Top five youngest footballers to reach 40 goals for Barcelona ft. Yamal & Messi

Yamal sets another record for the Catalan giants.

Lamine Yamal is now the youngest player in the FC Barcelona era to score 40 goals for the team in all competitions.

Ever since breaking into the senior team, the forward has continued to set plenty of records, and his goal in a recent match once again proved why Yamal is a generational player.

Even Lionel Messi had failed to beat the record which was set in 1915, until Yamal broke it. Here are the top five youngest players in Barcelona history to score 40 goals:

5. Lionel Messi (20 years and 242 days old)

When Lionel Messi hit the 40-goal milestone, he was just 38 days older than Bojan, making him number five on this list. For example, Messi only needed 98 games to reach his first 40 goals, which is 38 fewer than Yamal, who now holds the record.

But when you compare their ages, Messi was two years older at that point, which is why he only ranks fifth on this list. Messi’s record on the all-time scoring record for the club is secure for the foreseeable future because Yamal is presently 632 goals behind him.

4. Bojan Krkic (20 years and 204 days old)

When Bojan made his debut for Blaugrana, he was heralded as the “next Messi” and was predicted to reach the top of the game. In 2011, at the age of 20 & 204 days old he scored his 40th goal for the club.

Bojan jthen oined Roma at the end of the 2010–11 season after leaving the team in search of consistent first-team playing time. However, his best post-Barcelona period was spent playing for Stoke City, when he became a cult icon very quickly.

3. Ronaldo Nazario (20 years and 204 days)

Even though Ronaldo Nazario was only with Blaugrana for a season, it was an incredible one. Throughout the 1996–97 season, he made 49 appearances in all competitions and netted 47 goals.

Ronaldo is the third youngest player in the club’s history to reach the 40th goal mark when he scored it at the age of 20 years and 204 days. He probably would have smashed the record if he had begun his career at Barcelona rather than PSV.

2. Paulino Alcantara (19 years)

Paulino Alcantara, who is still the youngest player to score a goal for Barcelona, made his Barcelona debut in 1912 at the age of 15.

When he was merely 19 years old in 1915, he scored his 40th goal for the team. Surprisingly, Yamal shattered his record this year after it had stood for more than a century.

Before retiring in 1927 at the age of 31, Paulino played for Barcelona for most of his career. He became a doctor after hanging up his boots and served as the club’s director for a while.

1. Lamine Yamal (18 years, 6 months & 25 days)

In Barcelona’s 3-0 victory over Mallorca in LaLiga 2025-26 matchday 23, Yamal recently netted his 40th goal, making him the youngest player to ever reach the milestone.

The 18-year-old has already solidified his place in Barcelona history, but he still has the prime years of his playing days ahead of him.

“He’s young enough to improve, to have potential, to reach another level. I think it happens,” is how Barcelona boss Hansi Flick recently described Yamal.

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