SportsBoom wanted to know who the youngest football players were to win the World Cup. So we did some digging.

International football starts and ends with the FIFA World Cup.

The Copa America and European Championships might be better quality competitions, but nothing captures the world’s imagination like the World Cup.

Some of the game’s greatest superstars were born on the grandest stage of them all. However, not all win football’s most iconic trophy.

The youngest football players to play at the World Cup are:

•    Pele
•    Ronaldo
•    Guiseppe Bergomi
•    Lionel Messi
•    Norman Whiteside
•    Saloman Olembe
•    Feni Opabunmi
•    Samuel Eto’o
•    Kylian Mbappe
•    Gavi
•    Thierry Henry

Some young footballers became icons, who graced the game’s showpiece event multiple times, winning the tournament while making an impact on supporters around the globe.

For other young players, it was the high point of their football careers.

Few teenage football players play in the World Cup at all, never mind win the tournament.

Often, teenage players play in World Cup “dead rubbers” or because of injuries to key players. Rarely, do they feature in knockout or finals football.

Young players will score at World Cups, but it is rare for a young footballer to win the game’s ultimate prize.

SportsBoom has investigated the best youngest football players to win the World Cup.

Youngest football players to win the World Cup

Who Holds the Title of the Youngest Football Player to win the World Cup? 

Pelé (O Rei) | 17yrs 8m 15d

Pelé is the youngest football player to win the World Cup and the sixth-highest goal scorer in football history.

He was seventeen when he lifted the Jules Rimet Trophy for the first time at the Råsunda Stadium in Solna, Sweden.

The teenager, nicknamed "O Rei" (The King) after Brazil's historic 1958 tournament success, went on to be one of the greatest players of all time.

During his international career, he won three FIFA World Cups: 1958, 1962 and 1970, the only player to do so.

Brazil became the first country to win the World Cup outside their home continent. Only four teams have managed this feat since.

Pelé began playing for Santos at age 15 and the Brazil national team at 16.

Brazil is one of the most decorated countries in the world and one of the best football teams of all time.

They have won five World Cups (most) and nine Copa America titles (third-most). 

Ronaldo (O Fenômeno) | 17yrs 9m 29d

Before Christiano Ronaldo, there was the “original” Ronaldo.

Nicknamed “O Fenômeno” (The Phenomenon), Ronaldo was one of the greatest strikers in modern football history, and the second-youngest player to win the World Cup.

Brazil won the 1994 World Cup in the USA as an unused substitute during the tournament.

Ronaldo, like Pelé, was seventeen when the Seleção Canarinha beat Italy on penalties to claim their fourth World Cup title.

He would play another two World Cup finals, winning the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea but losing to France in 1998 in Paris.

Unfortunately, injuries hampered the Brazilian's career during his prime.

Had the lightning-quick goal-scorer not had severe knee injuries, who knows what he might have achieved in his already stellar career. 

Giuseppe Bergomi (Lo Zio) | 18yrs 6m 20d

Guiseppe Bergomi is the third-youngest footballer to win the World Cup and the youngest European player to lift the sport’s ultimate prize.

Enzo Bearzot selected Bergomi in the 1982 Italian World Cup squad at the tender age of eighteen.

“Lo Zio” (The Uncle) was one of the greatest defenders of the 20th century. Pelé selected Bergomi in his FIFA Top 100 Players of All Time list.

He represented Italy four times in the FIFA World Cup, winning the 1982 tournament in Spain and captaining the side in 1990.

Bergomi sat on the bench during the group stages of the tournament; however, he featured in the semi-final and the final, where he shone.

The right-sided fullback famously man-marked West Germany great Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in the 1982 World Cup final at

Rummenigge barely featured and was substituted in the second half as Italy won 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid to lift their third World Cup title. 

Kylian Mbappe | 19yrs 6m 26d

Kylian Mbappe had already announced himself to the world thanks to his brilliance with AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in France's Ligue 1.

The 19-year-old, however, etched his name in history with a second-half goal in France's 4-2 victory over Croatia in the 2018 World Cup final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia.

Mbappe became the youngest player to score in the World Cup final since Pelé in 1958.

The teenage sensation played a vital role in France's second World Cup-winning campaign, 20 years on from France '98.

Thierry Henry | 20yrs 10m 26d

Another young Frenchman is one of the top five youngest football players to win the World Cup.

Thierry Henry, 20, burst into the limelight with France, winning the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the country's first of two titles.

Henry didn't play in France's historic 3-0 World Cup final win over Brazil at Stade de France in Paris, but he became one of football's best strikers and a France and Arsenal legend.

He scored three goals during the tournament, but like Ronaldo, he sat on the bench for the final.