Arsenal’s Max Dowman grabbed headlines this week with three Guinness World Records before his 17th birthday. Yet football’s record books hold many names, and African stars have written some of the boldest lines.
The Dowman benchmark
Guinness World Records presented Dowman with three certificates on Thursday. He is the youngest player in Champions League history, having appeared against Slavia Prague at 15 years and 308 days.
He is also the Premier League’s youngest scorer, finding the net against Everton at 16 years and 73 days. And he is the youngest Premier League winner, collecting his medal at 16 years and 144 days as Arsenal lifted their first title since 2004. Guinness also features him in its Football Edition 2027 “Class of ’27”
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Africa’s record makers
Roger Milla: stunned the world at the 1994 World Cup, scoring for Cameroon at 42 to become the oldest scorer in tournament history.
Essam El-Hadary:guarded Egypt’s goal at the 2018 World Cup at 45, making him the oldest player to feature at the finals.
Samuel Eto’o:claimed four African Player of the Year awards and powered his way to the top of the Africa Cup of Nations scoring list.
Ahmed Hassan:of Egypt piled up a world-leading number of international caps, setting the standard for longevity.
Asisat Oshoala: dominated the women’s game, winning the CAF Women’s Player of the Year award a record six times, and she remains the face of Nigerian women’s football.
Football’s global record royalty
Lionel Messi:smashed 91 goals in a calendar year in 2012 and has won a record eight Ballon d’Or awards.
Cristiano Ronaldo:owns the most international appearances and goals in men’s football, and tops the Champions League scoring charts.
Pelé:remains the only player to win three World Cups, and he lit up the 1958 tournament by scoring in the final at just 17.
Just Fontaine:hammered 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup, a single-tournament record that has stood for decades.
Miroslav Klose:claimed the men’s World Cup goalscoring record with 16 strikes across four tournaments.
Ali Daei:set a long-standing international benchmark for Iran with 109 goals before Ronaldo overtook him.
Christine Sinclair: finished her Canada career as the all-time leading international goalscorer, men’s or women’s, with 190 goals.
Marta: powered Brazil to the top of the Women’s World Cup scoring list, with 17 goals across several tournaments.
Lamine Yamal: burst through at Euro 2024, becoming the tournament’s youngest goalscorer.
The contrast with Dowman is striking. Milla and El-Hadary made history by defying age, while Eto’o, Hassan, Fontaine, Klose and Oshoala built theirs through brilliance and consistency. Dowman has flipped the script, stacking up records before most players make their senior debuts.
