Thierry Henry 7th
©TM/IMAGO
If people weren’t already overwhelmed with excitement by Barcelona’s teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal, they certainly will be after his performance in Barca’s 3-3 draw with Inter Milan in their Champions League semi-final first leg. It was difficult to not be open-mouthed and completely in awe of the 17-year-old, as he tore the Serie A side’s defence apart time and time again. And that’s one of Europe’s best defences too. With the Catalan side 2-0 down to their Italian counterparts, the youngster picked up the ball outside the box, weaved in and out of a number of Inter players, before curling a strike into the far corner. Game on. Two minutes later he mesmerised once again, giving full-back Federico DiMarco (the joint-most valuable left-back in the world) nightmares before seeing his shot tipped onto the bar by keeper Yann Sommer.
Yamal’s performance felt like one that will be discussed for years, maybe even decades to come. The night he truly announced himself at football’s top table. Incredibly, he has already won the European Championships and scored a superb goal in the semi-final of that competition for Spain, but his demeanour and output against Inter confirmed that it was no fluke, and that Yamal is here to stay as a generational talent. The goal also broke yet another record for the teenager. He became the youngest goalscorer in a Champions League semi-final since the competition’s revamp in 1992. But who are the other young stars on that list? Let’s take a look.
Youngest all-time goalscorers in Champions League semi-finals
Yamal is now the leader having scored in last week’s semi-final aged 17 years and 291 days. He overtook Kylian Mbappé, who had scored for Monaco against Juventus in the 2017 semi-final aged 18 years and 140 days. Third place goes to former Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins, who scored for Inter Milan against rivals AC Milan in the 2003 semi-finals when he was 18 years and 197 days old. In fourth is former Ajax player Nordin Wooter, who scored in the 1996 semi-final for the Amsterdam-based club aged 18 years and 237 days. In fifth is another former Ajax star, defender Matthijs de Ligt, who scored against Tottenham in the 2019 semi-final when he was 19 years and 269 days old.
Ajax’s dominance continues in sixth place with former defender Mario Melchiot having scored in the 1997 semi-final aged 20 years and 170 days. Legendary French striker Thierry Henry takes seventh, having scored for Monaco in the 1998 semi-final when he was 20 years and 241 days old. Former Borussia Dortmund player Lars Ricken is eighth, having scored in the 1997 semi-final aged 20 years and 187 days. Nicolas Anelka is ninth after scoring for Real Madrid in the 2000 semi-final when he was 21 years and 50 days old, and current Los Blancos star Rodrygo completes the top 10 after scoring in the 2022 semi-final against Manchester City aged 21 years and 115 days.
