Football
Top 5 youngest players to play at the European Championships
With so many youngsters gracing the beautiful game, who were some of the youngest to play in European Championship games?
Image Credits: NICK POTTS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The UEFA European Football Championship takes place in 2024, but who are the youngest football players to play in the Euros?
England hosted Euro 1996, the first tournament to use "Euros" instead of the European Championship.
SportsBoom searched for the youngest football players to play in the UEFA European Championships.
Germany is hosting the 17th edition of this prestigious competition in 2024, and the stage is set for young footballers to grab the headlines and propel their careers to new heights.
The Top 5 Youngest Football Players to play in the Euros
| Player | Age | Country | Game / Tournament | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Kacper Kozłowski | 17 yrs 246 days | Poland | Spain 1-1 Poland | 19/06/2021 |
| 2. Jude Bellingham | 17 yrs 349 days: | England | England 1-0 Croatia | 13/06/2021 |
| 3. Jetro Willems | 18 yrs 71 days | Netherlands | Netherlands 0-1 Denmark | 09/06/2012 |
| 4. Enzo Scifo | 18yrs 115 days | Belgium | Belgium 2-0 Yugoslavia | 13/06/1984 |
| 5. Jamal Musiala | 18yrs 117 days | Germany | Germany 2-2 Hungary | 23/06/2021 |
Who are the youngest football players to play in the UEFA European Championship (Euros)?
Image Credits: Doktor.opi
The Youngest Football Player to Appear at the European Championship (Euros)
Kacper Kozłowski (17 years and 246 days)
Kacper Kozłowski became the youngest football player to appear at the Euros when he replaced Mateusz Klich midway through the second half in a 1-1 group stage draw against Spain at EURO 2020.
The Poland midfielder set the record six days before by England's Jude Bellingham (17 years and 349 days).
Bellingham is the second-youngest footballer to play at the Euros, but he is the youngest to appear in a playoff match.
Jetro Willems held the record for the youngest player to grace the European Championship for nine years until Kozłowski and Bellingham surpassed him.
Image Credits: Hossein Zohrevand
Scifo’s youngest player at the Euros record stood for 28 years and four days before Willems started for the Netherlands in 2012.
Fifth on the top five list is Jamal Musiala from Germany, who became the youngest German player to feature in a major tournament when he set up a goal in a 2-2 draw with Hungary.
Musiala was brought on as a substitute in the round of 16 game against England, which Germany lost.
This appearance meant he was the youngest football player to play a knockout game at the Euros.
But Bellingham became the youngest when he played for England against Ukraine in the quarter-finals.
Image Credits: IK k ben groot
The Youngest Football Player to score at the European Championship (Euros)
Johan Vonlanthen (18 years and 141 days)
Vonlanthen made his finals debut at UEFA EURO 2004 on the same day Wayne Rooney became the youngest goal scorer in EURO history.
Rooney bagged a brace against the teenage midfielder's Switzerland side.
But Vonlanthen claimed the scoring record against France four days later, scoring in a 3-1 defeat on June 21, 2004.
The Youngest player to appear in the knockout stage of the European Championship (Euros)
Jude Bellingham (18 years and four days)
Rooney held this record previously after playing against Portugal in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals.
But Real Madrid and England's rising star, Bellingham, is the youngest player to play a knockout match at the Euros.
The record changed hands three times at EURO 2020. Pedri broke new ground in Spain's last-16 tie against Croatia.
However, one day later, Jamal Musiala overtook Pedri's new record for Germany against England.
Bellingham claimed the record later in the tournament during England's quarter-final defeat of Ukraine.
Image Credits: Chensiyuan
The Youngest player to appear in a European Championship (Euros) final
Renato Sanches (18 years and 328 days)
Sanches arrived at EURO 2016 fresh from signing for Bayern Munich from Benfica.
There were grand expectations for the teenage midfielder, who had shone in Portugal.
Not only did he perform well, but Sanches also forced his way into the first team and played in Portugal's shock final triumph against hosts France.
Despite getting injured early in the final, Euro 2016 was the tournament that finally saw Ronaldo win an international trophy with his country.
The Youngest player to score in a European Championship (Euros) final
Pietro Anastasi (20 years and 63 days)
Anastasi's right-footed volley from outside the box doubled Italy's lead against Yugoslavia in the 1968 final in Rome.
This made Anastasi the youngest goal scorer in a European Championship final.
At the time, he was the world's most expensive player after he joined Juventus from Varese in 1968.
The Youngest Goalkeeper to Appear at the European Championship (Euros)
José Ángel Iribar (21 years and 108 days)
There have been younger goalkeepers in previous European Championship squads.
Iker Casillas at Euro 2000 and Igor Akinfeev at Euro 2004 are two, but Iribar became the youngest to play a game during Spain's 2-1 win against Hungary in Madrid on June 17, 1964.
Four days later, Iribar was Europe's youngest European Championship-winning goalkeeper after Spain beat the USSR 2-1.
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Kaylan Geekie is a sports fanatic. He attended Durban High School before moving to Scotland, where he lived for 15 years. During his time in the United Kingdom, Kaylan graduated with a first-class BA Honours Degree in Sports Journalism at the University of the West of Scotland. Kaylan worked for nine years as the Match-Day Editor of SuperXV.com, reporting on Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship, the 2015 Men's Rugby World Cup and the 2017 British & Irish Lions series for the website.