Fati breaks 95-year record to become Spain's youngest goalscorer

Ansu Fati became Spain's youngest goalscorer in history with his strike in the first half of Sunday's clash with Ukraine in Madrid.

The Barcelona forward marked his first international start with a fine effort to make it 3-0 before half-time in the Nations League match being played at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.

Aged 17 years and 311 days, Fati became the youngest player to net for Spain. The rising star broke the record that was set in 1925 by Juan Errazquin, who was 18 years and 344 days old when he struck three times against Switzerland.

It was the culmination of a fine opening period for Fati, who also won the penalty for Sergio Ramos to open the scoring, with a looping header from the Real Madrid defender then doubling Spain's lead.

Fati made his senior international debut off the bench in Thursday's 1-1 draw against Germany.

The Guinea-Bissau-born winger was 10 when he joined Barcelona’s youth system and made his senior debut in August 2019. He then became the club’s youngest ever scorer when he struck against Osasuna less than a week later.

He ended the season with eight goals from 33 games in all competitions for the Camp Nou side.

He is currently tied to the club until 2022, but president Josep Maria Bartomeu said last month that he would like to hand him a contract for life.

“He’s essential for the future of the club. Ansu is not for sale. He represents the academy the players come out of, learn from and consolidate themselves in the first team,” he said .

“He’s unique because he jumped from the youth team to the first team. There are not many players like him and Barcelona cannot sell him, even if it would be an economic solution for the club in the times of this pandemic.

“At no time have we considered selling him. On the contrary: what we have to do is help him in his growth and get him to sign a new contract in the future, so that he plays here for life.”