Dowman Makes History - The 10 Youngest Champions League Players of All Time

Who Are The 10 Youngest Champions League Players Ever?

Max Dowman made history on Tuesday night in Prague, as he became the youngest player in Champions League history during Arsenal's 3-0 win over Slavia Praha.

Here is the complete list of the 10 youngest players in the competition's history.

10 - Charalampos Mavrias

The 31-year-old Panetolikos right-back came on for the last 12 minutes of a 0-0 home draw against Rubin Kazan back in October 2010, when he played for Panathinaikos.

He later joined Sunderland in 2013, but only featured sporadically for the Black Cats and was shipped out on loan twice during his three years in England.

8. Charalampos Mavrias (16yrs,241 days)

On 20 October, 2010, Mavrias made his professional first-team – and UEFA Champions League – debut, playing the last 12 minutes of a 0-0 home draw against Rubin Kazan.
Thus, becoming the youngest Greek player ever to appear in the UCL pic.twitter.com/AtlgpK5uKh

— Baller G 𓃵 (@ism_olabiyi) October 26, 2023

He was at the time the second youngest player in the competition.

9 - Warren Zaire-Emery

PSG's Zaire-Emery made his first European appearance for the club just over three years ago, when he was 16 years and 231 days old.

Now 19 and a winner of the competition, he is also France's second-youngest debutant.

8 - Francesco Camarda

Still only 17, AC Milan's Camarda debuted in the Champions League in October 2024 at 16 years and 226 days old.

Since then, he has returned back to Milan's Futuro reserve side, and is currently out on loan at Lecce.

31 dec 2019: My name is FRANCESCO CAMARDA
28 sep 2025: Now everybody knows your name, not only me pic.twitter.com/mxOT3NH5lY

— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) September 29, 2025

7 - Youri Tielemans

The current Aston Villa midfielder was once tipped to be one of Europe's best creators at the start of the 2010s.

At 16 years and 148 days, the Belgian played for the first time in the competition against Anderlecht back in October 2013.

6 - Alen Halilovic

The Croatian midfielder was 16 years and 128 days old when he came off the bench for Dinamo Zagreb, at home against PSG in October 2012.

Halilovic was regarded as the next Luka Modric at the time, and would later be signed by Barcelona and AC Milan, although he would go on to fail at both.

Currently still only 29, he plays for Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie.

5 - Rayan Cherki

The Current Manchester City winger came through the ranks at Olympique Lyonnais quickly, making his European bow at 16 years and 102 days old.

The Frenchman came on in the 74th minute against Zenit in November 2019, having been an unused substitiute in a European game three weeks earlier.

4 - Celestine Babayaro

Making his debut at 16 years and 86 days old all the way back in November 1994, the Nigerian held the record for an astonishing 26 years.

It was an astonishing debut for him, as he got sent off 37 minutes into the match, which also made him the youngest player to be sent off in the competition.

Celestine Babayaro achieved this record in 1994 — 31 years ago. It remains special because according to this list by @TheAthleticFC he’s the only player who debuted in the 1990s or 2000s that’s still on the list of the youngest UCL debutants. pic.twitter.com/CbimCsDhcg

— Rilwan Balogun (@Real1_balogun) November 5, 2025

Babayaro would later join Chelsea in 1997 for £2.25 million - a club record for a teenager at the time - and made more than 200 appearances before his exit in 2005.

3 - Lamine Yamal

One of the best players in the world right now, the European Championship winner made his Champions League debut 68 days after his 16th birthday.

In September 2023, Yamal featured in Barcelona's 5-0 rout of Royal Antwerp, and would later become the youngest player in knockout stage history.

2 - Youssoufa Moukoko

In December 2020 at 16 years and 18 days, Moukoko finally broke Babayaro's 31-year record, in a 2-1 win away at Zenit.

He narrowly missed out on becoming the first 15-year-old to play, having been on the bench in Dortmund's two previous Champions League matches.

BVB will register 15-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko for the Champions League! pic.twitter.com/BLO1Lskisl

— Football Talent Scout - Jacek Kulig (@FTalentScout) October 13, 2020

Moukoko's career has since stalled somewhat, moving on loan to OGC Nice in 2024/25, before joining Copenhagen permanently that summer.

1 - Max Dowman

Last night, 15 years and 308 days old Dowman broke the record once more, in a routine 3-0 win against Slavia Praha.

Dowman had made his Premier League debut in August 2025, which made him the second youngest in that competition behind Ethan Nwaneri.

Furthermore, he still holds the record as the youngest ever UEFA Youth League scorer.

15 years and 308 days old, the youngest player in Champions League history...

Max Dowman ✨ pic.twitter.com/b7ke7nuIab

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 4, 2025