The annual NXGN lists are back for 2025, as GOAL ranks the world’s top teenage talents in men’s and women’s football, crowning winners that will follow in the footsteps of the likes of Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Jadon Sancho and Lena Oberdorf in being recognised as the best young footballer on the planet.
Covering all five major footballing continents and representing 23 different countries, the men’s NXGN 2025 list is a truly global one, featuring established senior internationals, title winners and names that are set to light up the biggest competitions for decades to come.
So without further ado, here is the NXGN 2025 list of the top 50 young talents born on or after January 1, 2006…
5Endrick (Real Madrid)
Brazilian football fans are always on the lookout for ‘the next Neymar’ or ‘the next Ronaldo’, but only truly special talents are able to earn the moniker of ‘the next Pele’. That is the honour that was bestowed on Endrick as he began to make waves in the Palmeiras first team, and Real Madrid fans are now starting to see glimpses of just why the forward is so highly rated in his homeland.
Madrid paid an eye-watering €60m (£52m/$64m) to sign Endrick back in January 2023 as they won a race that involved pretty much every other elite European club, but then had to wait 18 months before the youngster would arrive at Santiago Bernabeu. In the meantime, Endrick fired Palmeiras to the 2023 Brasileirao title by netting 11 league goals before announcing himself in Europe with strikes against England and Spain for the Brazil national team.
The 18-year-old finally got to pull on the famous white Madrid shirt in August, and wasted little time in getting going as he marked both his La Liga and Champions League debuts with goals. However, with Kylian Mbappe, Vincius Jr and Rodrygo ahead of him in the pecking order, learning to be patient has been Endrick’s most valuable lesson thus far, though he has continued to chip in when he has been given opportunities by Carlo Ancelotti.
Though most comfortable as a central striker, Endrick has showcased versatility throughout his short career, which should mean he eventually forces his way into the Madrid line-up sooner rather than later. Certainly his unerring finishing and one-on-one ability are outstanding for a player of his age, and there is nothing to suggest he won’t one day become another of Florentino Perez’s Galacticos.
4Warren Zaire-Emery (Paris Saint-Germain)
While Champions League failures and off-field controversies came to define Paris Saint-Germain’s superstar era, one of the less talked-about narratives focused on the club’s academy and how so few players from one of Europe’s most prolific catchment areas were going on to become stars for their hometown club. Attitudes are, however, beginning to change at Parcs des Princes, with Warren Zaire-Emery the poster boy for a new generation of Parisians who dream on one day representing France’s biggest club on the grandest stages.
Despite only just turning 19, Zaire-Emery has already made over 100 appearances for the PSG first team since becoming the club’s youngest-ever player all the way back in August 2022. From there, he has set new benchmarks in a number of categories, including becoming PSG’s youngest-ever goal-scorer and the youngest player to ever start a Champions League knockout match for any club, though he has since lost the latter of those.
He also marked his senior France debut in 2023 with a goal after a run of performances in the Champions League that announced Zaire-Emery as one of Europe’s top young midfielders, having previously broken into the PSG line up at right-back and then on the right of a four-man midfield. He is most at home in central areas, however, having showcased an ability to operate as a deep-lying playmaker and as a roaming No.8 who can both create and score around the opposition’s penalty area.
Pep Guardiola’s fandom of Zaire-Emery is no secret, and given the increased competition for places in Luis Enrique’s engine room, there is a chance that the teenager one day swaps his boyhood club for a Premier League move. Zaire-Emery would certainly have no issues in becoming an important cog for any team around Europe.
3Pau Cubarsi (Barcelona)
It’s not often that the absence of a 17-year-old with just six months of first-team experience from a national-team squad for a summer tournament causes major headlines, but Pau Cubarsi is no ordinary teenager. The Barcelona centre-back was surprisingly left off Spain’s final roster for Euro 2024, and though La Roja managed just fine without him, it figures to be the last time for a while that Cubarsi misses out on an end-of-season competition.
A product of La Masia, Cubarsi made waves during the second half of last season when he stepped into the Barca backline and immediately gave off the aura of a seasoned veteran as he went about locking down some of Europe’s most feared attackers, most notably Victor Osimhen and Kylian Mbappe in back-to-back Champions League knockout ties.
The now-18-year-old has subsequently kicked on under the tutelage of Hansi Flick, and has been an almost ever-present for the Blaugrana thus far in 2024-25 while matching his excellent defensive instincts with a range of passing that would make most central midfielders jealous.
Ex-Barca captain Carles Puyol has compared Cubarsi to his former central-defensive partner Gerard Pique, and the early signs are that the youngster can go on to enjoy a similarly successful career in Catalunya having recently signed a new, lucrative four-year contract with his boyhood club.
2Estevao Willian (Palmeiras)
For Brazilians to embrace a player who is nicknamed ‘Messinho’, they must show themselves to be exceptional. That is certainly one adjective that matches the play of Estevao Willian, who has illustrated that comparisons to the greatest Argentine to ever kick a football aren’t wide of the mark during the early strides he has made into senior football.
Barely a week goes by without Estevao producing a moment of magic with the ball at his feet that goes viral around the globe, as the youngster gained quite the reputation for spectacular strikes on his way to scoring 13 goals – a tally that was only bettered by two players – in his first full Brasileirao campaign. He isn’t merely a goal-scorer, either, and the 17-year-old recently became the first player to record 30 combined goals and assists before their 18th birthday in Brazil since Neymar burst onto the scene at Santos.
Unfortunately for Palmeiras fans, as with many of their top academy products in recent years, time is running out for them to catch Estevao in action for the Verdao. After a ferocious battle between some of Europe’s most prestigious clubs, Chelsea agreed to pay an initial £29m ($37m) to sign Estevao back in June, and the forward will arrive at Stamford Bridge ahead of the 2025-26 season as part of the next wave of talented youngsters that Blues’ bosses hope will restore them as true Champions League contenders down the road.
Already a full Brazil international, Estevao is being tipped to eventually take up Neymar’s mantle as the centrepiece of the Selecao attack over the next few years, and there is no question that he has the ability to one day surpass the ex-Barcelona superstar as the greatest goal-scorer in the national team’s history.
1Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
What more is there to say about Lamine Yamal that hasn’t already been said? Perhaps the greatest teenage footballer the world has ever seen, the forward is already a household name around the globe after his heroics for both Barcelona and Spain, and while Lionel Messi comparisons aren’t particularly helpful, it’s difficult not to suggest that Yamal is the heir apparent to a man who once bathed him as a baby as part of a calendar photoshoot.
Ever since making his Barca debut as a 15-year-old, Yamal has proven to be almost un-droppable, and it became clear midway through his first full season in the senior side that he was the most important player in the Blaugrana line-up despite still being a schoolboy. His list of records could fill a decent-sized book already, and there are those who watch La Liga regularly who already believe he is the best player in a division that also boasts Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham, Robert Lewandowski, Antoine Griezmann and many more world-class footballers.
Yamal’s impact on the international game has perhaps been even greater. The youngest player to both represent and score for Spain at senior level, his performances at Euro 2024 were, at times, mesmeric as he toyed with opposition defenders who had at least 5-10 years of experience on him. Yamal provided the most assists in Germany while producing one of the most memorable moments of the summer with his long-range strike against France in the semi-finals as the boy who brought his homework with him and celebrated his 17th birthday the day before the final was unanimously named Young Player of the Tournament following La Roja’s triumph.
Ballon d’Or talk has already begun, with Yamal odds-on to become the first player to win the most prestigious individual prize in the game before his 21st birthday. Certainly the way in which he has shredded opponents for Barca thus far in 2024-25 has put him in the Golden Ball conversation, and perhaps challenging Messi’s record of eight Ballons d’Or will be in his future.
For now, Yamal will have to make do with another piece of history, as he becomes the first player to be named the winner of NXGNon two separate occasions. Your NXGN 2025No.1: Lamine Yamal