Most goals aged 21 or younger in major European competitions | OneFootball

Florian Wirtz’s star is one on the rise and the Bayer Leverkusen wunderkind enhanced his reputation with another goal in Europe this week.

Wirtz has scored three goals in three Champions League games this season and just four players have ever scored more goals in major UEFA competition aged 21 or under. Given the company alongside the German on this list, that’s no easy feat.

The footballers with the most goals aged 21 or younger in major European competitions

Florian Wirtz – 15

Wirtz has now scored 15 goals in UEFA club competition for Bayer Leverkusen, having established a reputation as one of Europe’s most exciting young talents. The 21-year-old was the driving force of Leverkusen’s maiden Bundesliga title triumph last season, achieved without losing a game in Germany’s top flight.

He was named as the Bundesliga’s Player of the Season in 2023/24 and has started his first-ever Champions League campaign in fine form this time around. Wirtz has three goals in three games with only Harry Kane and Raphinha having netted more.

Eusébio – 15

Eusebio’s electric emergence helped Benfica conquer Europe, with the forward firing the Portuguese side to the European Cup in his first full season in 1961/62.

He later finished as the European Cup’s leading scorer in 1964/65, 1965/66 and 1967/68, with only Alfredo Di Stefano scoring more goals in the pre-Champions League era of the competition.

Eusebio, who ended his Benfica career with 473 goals in 440 games, scored 15 goals in European competition before turning 22.

Lionel Messi – 17

Lionel Messi scored 17 times in European club competition aged 21 and under.

The Argentine announced his arrival at Barcelona as a teenager, where a hat-trick against Real Madrid in El Clásico, aged 19, hailed the birth of a worldwide star. Messi is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history, with 129 goals in 163 games, and won the competition four times with Barcelona.

Five times Lionel Messi lit up the Champions League

Ronaldo – 20

Few footballers have had an emergence quite like Ronaldo Nazario.

The Brazilian burst onto the European football scene at PSV Eindhoven, where his extraordinary goal record prompted two world-record transfers before the age of 21. He recorded almost a goal-per-game at PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona, before joining Inter Milan in 1997.

O Fenômeno never got his hands on the Champions League, though lifted the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Cup with Barcelona and Inter respectively.

Remembering when a 21-year-old Ronaldo Nazario won the Ballon d’Or

Kylian Mbappe – 21

Kylian Mbappe made his name as part of an exciting Monaco side that reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2016/17.

His form saw Paris Saint-Germain make Mbappe the most expensive teenager ever that summer and the Frenchman broke the Parisian’s goal record during seven seasons at the Parc des Princes.

He has 49 goals in 76 European Cup/Champions League games, ranking him joint-ninth overall alongside Alfredo Di Stefano.

Erling Haaland – 23

Erling Haaland holds the record for the most European goals aged 21 or under.

The Norwegian hit a hat-trick on his Champions League debut for Red Bull Salzburg and became the first teenager to score in his first four matches in the competition. The goals have flowed freely since, with Haaland ending seasons as the Champions League’s leading scorer in 2020/21 (Borussia Dortmund) and 2022/23 (Manchester City).

Among player to have scored 24+ goals, he boasts the best goal-per-game ratio (1.05) in European Cup/Champions League history.

Read – Champions League Team of the Week – Vinicius, Raphinha star

See more – Champions League Awards – ‘Ballon d’Or Vinicius’ sublime

Follow The Football Faithful on Social Media:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok