Manchester City gem Rico Lewis is the fifth Englishman to start a Champions League match before turning 18. So where are the other four youngest Englishmen to open a game now?
Pep Guardiola awarded 17-year-old Lewis his maiden European start on Wednesday as the Citizens beat Sevilla 3-1. The full-back had already enjoyed his Champions League debut in this season’s group stage. He featured for the final 33 minutes at home to FC Copenhagen.
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But Lewis marked his full Champions League debut by lashing home his maiden first-team strike across all competitions. The Bury-born dynamo hit the back of Yassine Bounou’s net to draw the Etihad Stadium side level. Rafa Mir broke the deadlock during the first period.
Lewis now has the record as the youngest player to score in the Champions League on his first start. Real Madrid star and 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema previously set the feat whilst at Lyon, per BBC Sport. The Frenchman first scored in the competition in 2005.
Man City’s Rico Lewis joins the youngest Englishmen to start a Champions League tie
Lewis is also now among the five youngest Englishmen to start a Champions League game after opening Manchester City’s win. Per Opta, the Citizens product joined Jack Wilshere, Josh McEachran, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham with his opening call at home to Sevilla.
The Citizens product celebrates his 18th birthday on November 21. He was born in 2004, so his first start in a Champions League game came at 17 years, 11 months and 12 days old.
Guardiola lauded the teenager’s ability after Lewis earned a standing ovation when Joao Cancelo replaced him with five minutes left. The Spaniard professed, via BBC Sport: “We don’t give presents here. He had to earn it…
“He played for a few minutes against Bayern Munich in pre-season and also in the training sessions. We felt he had something special. The players didn’t know him before – but you know good players in two minutes. They knew they could rely on him 100%.”
Lewis – who has been at Manchester City since he was eight – drove home a powerful shot after 52 minutes to draw level against Sevilla. He had already tried his luck from range just before the break and was comfortable stepping up into the midfield when Guardiola asked.
Supporters around the Etihad Stadium rose to their feet to show their appreciation for his display after referee Orel Grinfeld made him walk around the field. So, with Lewis now one of the five youngest Englishmen to start a Champions League game, where are the others?
Bellingham is the youngest Englishman to start a game in the Champions League
Bellingham holds the record as the youngest Englishman to start a game in the Champions League. Lucien Favre started the midfielder during his debut in the UEFA competition at 17 years, three months and 21 days old as Lazio beat his Borussia Dortmund in October 2020.
BVB had only signed Bellingham from Birmingham City in July 2020 for an initial £25m. The Blues product also went on to set the record as the youngest Englishmen to start a game in the Champions League knockout stages at 17 years, seven months and 19 days that term.
The 17-cap wonder also has the record as the youngest player in European Championship history. Gareth Southgate fielded Bellingham during England’s opening Euro 2020 match at 17 years, 11 months and 15 days. He should now start during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Bellingham – who has six goals and five assists in 21 career Champions League fixtures and has captained Borussia Dortmund – is also a Premier League target. Bild reports Liverpool and Chelsea are interested. But it would cost either team €150m (£129m) to secure a deal.
Foden held the record as the youngest Englishman to start a knockout stage tie
Before making Lewis one of the youngest Englishmen to start a Champions League fixture, Guardiola made Foden one in 2017. He afforded the midfielder his maiden opening call at 17 years, six months and eight days old as Manchester City lost 2-1 at Shakhtar Donetsk.
Guardiola also made Foden the youngest Englishman to start a knockout stage tie – before Bellingham – in March 2018. He opened Manchester City’s 2-1 loss at home to FC Basel at 17 years, nine months and seven days old. It was one of his 41 outings in the competition.
Foden has scored 10 goals and created a further seven across his appearances in the UEFA tournament. The 18-cap England international only found the back of the net once during the 2022/23 group stage. He scored in the Citizens’ first fixture at Sevilla this September.
Ancelotti wrote McEachran’s name in Champions League history back in 2010
McEachran became one of the youngest Englishmen to start a Champions League game at 17 years, eight months and 10 days old. Carlo Ancelotti afforded the midfielder his first in the competition at home to MSK Zilina in Chelsea’s 2-1 group stage win in November 2010.
The Oxford native was a part of the Blues’ set-up since 2001 but only progressed to play 22 first-team matches. Chelsea sold the midfielder to Brentford in 2015 after a stretch of loan transfers with Swansea City, Middlesbrough, Watford, Wigan Athletic and Vitesse Arnhem.
Brentford kept McEachran until 2019 before Birmingham acquired the midfielder as a free agent. Yet he only lasted 18 months at the Second City squad before the Bleus axed him in January 2021. MK Dons swooped that March and have, so far, retained his services since.
Wenger made Wilshere the youngest Englishmen to start in the Champions League
Wilshere became the youngest Englishmen to start in the Champions League at the time in 2009. Arsene Wenger afforded the Arsenal product his first opening call in the competition at 17 years, 11 months and eight days old. He started in their 1-0 loss away to Olympiacos.
The 34-cap England midfielder is now back in north London working as the Gunners’ U18s manager. He took up the position in July 2022 after retiring from playing at 30 years old in the same month. Wilshere’s career was plagued by serious injuries, starting during 2011.
He sustained the first of many serious issues with a stress fracture of his right ankle in pre-season against New York Red Bulls in July 2011. It meant Wilshere could not build on his stellar breakthrough season at Emirates Stadium. He had been with the club since 2001.
Wilshere battled through his fitness problems to amass 198 appearances for Arsenal, with 22 in the Champions League. But further injuries meant he only featured 19 times at West Ham United (2018-20) and 17 back at AFC Bournemouth (2021) after a previous loan spell.
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