NXGN names the 75 best young players in world football

This year’s NXGN lists have been revealed and for the first time, there are nine male and female winners. The NXGN Nine have been selected to highlight them as elite footballing talents among the unranked lists of 50 male and 25 female NXGN finalists.

For this year’s NXGN lists, eligible players needed to be born on or after January 1, 2004, with players aged predominantly 18 and under.

The 2023 NXGN Nine male winners (no order ranking):

• Arda Güler - Fenerbahce

• Mohamed-Ali Cho - Real Sociedad

• Endrick - Palmeiras

• Gavi - Barcelona

• Alejandro Garnacho - Manchester United

• Roméo Lavia - Southampton

• Youssoufa Moukoko - Borussia Dortmund

• Mathys Tel - Bayern Munich

• Warren Zaïre-Emery - Paris Saint-Germain

The 2023 NXGN Nine Female winners (no order ranking):

• Linda Caicedo - Real Madrid

• Aoba Fujino - Tokyo Verdy Beleza

• Aline Gomes - Ferroviaria

• Wieke Kaptein - Twente

• Franziska Kett - Bayern Munich

• Vicky López - Barcelona

• Monique Ngock - Reims

• Jaedyn Shaw - San Diego Wave

• Alyssa Thompson - Angel City

The list of female NXGN players features 25 players, regrettably due to the relative availability of data and access to youth players in women’s football.

The NXGN lists were created by GOAL in 2016 to celebrate the best young talent in world football and have since grown to become their own football brand.

The NXGN lists are compiled by a global network of youth football experts operating in 37 countries, with hundreds of specialists contributing to the men's and women's lists.

Past winners of the men’s list include Jude Bellingham, Ansu Fati, Jadon Sancho, Justin Kluivert, Rodrygo, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Youri Tielemans.

Previous players to top the women’s NXGN list include Melchie Dumornay, Lena Oberdorf, and Hanna Bennison.