Every Tuesday, GOAL picks out the stand out performances and news surrounding the top teenage talents on the planet
Here at GOAL, we're experts when it comes to unearthing teenage talents. Over the past 10 years, we have collated the annual NXGN lists, which lay out the top 50 men's and top 25 women's wonderkids in the world. The likes of Jude Bellingham, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Lena Oberdorf and Linda Caicedo have gone on to become the very best players in the game having previously topped those NXGN lists, while Erling Haaland, Ousmane Dembele, Lauren James and Alyssa Thompson all appeared long before they became household names around the globe.
We're always on the lookout for the next prodigies, too, and our weekly profile series takes an in-depth look into what the future might hold for the stars of tomorrow. In 2025-26, however, we're going to be furthering our commitment to covering the best teenage footballers on the planet with our new NXGN Weekly column. Every Tuesday, we will breakdown the biggest stories involving teenage players from around the world, keeping you up to date with those who are going to define the game over the coming decade or two.
So, without further ado, here's the NXGN stories you to know about this week:
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Dowman's debut finally arrives
Has a 15-year-old English footballer ever been as hyped up as Max Dowman? The answer is almost certainly not, meaning the pressure on the Arsenal midfielder to emerge as a generational talent is extreme to say the least. From the evidence of his competitive first-team debut, however, Dowman is capable of taking it all in his stride.
That Dowman had to wait until Saturday to make his Gunners bow was merely down to an admin issue. Mikel Arteta was ready to throw the schoolboy into the fray last season, but due to Dowman being initially registered as part of Arsenal's Under-15s squad at the start of the campaign, Premier League rules deemed him too young to play the senior level. Those regulations likely robbed Dowman of the chance to break team-mate Ethan Nwaneri as the youngest debutant in the division's history, but he showed against Leeds that he is keen to make up for lost time now that he is free to play his part at the Emirates.
Dowman's 26-minute cameo against Leeds was full of the kinds of actions that have marked him out as one of the brightest prospects England has ever produced, as he fearlessly looked to take on his more established opponents by utilising his pace and quick feet. No more was that in evidence than when he burst into the penalty area and forced Anton Stach into a foul that resulted in a stoppage-time penalty that Viktor Gyokeres tucked away to round out the 5-0 win.
With Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard potentially facing spells on the sidelines, Dowman may be entrusted with more game time than he might have expected even after his electric pre-season performances. Based on what we saw on Saturday, however, he looks more than ready.
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Rio to the rescue
Dowman and Arsenal travel to Anfield this Sunday, where they will come face to face with the other teenager to dramatically introduce themselves to the Premier League over the past few days: Rio Ngumoha. The Liverpool winger was given around six minutes of stoppage time to make an impact against Newcastle on Monday, and boy did he!
Ngumoha's dramatic, 100th-minute winner at St James Park highlighted the composure with which the 16-year-old has taken to first-team football. Like Dowman, he produced some remarkable performances in pre-season, constantly weaving through opposition defences before providing either a finish or a killer pass. On Tyneside, the ball was put on a plate for him to score, but Ngumoha still showed remarkable composure on his first league appearance to whip his effort into the far corner.
In doing so, he became the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool history, while he was just the second 16-year-old, alongside Wayne Rooney, to score a winning goal in the Premier League, and the fourth-youngest scorer in the competition's history. How Chelsea must be ruing him leaving them behind just over a year ago…
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Watford's Aussie wonderkid
Down in the Championship, Watford have a wonderkid of their own who has started the season in impressive form as he aims to put the disappointment of failing to make the grade at one of Europe's elite clubs behind him.
Nestory Irankunda spent just one season on Bayern Munich's books after arriving from Adelaide United last summer, but has quickly become a fan favourite at Vicarage Road and further endeared himself to the Hornets faithful on Saturday when he opened the scoring with a stunning free-kick against Swansea City.
Irankunda became well-known for spectacular strikes when he first broke out in the A-League, and he left Adelaide having scored 16 goals and provided eight assists in 61 games for the first team – most of which came as a substitute. And though he never really came close to making his Bayern debut before spending the second half of last season on loan at Grasshoppers in Switzerland, the experience certainly hasn't shaken the 19-year-old's confidence.
Speaking on how he convinced club captain Moussa Sissoko to let him strike the dead ball at the Swansea.com Stadium, Irankunda said: "Moussa is the captain, so I asked him for permission and I feel confident in taking a free-kick. He asked me a couple of times, 'Are you sure you can take free-kicks?' I said, 'Yeah, go look at my highlight reels.' After that, I just put it into the corner."
If Irankunda can keep producing moments of magic such as this one, then few will question his ability going forward.
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Rooney Jr. making waves at Man Utd
While there are plenty of success stories when it comes to the children of superstar footballers going on to write their own triumphant tales into the game's history books, there are just as many who try but fail to live up to the lofty expectations placed on them due to the familial connections. Quite which of those buckets Kai Rooney will fall into remains up in the air for now, but certainly the son of England and Manchester United legend Wayne is doing all he can to follow in his father's footsteps.
The 15-year-old has been part of the United academy for the last five years, and this season has been promoted to the Under-18s squad as he gradually closes in on being considered for the senior squad. Of course, Rooney must take each step as it comes rather than look too far into the distance, but after making his U18s debut last week in their season-opener, he followed that up with his first goal against Middlesbrough.
A forward who can play centrally or off the wing, Rooney's goal – a deflected strike of a bouncing ball after he turned inside the penalty area – was nothing special in terms of its quality, but the confidence it will give the teenager as he continues to push for more minutes at this new level will undoubtedly be valuable.
That said, while Rooney has come off the bench in the U18s' opening two games of the campaign, perhaps the most exciting prospect in the current academy ranks is now an established starter despite being a year younger than his team-mate. JJ Gabriel netted twice in the win over Boro to take his tally for the U18s to five goals in as many appearances, and the 14-year-old – who has been dubbed 'Kid Messi' by coaches in Manchester – looks set to be given the chance to train with Ruben Amorim's first team in the coming weeks and months as a result.
So while Kai Rooney will continue to grab headlines whenever he plays for United's youth sides, it is perhaps Gabriel who has the best chance to replicate Wayne Rooney's exploits over the next couple of decades.