Winning the Champions League is often associated with experience and savviness. But sometimes, Europe’s elite are upset by a bright young upstart… Here are the top 10 youngest Champions League goalscorers.
Youngest Champions League scorer: the top 10
10. Aaron Ramsey – 17 years 300 days
Kicking off our list is Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey.
Then a teenage prodigy at Arsenal, Ramsey scored a superb goal from outside the box away to Fenerbahce in 2008, kicking off a very productive 11 years in North London.
9. Jude Bellingham – 17 years 289 days
Jude Bellingham announced himself in the Champions League with a goal against the all-conquering Manchester City.
Then at Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham has gone on to score a further nine Champions League goals, including four on the way to winning last season’s trophy.
His side begins their defence of the crown as heavy favourites against Stuttgart.
8. Breel Embolo – 17 years 263 days
A leading light of the Swiss national team, Breel Embolo scored his first Champions League goal in November 2014 for FC Basel. The striker has gone on to carve out a solid career in European football, playing for Schalke, Borussia Monchengladbach and Monaco.
7. Martin Klein – 17 years 240 days
Maybe the least heralded player on our list is Czech centre-back Martin Klein. The then-Sparta Prague teenager scored a consolation header against Panathinaikos back in 2002.
Klein became something of a journeyman in the years after, turning out for clubs in Turkey, Malta, Kazakhstan and Hungary.
6. Bojan Krkic – 17 years 217 days
The first La Masia wonderkid on our list, Bojan was considered the heir to Lionel Messi at one point. Things never quite turned out that way, but it was very easy to believe the hype.
After all, despite sitting sixth on this list, Bojan still holds the record for the youngest Champions League knockout stage goalscorer, following his quarter-final goal against Schalke back in 2008.
5. Cesc Fabregas – 17 years 217 days
Next on our list is Cesc Fabregas. Like Bojan, Fabregas was made at La Masia, but it was at Arsenal where the Spaniard really thrived.
Like Ramsey several years later, Fabregas was trusted by Arsene Wenger in the Champions League, and the midfielder repaid his faith with a goal against Rosenborg.
Fabregas went on to have a glittering career, winning the World Cup between two European Championship triumphs, as well as claiming many league titles.
4. Mateo Kovacic – 17 years 215 days
Dinamo Zagreb are one of the most productive clubs in Europe, with their former players populating the ranks of many clubs across the continent’s top five leagues.
Four-time Champions League winner Mateo Kovacic ranks highly among them, and became one of the youngest Champions League scorers with a strike against Lyon in 2011.
However, it’s unlikely Kovacic looks back fondly on the game, as his side lost 7-1, in one of the worst Champions League campaigns ever.
3. Peter Ofori-Quaye – 17 years 194 days
Peter Ofori-Quaye was the youngest Champions League scorer ever for 22 years, thanks to his 1997 goal against Rosenborg.
Like Kovacic, Ofori-Quaye’s goal was a consolation in a thrashing, as his Olympiacos side lost 5-1.
Ofori-Quaye was unable to build on his explosive entrance to elite football however, and spent the majority of his career moving from club to club in Greece.
2. Antonio Nusa – 17 years 149 days
Norwegian starlet Antonio Nusa turned many heads in the 2022/23 Champions League group stage, as Club Brugge revealed themselves as the tournament’s surprise package.
The Belgians beat Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen to qualify from Group B, in large part thanks to Nusa’s skill, speed and trickery. Nusa’s crowning moment came in a 4-0 win away to Porto, as he became the second youngest Champions League scorer.
The winger, now 19, has earned a big move to RB Leipzig, so his goal is likely not the last contribution he will make in the tournament.
1. Ansu Fati – 17 years 40 days
By some distance, the youngest Champions League scorer is Ansu Fati, who scored a late winner against Inter Milan at the San Siro in 2019.
It was yet another embellishment on a glittering young career, as Fati scored eight goals in his first campaign, with the world at his feet.
Unfortunately for Fati, injuries have hit his young career very hard. The Spaniard, now 21, has missed over 120 football matches since a horrific meniscus tear in 2020. He spent 2023/24 on loan at Brighton, but struggled for fitness there too.
At just 21, however, Fati can still get the career his prodigious talent deserves.
