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There are very few players who can say they have scored in the UEFA Champions League; even fewer when they are teenagers. When it comes to English players in particular, a handful of players have scored in a Champions League game in their teens.
Here, we take a look at five of the youngest English players who have managed to hit the net in Europe's most elite football competition:
#5 Wayne Rooney (September 2004, 18 years and 340 days)
Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney not only has bragging rights to scoring a goal in the Champions League at such a young age but he also boasts of having bagged a hattrick during his debut in the competition.
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A young Rooney had just made a £25 million move from his boyhood club Everton a month earlier and was working on his way to the first team.
The youngster's convincing performance during his debut European game, however, negated any doubts the fans ever had about the 18-year-old.
Rooney kicked his Champions League debut off in style as the Red Devils’ 6-2 rout of Fenerbahce saw him score a treble to become the youngest Englishman to score in the Champions League at the time.
Then manager Sir Alex Ferguson foresaw Rooney's future when he spoke of the debut saying, "I don't suppose I have seen a debut like it. What you saw tonight is the reason why we signed him. And I think he can only get stronger now. We think the boy has great potential and it was a great performance and a great start by him."
Rooney did indeed get stronger and went on to become one of the best players to ever don a United shirt.
The forward has since left Old Trafford to join boyhood club Everton in January 2017 after which he joined DC United, a Major League Soccer team in the United States.
#4 Jack Wilshere (October 2010, 18 years and 291 days)
One of many Arsenal youngsters to make the list, Jack Wilshere was an academy product of the Gunners. Wilshere was the player with the most potential to emerge from an English academy in a few years and hopes were high for the teenager.
At the time, the North London club was also witnessing the beginning of an efficient midfield partnership between the 18-year-old and club legend Cesc Fabregas.
On October 2010, Arsenal went head-to-head with Shakhtar Donetsk in a game that saw the Emirates outfit win 5-1 over their opponents.
During the clash, Wilshere netted a goal home after a beautiful exchange of passes with Tomas Rosicky, to become one of the youngest English players to score in Europe’s elite competition. His intelligent performance was enough to make then England boss Fabio Capello to reconsider Wilshere's role in the national team.
Wilshere's talent was however marred by his injury-laden career at the Emirates. Following his long stint at Arsenal, the midfielder decided it was time for a change and signed for West Ham United on July 2018.
#3 Theo Walcott (October 2007, 18 years and 221 days)
Almost two years after he joined Arsenal from Southampton in January 2006, Theo Walcott made the headlines for being the youngest English player to score in the Champions League till then, scoring a brace in the North London outfit’s 7-0 thrashing of Slavia Prague.
Walcott was a thrilling prospect in an Arsenal side that was wanting of some English attacking talent. Following the brace, fans and then manager Arsene Wenger were left in awe of the youngster, even claiming that his second goal is reminiscent of Gunners hero Thierry Henry.
Speaking after the game, Wenger said, “There was a touch of Henry about his second goal.”
“The first quality is to be composed and not to rush things. Once Theo scored his first, you saw him much more. When they opened up the space, you could see his runs and pace, and the fact he is clinical in front of goal.”
Walcott has since moved away from the Emirates to join Everton in January 2018.
#2 Jadon Sancho (October 2018, 18 years and 213 days)
Since his brave move away from the Etihad, Jadon Sancho has been making the headlines for being one of the most talented youngsters in football at the moment.
His appearance for Borussia Dortmund in their game against Club Brugge recently made him the youngest English player ever to make his Champions League debut for a foreign club and only the seventh Englishman to achieve the feat.
Last week, the 18-year-old became the second youngest Englishman to score in the Champions League after netting Borussia Dortmund’s third goal in their 4-0 win against Atletico Madrid.
Sancho’s goal came only four minutes into his presence on the pitch when he converted a pass off of Achraf Hakimi. With the goal, the starlet also became the first English teenager to score for a foreign team in the Champions League.
Sancho left Manchester City to move to the German giants last year in search of first-team football.
#1 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (18 years and 43 days)
Former Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain boasts of being the youngest English player to score a goal in the UEFA Champions League.
In a memorable Champions League debut, the Ox opened Arsenal's goal tally in the eighth minute during the North London outfit's 2-1 victory over Olympiakos in 2011.
The goal also made the midfielder the youngest player to score for the Gunners. Oxlade-Chamberlain has since moved away from the Emirates to join Merseyside club Liverpool in August 2017.
