NXGN 2023: The 25 best wonderkids in women's football

When Pia Sundhage, the head coach of Brazil’s senior national team, was interviewed by FIFA last year, she was asked which members of the Selecao’s team had impressed her most at the U20 World Cup. “The youngest one, actually,” she replied.

Sundhage was referring to 17-year-old Aline, the only player born in 2005 in Brazil’s squad for the tournament in Costa Rica.

A forward who attacks brilliantly from out wide, last year was a big one for Aline. She caught the eye at the U17 and U20 World Cups, nailed down a regular role as a starter with Ferroviaria in Brazil's top flight and was selected as the league’s 'Revelation of the Season'.

The fifth-youngest player to debut for Barcelona in its professional era, Bartel has all the qualities that the club demands from its midfielders.

Energetic, positive on the ball with good dribbling skills and the composure needed for the club’s style of play, that the 18-year-old's minutes with the first team have been limited is simply a reflection of the quality head coach Jonatan Giraldez has available to him in the middle of the park.

The positive is that Bartel has the opportunities to learn from some of the world’s best – from Alexia Putellas to Keira Walsh. With names like that in Catalunya, it will be tough to break into Barca’s team, but there is confidence that, in the end, this talented teenager will.

There is a lot of attacking talent coming through Juventus’ youth ranks, and Beccari may well be the pick of the bunch.

A serial goal-scorer in Italy's youth national teams, forward Beccari joined Como on loan for the 2022-23 campaign and has been making a real impression in the first season in which she has been exposed to senior football week in, week out.

Skilful with great footwork and off ball movement, the 18-year-old has added a touch of quality and class to a team battling relegation, most notably winning a penalty and scoring a brilliant equaliser against parent club Juventus back in November.

A player who stands out for her dribbling ability in particular, the ambidextrous Bugeja has been generating real buzz ever since her brilliant breakthrough into senior football as a 16-year-old at Sassuolo.

She burst onto the scene with a goal against Napoli that would go viral and ended her first campaign in Serie A with 12 goals, all while breaking records at international level for Malta. After two seasons in Italy, though, the young forward opted for a change in scenery.

In the summer of 2022, the 18-year-old signed for the Orlando Pride in the United States. She has so far been slowly introduced to that new environment, but will hope to make an impact on the NWSL in 2023.

Barcelona, Chelsea, Lyon – Caicedo was linked with the biggest clubs in the women’s game as she approached her 18th birthday. However, it was Real Madrid who secured the signature of one of the world’s most exciting young talents in February of this year.

Caicedo first came to the fore when she debuted for both club side America de Cali and the Colombia national team at the age of 14, and she has gone from strength to strength ever since despite a testing schedule and receiving criticism for a controversial transfer to Deportivo Cali.

The 18-year-old forward was named Player of the Tournament at the 2022 Copa America, with her electric pace and top-quality finishing likely to make her a hit as she gets to grips with life in Spain.

Dudinha may not have been afforded too many opportunities with Sao Paulo's first team just yet, seeing only 13 minutes of league action in 2022, but there's no doubting the potential in this young forward.

She has come in for praise from Brazil's senior national team head coach, Pia Sundhage, for being "unpredictable" in the way she "finds solutions", with her having stood out for the youth national teams at both U17 and U20 level, winning a bronze medal with the latter at last year's World Cup.

Small but strong, Dudinha is explosive and quick. Still only 17 years old, she has time well on her side when it comes to refining her game, too. The early signs are certainly exciting.

Boasting a name that has connotations of greatest, Fontaine first featured in the French top-flight for Paris FC, providing an assist on her first start in a win against Fleury 91. However, it's for the opponents on that big day that she has really made her mark.

Signing for the club in the summer of 2022, the France youth international has become a regular on the left flank with Fleury, able to showcase her wonderful ability on a consistent basis.

Fontaine’s quick change of pace is one of her most eye-catching qualities, particularly when combined with skilful footwork and a sprinkling of trickery. The 18-year-old is deceptively strong, too, and works impressively hard for her team on both sides of the ball, making her capable of playing at left-back as well as further forward.

Named one of the most outstanding players in the 2021-22 WE League season, Fujino is the latest top talent to breakthrough in Japan – a country which boasts a really exciting next generation.

The 19-year-old forward was part of a brilliant U16 team that won the AFC Championship in 2019, and her and many of her team-mates from that tournament were excellent again in 2022 when Japan reached the final of the U20 World Cup.

Fujino’s wonderful technical skill, ability to change pace to glide past a defender and awareness of how to find pockets of space where she can hurt an opponent have been evident throughout her young career, and she is now beginning to nail down a role in the senior Japan side ahead of the World Cup.

“A unique talent.” That’s how Tuva Hansen, the Norway international defender, described Gaupset after she scored twice and assisted another to help Brann to a 3-1 win in the 2022 Norwegian Cup final. "I forget that she is 17 years old, I think she is my age and I am 25,” she told TV2. “Words can't describe how good she is."

It was the perfect way to cap a breakthrough campaign for the midfielder. After playing just five league games the season before, Gaupset upped that to 19 appearances last year to help her club win the title. She also made her Champions League debut and captained her country at the U17 Euros.

Strong and fast, qualities particularly evident when she drives forward with the ball, the teenager is a real danger in the final third with her creativity and desire to shoot.

Chelsea's only signing in the January transfer window, Hamano has a lot of experience for such a young player, having become a key player for Cerezo Osaka Sakai at just 15 years old.

It’s since the U20 Women’s World Cup last year that things have really taken off, though. After winning the tournament’s Golden Ball and Silver Boot awards as Japan reached the final, Hamano earned her first senior international cap and, only a few months later, moved to England to join one of the world’s biggest clubs.

The 18-year-old will spend this year in Sweden, with Hammarby, as she looks to continue an impressive development that has seen her become not only a deadly forward in terms of scoring goals, but also in creating opportunities for her team-mates.

Another exciting attacker in the pipeline for Brazil, Jhonson is a centre forward with fantastic movement and finishing ability, with both attributes likely get better as she develops.

Strong and possessing a great work ethic, the 17-year-old holds the ball up well, too, and has good awareness to bring others into the game.

Contracted to third division club Toledo, Jhonson joined Brazilian champions Corinthians in January on a two-year loan. A move to a club of such quality will massively aid her in her quest to fulfil the undoubtedly high potential she has.

In May 2022, Kaptein was facing a dilemma: She could go to the U17 Euros with the Netherlands or she could stay at home and help Twente lift a league title.

Only 16 years old at the time, the midfielder described it as a “luxury problem”. In the end, her club made the decision that she would stick around. It highlighted just how important she has become for the team, at such a young age.

Kaptein ended the season having played in 20 of the club’s 24 league games as they were crowned Dutch champions, starting 16 of them. She was also named the Eredivisie's Talent of the Year. "[It's] really not normal," the teenager told ESPN. "What I'm going through now, at this age, is so, so, so cool."

For a young player to break into the first team at one of Europe's premier clubs and make an impact week in, week out, they need to be talented. Kett, in every sense of the word, is exactly that.

The 18-year-old winger marked her first start, against Meppen in October, with her first senior goal, with a second strike coming just a few weeks later. That she was in Bayern's line-up for their away trip to Barcelona in the Champions League in November speaks wonders of how highly rated she is, too.

Creative, explosive and with an ability to use both feet, Kett is an incredibly dangerous forward and an unpredictable one, too. Add in versatility and the desire to fulfil her defensive responsibilities and she’s a wonderful player for a coach to have at their disposal.

Kunihira was only 17 years old when she went to the senior Africa Cup of Nations with Uganda in 2022. She didn’t just go and sit on the bench, either. The young forward started the Crested Cranes’ clash with Burkina Faso and, better yet, opened the scoring after only eight minutes.

A quick player with a good first touch and a constant desire to get her team up the pitch, be it by playing a positive pass or driving forward with the ball at her feet, the teenager is a prolific goalscorer with Kampala Queens in her homeland.

It’s no surprise, either, given her powerful shot, but Kunihira is also able to provide for others, as she is capable of whipping in a great cross once she’s done wreaking havoc down the wing.

Despite being naturally right-footed, Liaigre has excelled at left-back for Bordeaux, particularly with the consistency of game time she's received in the 2022-23 season.

Capable of playing in that role, as a right-back or as a right-winger - the latter a position she operates in often for France’s youth national teams - the 18-year-old has won big praise from her club coach, Patrice Lair, for how well she’s taken her opportunities this campaign.

Skilful, quick and with good anticipation, Lair has also described Liaigre as someone who doesn’t give up. It’s no wonder she sits so well in a defensive role, then, while her plethora of attacking qualities only make her the archetypal modern day full-back.

It's been known for some time that Lopez is one of the most exciting young talents in world football. That said, 2022 was a year in which she emphasised that point to the absolute maximum.

She was the star of the show as Spain won the U17 Women's World Cup in October, with Lopez picking up the tournament's Golden Ball award just a month after making her Barcelona debut.

With a first goal following in January of this year, the signs are already there to suggest Lopez can become a key contributor for one of the world’s best teams. And she’s still only 16 years old.

One of the most exciting full-backs coming through in the women’s game, Medina came to the fore as a 15-year-old at Real Betis and, last summer, got a well-earned move up the table to Atletico Madrid.

That the 18-year-old is already becoming a regular starter in the country’s capital hasn’t been the only success story of her season so far. After all, right at the start of it, she was crowned a world champion with Spain’s U20 team, starting five of her country’s six games in Costa Rica – including the final.

Medina's development has been excellent so far and that is only going to continue with the exposure she is getting to the highest level.

The youngest player to play in the NWSL and the youngest player to score an NWSL goal, Moultrie has been breaking new ground ever since hitting the headlines for filing – and winning – a lawsuit against the top league in the U.S. because of its age restrictions.

A versatile player who can play wide or in a central midfield role, the 17-year-old is great at finding spaces where she can make things happen for her team. She’s incredibly mature for her age, too, and it’s something that shows in her play.

Now an NWSL champion after helping the Portland Thorns to claim the Championship trophy late last year, Moultrie is only set to become an even more important player for her club and, in due time, a senior international for her country.

Recipient of Cameroon's own Ballon d'Or award in October 2022, Ngock is not just one of her country’s brightest young players, nor is she one of Africa’s most promising prospects. She’s right up there with the most exciting teenage talents on the planet.

A deep-lying midfielder, the 18-year-old oozes confidence when her team has the ball, often seen demanding it or being vocal in directing where it should go, if not to her. Her technical ability is excellent and her awareness impressive, while she also manages to blend together a simple passing game and the desire to go forward very nicely.

She joined Reims in the summer of 2022, and the French club look to have unearthed an absolute gem, one who has the potential to become one of the best in the game in her position.

Colombia’s next generation of talent is quite something. While Linda Caicedo is the name grabbing all the headlines, one shouldn’t overlook some of the incredible players coming through alongside her – such as Rodriguez.

A player who made her senior international debut at just 15, she's become a key part of America de Cali's team over the past few seasons, helping the club win the league title last year.

A creative playmaker capable of producing magic in her No.10 role, Rodriguez shone for Colombia's U17, U20 and senior teams in 2022, reaching a final with each. Her next chapter is certain to come overseas, with the 17-year-old more than ready to take that step, too.

Nominated for the 2022 CAF Women’s Young Player of the Year award, Sabastine had a huge year last year, one which was capped off with a senior international debut in October, just two weeks before her 18th birthday.

The young forward was a regular for her club, Bayelsa Queens, as they qualified for the Women’s Champions League and reached the semi-finals. She also enjoyed one of Nigeria’s best moments at the U20 Women’s World Cup, scoring a late winner against France.

Joint-top goalscorer in qualifying for that tournament, Sabastine is a natural finisher, possessing good off the ball movement and wonderful composure in front of goal, particularly given her age.

July 31, 2022, was an historic date in the NWSL. It was the date on which Shaw etched her name into the record books by becoming the youngest player in league history to score on their debut.

In her next game for the San Diego Wave, she scored again. And the week after that? Again. It made Shaw just the second player ever to score in their first three games in the NWSL. It was an explosion onto the big stage for a forward who has always shown the potential to belong there.

Those who coached the 18-year-old throughout her formative years could see her creativity, her mesmerising footwork, her ability to make something out of nothing, and those traits have shone through in Shaw’s journey, one which saw her awarded the Golden Ball at the CONCACAF U15 Championship back in 2018 before she spent some time training at Paris Saint-Germain.

Only 13 when she made her Liga MX Femenil debut for Pachuca, Soto has understandably been touted as the next big thing coming out of Mexico for some time.

The 16-year-old forward has made handfuls of appearances in each season since her first, and is set to hit 50 games very soon as she assimilates steadily onto the senior stage while also starring for the youth national teams.

Soto was part of the Mexico team that reached the final of the U17 CONCACAF Women’s Championship in 2022, scoring six goals in her six games. Five days later, she was back with Pachuca for their clash with Monterrey in the semi-finals of the Clausura.

Mixing that natural goal-scoring talent with exposure to such valuable experiences is sure to bring the best out of her.

Rosengard is a club well-known for producing top talent, with NXGN 2021 winner Hanna Bennison – now at Everton – among its best. In Sprung, it has another incredibly exciting teenage midfielder coming through.

A winner of three trophies since she made her debut for the club aged 16, the Swede’s influence on this team has only grown in the time since. She’s adding goals to her game, too.

The biggest she’s scored so far came in the Swedish Cup final last May – and it was quite a strike. Sprung found the top corner with a wonderful effort, one that levelled the scores and got Rosengard back into a game they’d win in extra-time.

It was another sign that this 18-year-old, who started both Champions League group games against Bayern Munich last year, is capable of achieving great things.

When Thompson first caught the eye of Tracey Kevins, the U.S. U20 women’s national team coach, it was while playing with a team four years above her own age group. That she stood out in such a challenging environment is a testament to her and her ability.

In the years before she became the No.1 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft, and the youngest pick in its history, she was playing with Total Futbol Academy. She was the only girl, and she was 17 years old.

Not only is Thompson now in the NWSL with Angel City, ready for her debut season in 2023, the forward is also a full international for the U.S. women’s national team, having won her first cap at a sold-out Wembley Stadium in a friendly against England, in October 2022