YOUNGEST STARTERS UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Picture : Lamine Yamal broke the record !
Youngest starters in UCL
Barcelona's winger Lamine Yamal set another record in the last Champions League game vs Porto (1-0). Aged 16 years 83 days, he became the youngest ever player to start a game in the competition.
Yamal surpassed just on 3 days the pretty old UCL record of Celestine Babayaro who was selected in November 1994 for Anderlecht XI against Steaua at 16 years 86 days. (It wasn’t successful debut for the Nigerian: he was sent off in the game).
On this occasion, we publish the ranking of Champions League’s youngest starters. Seven players have earned a start before turning 17.
Notably, all 5 first positions in the ranking are taken by players starting for Barcelona (2) or Anderlecht (3).
YOUNGEST | STARTERS | IN | CHAMPIONS | LEAGUE | ||
Player | Nationality | Club | Age | Game | Date | |
1 | Lamine Yamal | Spain | Barcelona | 16-083 | Porto 1-0 | 04.10.2023 |
2 | Célestine Babayaro | Nigeria | Anderlecht | 16-086 | Steaua 1-1 | 23.11.1994 |
3 | Youri Tielemans | Belgium | Anderlecht | 16-148 | Olympiacos 0-3 | 02.10.2013 |
4 | Ansu Fati | Spain | Barcelona | 16-321 | Borussia Dortmund 0-0 | 17.09.2019 |
5 | Anthony Vanden Borre | Belgium | Anderlecht | 16-326 | Valencia 0-2 | 14.09.2004 |
6 | Warren Zaïre-Emery | France | PSG | 16-343 | Bayern Munich 0-1 | 14.02.2023 |
7 | Roony Bardghji | Sweden | Copenhagen | 16-352 | Borussia Dortmund 1-1 | 02.11.2022 |