00:03Russia 2018 was capped off by 19-year-old sensation Kylian Mbappe,
00:09sealing France's final victory with a goal and the title of the tournament's best young player.
00:16Not since Pelé in 1958 had a teenager dominated a World Cup in such a way.
00:24Aged 17, Pelé remains the youngest World Cup goalscorer
00:28and youngest tournament winner, but he doesn't hold all the baby-faced records.
00:35The honour of being the World Cup's youngest ever player goes to Northern Ireland's Norman Whiteside,
00:41who was just 17 years and 41 days when he made his tournament debut against Yugoslavia in 1982.
00:50The powerful forward burst onto the scene at Manchester United and quickly gained cult status,
00:56but by the age of 23 his career had been destroyed by a serious knee injury,
01:01and he was forced to retire aged only 26.
01:08The man to come closest to breaking Whiteside's World Cup record enjoyed a far longer career.
01:14Cameroon legend Samuel Etou, who was the youngest player on display at France 98.
01:21The youngest player at Qatar 2022 was Australian livewire Garan Kual,
01:27while the youngest goalscorer was Spain starlet Gavi.
01:30Both were 18 on their tournament debut.
01:34The young man with an eye in the history books in North America is Mexico's Gilberto Moura.
01:40He will be just 17 when the World Cup comes around, but seems certain to feature for El Tri on
01:46home soil.
01:49At the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, he became the youngest Mexican in international football,
01:56forcing his way into the starting 11 for the final victory over the USA.
02:03Whether Moura's career trajectory is more Mbappe than Whiteside remains to be seen,
02:08but he will be impossible to ignore in his homeland in 2026.
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