17-years old Spanish footballer Ansu Fati is currently the youngest player to score in the Champions League. He achieved this feat during the 2020-21 group stage match Inter-Milan vs Barcelona which ended in victory for Barcelona with a goal from the young athlete.
Obviously, the Champions League is regarded as the hallmark of European club competitions featuring only the best from the top European first division leagues.
Because of the intense competition, young players rarely get enough playtime, therefore less likely to score. Hence, it is noteworthy to identify when these young teenagers put a ball behind the goal line.
The Top 10 Youngest Player to Score in the Champions League
| S/N | Player | Club | Date of Goal | Age at goal |
| 1 | Ansu Fati | Barcelona | 10/12/19 | 17 years 40 days |
| 2 | Peter Ofori-Quaye | Olympiacos | 01/10/97 | 17 years 195 days |
| 3 | Mateo Kovačić | Dinamo Zagreb | 07/12/11 | 17 years 216 days |
| 4 | Cesc Fàbregas | Arsenal | 07/12/04 | 17 years 218 days |
| 5 | Bojan Krkić | Barcelona | 01/04/08 | 17 years 218 days |
| 6 | Martin Klein | Sparta Praha | 27/02/02 | 17 years 241 days |
| 7 | Breel Embolo | Basel | 04/11/14 | 17 years 263 days |
| 8 | Jude Bellingham | Dortmund | 14/04/21 | 17 years 289 days |
| 9 | Aaron Ramsey | Arsenal | 21/10/08 | 17 years 300 days |
| 10 | Pedri | Barcelona | 20/10/20 | 17 years 330 days |
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Ansu Fati – Barcelona
Ansu Fati became the youngest player to score in the Champions League, when he found the net in the group stage 2-1 victory against Inter Milan during the 2019-20 UCL season.
The young Spanish forward continue to prove that he is a force to be reckoned in football, having scored seven league goals in 24 appearances during his debut season for the Barcelona senior team.
Ansu Fati have been tagged alongside Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe as the best youngest strikers in the world of soccer at the moment.
Obviously, Fati’s debut career stats would’ve been better safe for injury which plagued him. Hopefully, he will improve more on the previous stats.
Peter Ofori-Quaye – Olympiacos
Perhaps during his time Peter Ofori-Queye was one of the wonder kids that wowed the game. He holds the longest run on the list and was the youngest player to score in the Champions League for over 2 decades.
Peter Ofori-Queye socred the only goal for Olympiacos 5-1 loss to Rosenborg in the Champions League game on the 1st of October, 1997.
His Champions League debut goal came nine-minutes after coming as a substitute. He is currently retired from professional football.
Mateo Kovačić – Dinamo Zagreb
It was on the 7th of December, 2011 that Mateo Kovačić scored the UCL goal that can be tagged the “villian’s glory”. Lyon trashed Dinamo Zagreb 7 goals to 1 which was the only goal that could come from Dinamo and it was the young teenager that delivered it.
That put the young skillful midfielder top on the radar of some of the top European football club. Consequently, he signed for Real Madrid where he won three Champions League titles before joining the English side Chelsea.
Currently, he plays for the Thomas Tuchel side as an attacking midfielder.
Cesc Fàbregas – Arsenal
Durimg his time with Arsenal, he was a household name. Fabregas goal against Rosenborg helped Arsenal seal a Champions League victory that advanced the team to the Round of 16 in the 2004-05 season.
He was instrumental in Arsenal reaching the Champions League finals a year later by scoring in the quarter final.
The world cup winner, has played for different clubs including Barcelona and Chelsea. He is currently signed to AS Monaco.
Bojan Krkić – Barcelona
The only goal that was scored in the UCL quater-finals in the 2007-08 season was from a 17-year old forward, even as the youngest player in the Barcelona squad at that time.
Bojan is the first youngest player to score in the Champions League quater final. He later went further to score four more Champions League goals in his 26 appearances.
He is currently a free agent at the age of 31, having played in most top European leagues including Premier League, Seria A and Bundesliga
Martin Klein – Sparta Praha
It is not usual to field young defenders in a crucial Champions League Match but seeing a teenage defender coming from the bench to score the only goal for the team is worth more accolades for just a consolation goal.
Klein is the only defender whose name appeared on the list. He is the youngest player to score in the Champions League as a defender.
Breel Embolo – Basel
Breel Embolo is a sensational player, more especially this attribute of his was seen during the UCL match between Basel and Ludogorets where he opened the score list for Basel 4-0 victory.
He attributes his pattern of play to Ronaldinho and Smauel Eto’o. This is justifiable by the number of goals he was able to score during his early professional football career. He scored 31 times in 90 games for Base, before joining Schalker O4.
Embolo is currently signed to Borussia Monchengladbach.
Jude Bellingham – Borussia Dortmund
Jude Bellingham has been described as one of the best young midfielders in the game of football.
After his first Champions League goal in the quater-finals against Manchester City (2-1 in favor of Man. City), Guardiola described the young talent as a fantastic player who’s got the world at his feet.
For the record, he became the youngest player to feature for Birmingham City at the age of 16.
He is packed witt potentials that has got many club’s attention.
Aaron Ramsey – Arsenal
Like most teenagers at the Champions League, Aaron Ramsey came from the bench to score a brillant goal in the 90th minute as Arsenal beat Fenerbahce 5 goals to 2 in 2008-09 group stage.
After making a total of 371 appearances for Arsenal and winning three FA Cups, he left to joing Juventus in 2019. His inability to pick up form with the Seria A giants notwitstanding, Ramsey was a sensational wonder during the early years of his career. Maybe if not for injury that keeps him away from advancing past beyond the round of 16 in Champions League, we would have seen more goals from him.
Pedri – Barcelona
Pedri has become more popular in the game of football not just as one of the Youngest players to score in the Champions League but also as one of the most talented midfielders to watch.
He scored his first Champions League goal in Barcelona’s 5-1 victory against Ferencvaros in the 2020-21 season.
he went further to represent Spain in the Euro 2020 tournament and was influential in the team as the advanced to the Semi-finals.
At the age of 18, he has become a regular starter at Camp Nou and has played seven Champions League game.
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