The 510th weekly post from the Football Observatory presents the 200 footballers worldwide who have not yet reached the age of 20 with the best CIES rankings for matches played in 2025. The score is the average of two values: a performance index calculated from the data collected exclusively by our partner Impect, and an experience index that takes into account minutes played, weighted according to the sporting level of the matches.
FC Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal tops the ranking with a CIES rating of 97.7. The Spaniard has the highest value both in terms of performance index and experience index. He will be joined by his compatriot and teammate Pau Cubarsí, while PSG’s French international Warren Zaire-Emery completes the podium. Roger Fernandes (SC Braga) is the highest-rated footballer who does not play in one of the five major leagues, just ahead of Geovany Quenda (Sporting CP, already signed by Chelsea).
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The highest value for a footballer outside of Europe was recorded for Elías Montiel (CF Pachuca). The Mexican ranks ahead of Brazilian Rayan Vitor (Vasco da Gama) and Argentinian Santino Andino (Godoy Cruz). A total of 48 leagues are represented in the top 200. The three youngest players on the list are Mexican Gilberto Mora (Club Tijuana), Pole Oskar Pietuszewski (Jagiellonia Bialystok) and Serbian Vasilije Novičić (IMT Belgrade).
See the full list here.
Four Norwegian talents have secured a place on the prestigious list of the world’s most promising young footballers. Among them, Sindre Walle Egeli from FC Nordsjælland shines particularly brightly – he who already made his national team debut for Norway last year. Egeli occupies an impressive 25th place on the list, which is topped by Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal.
Egeli achieves an overall average of 79.6 points, with a distribution of 76.6 points for experience and 82.6 points for performance level.
The next Norwegian representative is Sverre Nypan, who was recently sold from Rosenborg to Manchester City and then loaned out to Middlesbrough. Nypan takes a respectable 63rd place with 75.7 points.
Tromsø talent Jens Hjertø-Dahl (72.6) secures 110th place, while Vålerenga’s Filip Thorvaldsen (69.9) rounds off the Norwegian lead in 173rd place. Both show that Norwegian football has a promising future with young players making a name for themselves internationally.
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