Keane was Ireland's talisman for the entirety of his playing days. He became their youngest goalscorer in a competitive match with a goal against Malta in 1998 and would end his career with more caps (146) and goals (48) than any of his compatriots throughout history.

Scotland - Darren Fletcher (19 years, 8 months and 9 days old)

Darren Fletcher was a reliable member of Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United team from 2003 to 2013 and departed Old Trafford two years after the manager's retirement. He was a key player for his national team too, winning 80 caps and scoring in his second game (a 1-0 win over Lithuania) to become the Tartan Army's youngest-ever scorer in a competitive fixture.

South Korea - Heung-min Son (18 years, 6 months and 10 days old)

Regarded as South Korea's greatest-ever footballing talent, it will come as no surprise that Heung-min Son is also the country's youngest goalscorer of all time. After breaking into the Hamburg first team that season, he won his first cap in December 2010 and scored a month later in a 4-1 win over India in the Asian Cup.

Spain - Lamine Yamal (16 years, 1 month and 26 days old)

Lamine Yamal is possibly the most exciting wonderkid in world football right now. A product of the famed La Masia academy, Yamal became Barcelona's youngest-ever player in April 2023 when he came on in the 83rd minute of a 4-0 win over Real Betis, aged 15 years old.

The right-winger has appeared in every La Liga match for the Catalonians this season and earned two assists in a 4-3 win away at Villarreal. This impressive start to the season earned him a call-up to the senior national team, and he came off the bench to round off a 7-1 thrashing of Georgia and make Spanish football history.

USA - Ricardo Pepi (18 years and 8 months old)

A lot of USA's hopes are being placed on the shoulders of Ricardo Pepi, who has made a fine start to his international career, with seven goals out of 16 caps so far. In September 2021, he became his country's youngest ever goalscorer in a competitive match, after finding the net in a 4-1 win over Honduras. A few months later, Pepi earned a move to Europe with Augsburg but failed to settle in Germany before enjoying a successful loan spell with Dutch side Groningen last season and getting snapped up by PSV this summer.

Wales - Gareth Bale (17 years, 2 months and 21 days old)

Absolutely no surprises to round off this list. Gareth Bale is far and away the most famous Welsh footballer of all time, with more caps and goals than anyone else in the country's history. He opened his international account in October 2006 having only just turned 16, with a free-kick in a 5-1 loss against Slovakia. Bale would go on to help Wales reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016 as well as captaining them at their first World Cup in 64 years.