The 39 Best Players In World Football, Aged 21 Or Under, Have Been Named And Ranked

Erling Haaland has beaten stiff competition from Pedri and Phil Foden to be named the best player in world football aged 21 or below.

The Borussia Dortmund striker continues to go from strength to strength and has netted an impressive 25 times in 27 appearances this season.

Haaland is expected to join Manchester City this summer and he could become the club's highest paid player in the process.

It's no surprise ESPN have named him the best in the world in his age bracket, but the competition isn't exactly shoddy.

In second is Barcelona starlet Pedri, who is already a regular at the Camp Nou at just 18-years-old.

Pedri has been a bright spark in a difficult period for the Catalan giants and has a lengthy career at the top ahead of him.

City academy graduate Foden rounds off the top three and he already boasts an impressive trophy cabinet.

The 21-year-old is a three-time Premier League winner, four-time League Cup winner and FA Cup winner.

He also has a Champions League and European Championship runner-up medal.

Other notable names include Bukayo Saka, Vinicius Jr, Gavi and Florian Wirtz among others.

Players from 17 different countries and 10 different leagues are included in the list which you can check out in full below.

39. Callum Hudson-Odoi - Winger (Chelsea)

38. Tino Livramento - Right-back (Southampton)

37. Sergino Dest - Right-back (Barcelona)

36. Jeremy Doku - Winger (Rennes)

35. Fabio Vieira - Central midfielder (Porto)

34. Brenden Aaronson - Central midfielder (FC Salzburg)

33. Eric Garcia - Central defender (Barcelona)

32. Piero Hincapie - Central defender (Bayern Leverkusen)

31. Marc Guehi - Central defender (Crystal Palace)

30. Jacob Ramsey - Central midfielder (Aston Villa)

29. Karim Adeyemi - Striker (Salzburg)

28. William Saliba - Central defender (Marseille, on loan from Arsenal)

27. Ilya Zabarnyi - Central defender (Dynamo Kyiv)

26. Hugo Ekitike - Striker (Reims)

25. Pierre Kalulu - Right-back (AC Milan)

24. Nico Gonzalez - Central midfielder (Barcelona)

23. Charles De Ketelaere - Attacking midfielder (Club Brugge)

22. Josko Gvardiol - Central defender (RB Leipzig)

21. Giovanni Reyna - Winger (Borussia Dortmund)

20. Dominik Szoboszlai - Central midfielder (RB Leipzig)

19. Gabriel Martinell - Winger (Arsenal)

18. Nuno Mendes - Left-back (Paris Saint-Germain, on loan from Sporting CP)

17. Emile Smith Rowe - Winger (Arsenal)

16. Yeremi Pino - Winger (Villarreal)

15. Sandro Tonali - Central midfielder (AC Milan)

14. Rodrygo - Winger (Real Madrid)

13. Ryan Gravenberch - Central midfielder (Ajax)

12. Jurrien Timber - Central defender (Ajax)

11. Eduardo Camavinga - Central midfielder (Real Madrid)

10. Gavi - Central midfielder (Barcelona)

9. Alphonso Davies - Left-back (Bayern Munich)

8. Florian Wirtz - Attacking midfielder (Bayer Leverkusen)

7. Jamal Musiala - Winger (Bayern Munich)

6. Bukayo Saka - Winger (Arsenal)

5. Vinicius Junior - Winger (Real Madrid)

4. Jude Bellingham - Central Midfielder (Borussia Dortmund)

3. Phil Foden - Attacking midfielder (Manchester City)

2. Pedri - Central midfielder (Barcelona)

1. Erling Haaland - Striker (Borussia Dortmund)

Do you agree with the list? Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Gavi, Pedri, Vinicius Jr, Bukayo Saka

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

@DanMarland_