Will join Newcastle in January
In Australia’s opening match against France on Tuesday night, Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold provided a historic World Cup moment when he brought on centre-forward Garang Kuol for scorer Craig Goodwin at 4-1 down in the 74th minute. By playing at the age of 18 years, 2 months and 7 days, the attacking talent, who will join Premier League club Newcastle in January, has become one of the ten youngest debutants in tournament history.
World Cup history”>
Kuol, Owen, Eriksen & Co. – The 20 youngest players in World Cup history
20 | Andrzej Iwan (Poland) | 18 years, 6 months, 27 days
© IMAGO
1978
19 | Miklós Kovács (Romania) | 18 years, 6 months, 15 days
© IMAGO
1930 (symbolic image)
18 | Giuseppe Bergomi (Italy) | 18 years, 6 months, 13 days
© IMAGO
1982
17 | Chris Wood (New Zealand) | 18 years, 6 months, 8 days
© IMAGO
2010
16 | Michael Owen (England) | 18 years, 6 months, 1 day
© IMAGO
1998
15 | Assimiou Touré (Togo) | 18 years, 5 months, 12 days
© IMAGO
2006
14 | Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) | 18 years, 4 months, 28 days
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2010
13 | Bertus de Harder (Niederlande) | 18 years, 4 months, 22 days
© IMAGO
1938
12 | Segundo Durandal (Bolivia) | 18 years, 4 months
© IMAGO
1930 (symbolic image)
11 | Christian Eriksen (Denmark) | 18 years, 4 months
© IMAGO
2010
World-cup-1930-uruguay-1669193161-97182.jpg?lm=1669193172″>
10 | Manuel Rosas (Mexico) | 18 years, 2 months, 26 days
© IMAGO
1930 (symbolic image)
9 | Garang Kuol (Australia) | 18 years, 2 months, 7 days
© IMAGO
2022
8 | Carvalho Leite (Brazil) | 18 years, 25 days
© IMAGO
1930 (symbolic image)
7 | Rigobert Song (Cameroon) | 17 years, 11 months, 19 days
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1994
6 | Bartholomew Ogbeche (Nigeria) | 17 years, 8 months, 2 days
© IMAGO
2002
5 | Pelé (Brazil) | 17 years, 7 months, 23 days
© IMAGO
1958
4 | Salomon Olembé (Cameroon) | 17 years, 6 months, 3 days
© IMAGO
1998
3 | Femi Opabunmi (Nigeria) | 17 years, 3 months, 9 days
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2002
2 | Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon) | 17 years, 3 months, 7 days
© IMAGO
1998
1 | Norman Whiteside (Northern Ireland) | 17 years, 1 months, 10 days
© IMAGO
1982
The right-footed striker, who has been regarded as the greatest young player in his homeland for years, now ranks among some of the biggest names in football, such as Brazilian legend Pelé, Africa’s four-time footballer of the year Samuel Eto’o, Italy defender Giuseppe Bergomi and England’s Michael Owen. The ranking is topped by Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside, who made his debut in a match against Yugoslavia at the age of 17 years, one month and ten days in 1982.
Whether Kuol will have a World Cup career similar to some of the aforementioned players remains to be seen. Australia, who are making their fifth appearance at a World Cup, still face Denmark and Tunisia in Group D. If Kuol manages to score another goal, he would move ahead of Owen and just behind Pelé as the second-youngest scorer in World Cup history.
World Cup history”>
Bellingham in top 10 – The youngest scorers in World Cup history
10 Jude Bellingham (England) – 19 years, 4 months, 23 days
© IMAGO
2022 against Iran
9 Martin Hoffmann (GDR) – 19 years, 2 months, 27 days
© IMAGO
1974 against Chile
8 Divock Origi (Belgien) – 19 years, 2 months, 4 days
© Getty Images
2014 against Russia
7 Julian Green (USA) – 19 years, 25 days
© Getty Images
2014 against Belgium
6 Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 18 years, 11 months, 23 days
© IMAGO
2006 against Serbia and Montenegro
5 Dmitri Sychev (Russland) – 18 years, 7 months, 19 days
© IMAGO
2006 against Belgium
3: Michael Owen (England) – 18 years, 6 months, 8 days
© imago images
1998 against Belgium
4 Miklós Kovács (Hungary) – 18 years, 6 months, 15 days (1930; no picture available
1 Pelé (Brazil) – 17 years, 7 months, 27 days
© imago images
1958 against Wales
2 Manuel Rosas (Mexico) – 18 years, 3 months, 2 days (1930; no picture available)
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