Scoring a goal requires nerves of steel, superb athleticism and sound technical ability, or it could merely be a fumble over the line. That said, it tends to be all the more impressive when it’s a starlet bundling the ball into the net as opposed to an aged veteran.
Last week’s round of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League fixtures alone indicated the continent is brimming with awesome young talent at present.
In homage to one of these records being broken in the last seven days, here is a definitive list of each European giant’s youngest goalscorer in all competitions:
#1 Paulino Alcántara (Barcelona – 15 years, 4 months and 18 days)
Where better to start than with one of the finest clubs in Europe and the youngest individual on this list. It was as far back as February 1912 when forward Paulino Alcántara broke this record, after he bagged a hat-trick in a 9-0 demolition of Catalá SC at the tender age of 15 years, 4 months and 18 days old.
The Spanish-Filipino footballer went on to score 369 goals for the club in both official and unofficial matches, before becoming a doctor after football.
#2 Alberto Rivera (Real Madrid – 17 years, 3 months and 25 days)
Real Madrid are perhaps less known for producing superb youth talent than for buying them. Just take their €3 million signing of Martin Ødegaard in 2015.
It is not the Norwegian, however, who holds the record of youngest goalscorer for Los Blancos, but Alberto Rivera who, in June 1995, at the age of 17 years 3 months and 25 days, netted in a La Liga game against Celta Vigo.
#3 Federico Macheda (Manchester United – 17 years, 7 months and 15 days)
Few players on this list broke the record of youngest goalscorer with a more significant strike than the Italian Federico Macheda. Now plying his trade for Novara Calcio in the Italian Serie B, he may be off the radar of the bigger clubs, but Macheda was once the talk of the city.
At the age of just 17 years, 7 months and 15 days, the teenager came on as a substitute against Aston Villa at Old Trafford, only to snatch a last-gasp winner for his side and put them above Liverpool in the Premier League title race. Who knows, had Macheda not broken the record that day and found the back of the net, Liverpool may not still be awaiting their first Premier League title triumph.
#4 Micah Richards (Manchester City – 18 years, 3 months and 6 days)
A defender renowned primarily for his unusually efficient blend of strength and pace at the back, Micah Richards is certainly not the player you’d expect to have broken this record. Having made his debut in October 2005 against Arsenal, Richards scored his debut goal four months later away to Aston Villa.
The goal came in style too, with the defender rising highest to head home a last-gasp equaliser in the fifth round of the FA Cup, at the age of 18 years, 3 months and 6 days.
#5 Bartholomew Ogbeche (Paris Saint-Germain – 17 years and 55 days)
With the rise in prominence of Presnel Kimpembe this season, there’s certainly evidence to suggest that PSG like to give youngsters a go and Bartholomew Ogbeche was one of many who repaid the trust implanted in him.
At the age of 17 years and just 55 days, Ogbeche became the French side’s youngest ever goalscorer with his strike in a 2-1 win over Nantes in 2001. Back then, PSG were lingering amidst mediocrity and despite their recent prominence, Ogbeche’s record remains untouched.
#6 Kylian Mbappé-Lottin (Monaco - 16 years and 347 days)
The only club in France presently threatening PSG’s reign as champions, Monaco are a club built on the foundation of youth and Kylian Mbappe has become one of the most sought-after talents in Europe with his competency in front of goal.
At 17 years and 60 days, Mbappe became the club’s youngest ever goalscorer with an injury-time strike against Troyes in a 3-1 Ligue 1 victory. Since that goal, Mbappe has come on leaps and bounds and now has 13 senior goals to his name with Monaco.
#7 Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal – 16 years and 212 days)
Now of Chelsea and, consequently, a name most Arsenal fans will not be too keen to hear, Cesc Fabregas nonetheless etched his name into the history books during his spell at North London.
The Spaniard became the youngest player to score for the Gunners in a League Cup game against Wolves in 2003 when he was 16 years and 212 days old. The game finished 5-1 and Fabregas went on to break the records for Arsenal’s youngest league goalscorer and youngest goalscorer in Europe.
#8 Roque Santa Cruz (Bayern Munich - 18 years and 12 days)
Here's a player perhaps better recognised for his stint with Manchester City or his festive namesake than his record-breaking goals. That said, Santa Cruz, as far as the history books suggest, remains the youngest player to have scored for the Bavarians.
The Paraguayan netted in a 1-0 Bundesliga victory over SpVgg Unterhacing in August 1999; he was just 18 years and 12 days old at the time.
#9 Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund - 17 years and 82 days)
It’s woven into the fabric of Borussia Dortmund that any player that arrives at the Signal Iduna Park will leave improved and this is largely down to their excellent proficiency in developing younger players.
Born in Germany to Turkish parents, Sahin started in the Dortmund youth ranks and quickly progressed to their first team, where he became the club’s youngest goalscorer by finding the net in a 2-1 win against 1. Nuremberg at the age of 17 years and 82 days.
#10 Ian Hamilton (Chelsea – 16 years and 138 days)
Chelsea too are a club who have invested heavily in their youthful contingent over the years but it’s not recently that their record was broken.
Hamilton became the youngest goalscorer for the Blues in a First Division match against London rivals Tottenham in 1967 with an equalising header. He was just 16 years and 138 days old.
#11 Ben Woodburn (Liverpool – 17 years and 45 days)
Now for one of the more recent additions to this list, Ben Woodburn captured the attention of the nation when he scored in this season’s EFL Cup quarter-final encounter with Leeds United. The 17-year-old Welshman eclipsed the previous record set by Michael Owen by nearly 100 days, netting at the age of 17 years and 45 days.
The goal came in the same month that Woodburn put pen to paper on his first professional contract with Liverpool and he has made four appearances for the Reds so far.
#12 Clarence Seedorf (Ajax – 16 years and 361 days old)
When it comes to developing young talent, there is no club better equipped than Ajax. The Amsterdam-based club have earned the name of one of the most fertile breeding grounds across the continent and of their youngest all-time goalscorers, a remarkable 17 are under the age of 18.
It is, however, the sensational Clarence Seedorf who tops the list, having scored in a 2-2 draw against Vitesse back in 1993 at just 16 years and 361 days old.
#13 Kingsley Coman (Juventus – 18 years and 7 months)
For one so young, Kingsley Coman has a vast experience of Europe’s top leagues. The Frenchman started by progressing from the PSG youth academy, where he spent nine years, to the French outfit’s first team, before making the move to Juventus in July 2014.
It was in January 2015 that Coman, aged 18 years and 7 months, would score his first goal for the club in a 6-1 demolition of Hellas Verona in the Coppa Italia.
#14 Gianni Rivera (AC Milan - 16 years, 02 months and 07 days)
Rivera would go on to play more than 500 games for the Milanese club, scoring 122 goals in the process and it all began with a record.
The Italian, who was primarily deployed as an attacking midfielder, scored on October 25, 1959, at the age of 16 years, 2 months and 7 days, in a 2-2 Serie A stalemate with US Alessandria 1912.
