Ansu Fati
Ansu Fati (katatonia82 via Bigstockphoto)

Youngest Goalscorers in Champions League History

At the 2024 European Championship we saw Spain and Barcelona star, Lamine Yamal, break so many records. He became the youngest player to feature at the Euros, then the youngest to win it, in between breaking several other age-based records. With Spain featuring a number of other young stars, and the likes of Jamal Musiala also thriving, whilst Jude Bellingham has been a massive hit at Real Madrid (and with England), it feels like football is very much a young man’s game right now.

Of course, at the other end of the spectrum, we still have James Milner appearing in his 23rd Premier League season, whilst Kyle Walker (aged 34) was named in the Team of the Tournament at Euro 2024. We must not forget Cristiano Ronaldo, who may have dropped down several grades in terms of quality but is still banging in the goals, having recently notched his 900th career goal at the ripe old age of 39 with that strike his 132nd for Portugal!

Real Madrid’s Endrick

Endrick
Endrick (Sepguilherme, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikipedia)

We have brilliance at both ends of the football spectrum – and of course in between – but let us return to those still blessed with the full flushes of youth. On the 17th of September, Real Madrid’s Endrick – born on the 21st of July, 2006 – became the youngest player ever to score in the Champions League for the club. Considering the many greats who have gone before him, that is some record, and with the wealth of attacking talents Los Blancos now have, it is a scary prospect for the rest of the teams in the competition.

The Brazil international scored a stunner too, netting in the 95th minute to secure a 3-1 win for his side over German outfit Stuttgart. The young attacker ran almost the full length of the pitch before firing home from 25 yards. Okay, the goalie should have saved it but let’s let the kid have his moment! Endrick broke the record of none other than Raul, a bona fide Real legend, who had scored for the Spanish giants at the age of 18 and 113 days back in 1995.

The new record holder broke that record by just a couple of months and was 18 years and 58 days old when he scored against Stuttgart. But where does Real’s latest star stand in terms of the all-time youngest goalscorers in Champions League history (excluding the European Cup years)?

Ansu Fati Makes Endrick Look Ancient


The term “ancient” might be pushing it, but the youngest goalscorer ever in the UCL was just 17 years and 40 days old when he hit the back of the net. That is fully a year and 18 days younger than Endrick, which is a substantial difference at that sort of young age.

Real Madrid may hold a host of Champions League records and they will take some overhauling in terms of overall trophies won. But one record their main domestic rivals do hold over them is that of the youngest goalscorer in the competition.

In some ways Ansu Fati is the forgotten man of Barcelona, having burst onto the scene back in 2019/20 but since being surpassed as the number one youngster at the Catalan giants. He spent the 2023/24 season on loan with Brighton and played just 27 times in all competitions. Barca believe he still has a future at the club and he will not turn 22 until the end of October.

However, if we rewind to 2019, many would have expected the Spain international to have achieved more by now. He scored the winning goal for his club against Inter Milan in the San Siro on the 10th of December, having first appeared in the competition when he was still 16. He still holds several age-based records in La Liga and the CL terms of appearing, scoring and assisting. However, his last appearance for Spain was in 2023 and he faces a challenge to get back in the team with both his nation and his club.

Unheralded Ghanaian the Previous Record Holder


Your average football statto would probably know that Fati was the youngest Champions League goalscorer but it would take a real football geek to be able to name Peter Ofori-Quaye as the former holder of that record. Back in October 1997, well before Fati was even born, the Ghana-born striker notched for Greek side Olympiakos against Norwegian outfit Rosenborg. He was 17 years and 195 days old and his record would stand for well over 20 years.

Ofori-Quaye’s career peaked in its early stages, truth be told, and his six years with Olympiakos from 1997 onwards were probably as good as it got. He played 18 times for his country, netting two goals, but the striker’s international involvement tailed off after earning 12 of his caps between 1998 and 2000. At club level he would play fewer than 250 league games, ending his career in Cyprus and then back in Ghana.

The Other Young Champions League Marksmen

Mateo Kovačić
Mateo Kovačić (Светлана Бекетова, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikipedia)

The other Champions League players to have scored before turning 18 are a mix of genuine stars, nearly men and relative unknowns. The top 10 youngest are as follows, and it should be noted that these are only based on the Champions League proper, which is to say the old Group Stage onwards, not any qualifying rounds:

  1. Ansu Fati – 17 years, 40 days
  2. Antonio Nusa – 17 years, 149 days
  3. Peter Ofori-Quaye – 17 years, 194 days
  4. Mateo Kovacic – 17 years, 215 days
  5. Cesc Fabregas, 17 years, 217 days
  6. Boban Krkic, 17 years, 217 days
  7. Martin Klein, 17 years, 240 days
  8. Breel Embolo, 17 years, 263 days
  9. Jude Bellingham, 17 years, 289 days
  10. Aaron Ramsey, 17 years, 300 days

Fati will certainly hope that his career more closely follows the path of Fabregas and even Kovacic. Bellingham, although still very young, has already achieved more than many of the players on the list, given he has appeared in two European Championships and a World Cup. The Real Madrid superstar has also, of course, won La Liga and the Champions League.

Aaron Ramsey enjoyed a very decent career too, even if he didn’t quite reach the peaks he might have, whilst Embolo has 68 caps for Switzerland. Nusa, who scored his CL goal in 2022 is still just 19 and is forging a decent career with Norway and RB Leipzig, whilst even Klein managed one international appearance (with the Czech Republic).

Perhaps the most obvious point of reference, and red flag, for Fati, is Bojan, who, like Fati, was once the next great star of Barcelona. He ended up playing 163 times for them but never achieved what was expected when he broke many of Lionel Messi’s youth records with the club.

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