With his substitute appearance against Georgia in the Euro 2024 qualifying, the young player from Barcelona, Lamine Yamal, became the youngest player in Spain’s history.
He broke the record that his current Barca team-mate Gavi set in 2021 at just 16 years and 57 days.
BBC Sport untersucht weitere männliche Fußballspieler im Alter von 16 Jahren und jünger, die in der senioren internationalen Fußballmannschaft spielten.
Wales: Harry Wilson
Craig Bellamy und Harry Wilson
Harry Wilson machte sein Debüt im letzten Wales-Spiel gegen Craig Bellamy (rechts).
In October 2013, when he was 16 years and 207 days old, Harry Wilson made his Wales debut before he even played a club game, against Belgium.
Das übertraf das Wales-Rekord von Gareth Bale innerhalb von 108 Tagen.
England could have tried to call Wilson, eligible through a grandfather, until his 87th-minute appearance off the bench, according to speculation.
When he was a toddler, his grandfather Peter Edwards won £125,000 after betting £50 on Wilson playing for Wales at odds of 2,500-1.
Wilson würde fünf Jahre warten, bis er sein zweites Cap erhalten würde.
Irland – Sam Johnston
In 1882 played Sam Johnston, who was 15 years and 153 days old, in Ireland’s first ever international game, a 13-0 defeat by England.
Das Rekord wurde noch nie gebrochen – und die Distillery forward, die in 1910 starb, wird immer noch als die jüngste internationale Mannschaft in Europa angesehen.
Long before Irish independence, the Irish Football Association run that team. It was still called Ireland until 1954, when it was renamed to Northern Ireland.
Between 1882 and 1886, Johnston from Belfast would score twice and win five caps. Sadly, his team lost all five games with a score of 41-5 in the overall.
Martin Odegaard aus Norwegen
Matthias Odegaard
Four months before his international debut, Martin Odegaard became the youngest player in Norway’s top flight.
Martin Odegaard, der derzeit als Kapitän von Arsenal spielt, machte seinen Norwegen-Debüt mit 15 Jahren und 253 Tagen in einem Freundschaftsspiel gegen die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate im August 2014. Er spielte alle 90 Minuten.
At that time he had played 14 games for his club.
Later that year, at 15 years and 300 days, he became the youngest player to appear in a European Championship qualifier during his side’s victory over Bulgaria in Oslo.
He hat bisher 51 Caps gewonnen, obwohl er 24 Jahre alt ist.
Brasilien: Pele
Pele in Aktion für Brasilien.
Pele war eine Teenagersensation für Brasilien, scoring als 16-Jähriger gegen Argentina.
He würde ein Jahr später international bekannt werden, aber am 7. Juli 1957 machte der fröhliche Spieler von Santos, Pele, seinen brasilianischen Debüt mit 16 Jahren und 9 Monaten.
In einem Zeichen der großen Dinge, die kommen würden, erzielte er am selben Tag ein Tor gegen Argentina am Maracana.
Pele excelled at the 1958 World Cup, scoring a hat-trick against France in the semi-finals and scoring twice against the host country Sweden in the final.
He gewann zwei weitere Weltmeisterschaften mit der Selecao, aber es waren wahrscheinlich die Leistungen des jungen Pele, die am meisten beeindruckend in seiner beeindruckenden Karriere waren.
Samuel Eto’o aus Kamerun
Samuel Etoo
In Cameroon’s 1998 game against Italy, Samuel Eto’o, aged 17 years and 98 days, is the second youngest player to feature at a World Cup.
In 1997, the day before his 16th birthday, Samuel Eto’o, a young player from Real Madrid, made his Cameroon debut in a 5-0 friendly defeat by Costa Rica.
The striker, who made his name at Barcelona, would go on to be the country’s all-time top scorer, with 56 goals in 118 caps, and is now president of the Cameroonian Football Federation.
Diego Maradona aus Argentinien.
Diego Maradona (Sportler)
Die erste Treffer von Diego Maradona aus Argentinien fand in einer 3-1-Sieg gegen Schottland am Hampden Park statt.
When Diego Maradona of Argentinos Juniors made his Argentina debut in a friendly game against Hungary in 1977, he was 16 years and 120 days old.
Two years later he scored his first international goal against Scotland.
He would later become a football legend and lead the country to the 1986 World Cup victory.
Maradona leitete das Nationalteam von 2008 bis 2010 und verstarb im Jahr 2020. Er erzielte 34 Tore in 91 Spielen.
Lucas Knecht aus den Northern Mariana Islands
Lucas Helfer
Lucas Knecht (links) spielte elf Mal für die Nordmaränen. Im Bild ist ein Spiel gegen Nepal aus dem Jahr 2013.
Lucas Knecht, the youngest male international football player, was 14 years and two days old when he played in the Northern Mariana Islands’ 9-0 East Asian Football Championship preliminary round loss to Guam on April 1, 2007.
Nevertheless, the Northern Mariana Islands, a self-governing commonwealth of the United States, are not a Fifa member.
Three 14-year-olds have played for the national team, according to statisticians RSSSF. Joel Fruit and Kennedy Izuka made their debuts in a November 2012 game against Guam. Only this one they lost 8-0.
