The youngest international footballers ever

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal became Spain's youngest ever player at just 16 years and 57 days old when he came on against Georgia on Friday 8 September.

It may not come as a shock given he has already been pulling up trees at Barcelona, but considering Yamal is still unable to legally drive himself to and from matches, it's staggering that he already has an international cap to his name.

However, the winger is by no means the most youthful international of all-time, and compared to some of the other youngest international debutants in football history, Yamal ends up looking like a pensioner.

Here are the youngest international footballers of all-time.

Youngest ever internationals

According to statisticians RSSSF, the youngest player to have ever featured for their national side is Lukas Knecht. At just 14 years and two days old, Knecht featured for Northern Mariana Islands - a territory made up of 14 islands in the Pacific Ocean - on 1 April 2007 in a 9-0 defeat to Guam.

The US-born international made five appearances for Northern Mariana Islands over the course of a fairly short-lived career, but still holds the record for youngest international to this day.

Northern Mariana Islands are clearly eager to promote youth given they have two other players who feature in the top ten youngest internationals - the wonderfully-named Joel Fruit and defender Kennedy Izuka. Both players featured in the same game in November 2012, albeit an 8-0 defeat to Guam on this occasion.

Turks & Caicos also have a passion for developing young talent with Christopher Louisy and Watson Jean-Louis making their national debuts at 14-years-old and playing their parts in a 5-2 win over Sint Maarten.

Out of the more reputable footballing nations, Stephen Appiah is perhaps the most surprising, featuring at just 14 years and 322 days old for Ghana in a 2-0 win over Sierra Leone back in November 1995.

Appiah would go on to make 69 appearances for the African nation, while also featuring for Juventus, Udinese and Fenerbahce during his playing days.

Ten youngest internationals

Youngest World Cup internationals

While it's all well and good playing for Turks & Caicos at 14-years-old, what about the players who have featured at the biggest tournament in football at a young age?

Well, the youngest ever player to feature at a World Cup is none other than Northern Ireland's Norman Whiteside at 17 years and 40 days. The Manchester United legend featured at the 1982 World Cup in Spain playing against the likes of Yugoslavia and Austria, all while helping Northern Ireland to the second round before a defeat to France sent them home.

The man whose record Whiteside stole was of course Pele. While only currently being the fifth-youngest international of all-time, the Brazilian icon had held the record since 1958 when he debuted for his nation at just 17 years and 234 days old.

Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o - once of Barcelona, Inter and Chelsea - is the second youngest to feature at a World Cup, making his debut at the 1998 tournament in France. Despite managing two draws, Cameroon were dumped out at the group stage with Eto'o failing to make an impact.

The 2022 World Cup saw three new faces enter the top ten, however, with Spain midfielder Gavi, Germany attacker Youssoufa Moukoko and Australian Newcastle United prodigy Garang Kuol all joining the list.

Ten youngest World Cup internationals

Youngest England internationals

There are some fairly obvious names on the list of England's youngest ever post-war internationals with the youngest being Theo Walcott. The Arsenal phenom quickly established himself in the England setup, making a substitute appearance against Hungary at 17 years and 75 days old in 2006.

Wayne Rooney is next on the list, followed closely by current England dynamo Jude Bellingham. The latter made his debut back in 2020 in a 3-0 win over Ireland at just 17 years and 136 days.

Some of the more surprising names on the list include everybody's favourite pundit Micah Richards who burst on to the scene at 18 years and 144 days, while now Nottingham Forest forward Callum Hudson-Odoi beat Richards by just nine days in one of only three England appearances.

Ten youngest post-war England internationals

READ THE LATEST EURO 2024 NEWS, PREVIEWS & PLAYER RATINGS