Cristiano was first named Portugal’s captain in 2007 when he had just turned 22 and was later named the permanent captain in 2008.

In the absence of David Beckham due to injuries, 22-year-old Michael Owen, fresh off a Ballon d’Or win was named England’s captain in 2002.

Neymar first took the armband for Brazil when he was 22 years old, replacing Thiago Silva, and captained Brazil to an Olympic gold medal.

Varane was just 21 years old when he led France as captain for the first time. He also led by example by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Sweden.

At 20 years old, only his 11th cap for Germany, Julian Draxler was given the responsibility of captaincy in a 0-0 draw with Poland.