10 Youngest Goal Scorers in MLS History (Ranked)

For a long time categorised as a second-rate league that the game’s great stars joined in order to enjoy a golden pre-retirement, MLS has seen its image evolve in recent years. This is the result of a desire on the part of its directors to establish itself in the footballing landscape as one of the most important competitions on the planet.

To achieve this, they have provided their clubs with numerous resources to encourage development both on and off the pitch. A development in which training plays a central role, and the fruits of which are beginning to be reaped. The young players who are being thrown into the deep end, and who are rapidly proving themselves, are a case in point.

This is partly down to their ability to be decisive. In this article, GIVEMESPORT draws up a list of the youngest goalscorers in MLS history.

10 Jack McBean

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 312 days

• Club:LA Galaxy
• Position: Forward
• Nationality: USA
• Date of MLS first goal: October 24, 2011

Jack McBean’s career certainly did not live up to its potential. Considered one of the best players to emerge from the LA Galaxy academy, in 2011 the striker became the youngest player to have signed for the club in its history. For a player who was only 16 at the time, this was an event that was bound to put pressure on him.

But that’s no reason to be discouraged. Scoring on his first MLS appearance for the Californian club, McBean became the club’s youngest ever goalscorer. A record he still holds today. It was a dazzling debut for a player who, despite an interesting list of honors, never managed to establish himself at the highest level.

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9 George Bello

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 257 days

• Club:Atlanta United
• Position: Left-back
• Nationality: USA/Nigeria
• Date of MLS first goal: October 6, 2018

Having become one of the league’s best left-backs during his time with Atlanta United, George Bello has also written his name into the annals of MLS. Barely a month after making his professional debut, the USA international (7 caps), at the age of 16 and 257 days, became one of the youngest goalscorers in the history of the league.

After four seasons with the Five Stripes, Bello decided to pack his bags in 2021 and try his luck on the Old Continent, where German club Arminia Bielefeld gave him a taste of the Bundesliga. Now 22, the native of Abuja, Nigeria, now plays for LASK in Austria, with whom he has had his first taste of continental competition in Europe this season.

8 Eddie Gaven

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 253 days

• Club:NY Red Bulls
• Position: Midfielder
• Nationality: USA
• Date of MLS first goal: July 5, 2003

For a long time, the youngest player ever to play for the New York Red Bulls, Eddie Given was also their youngest ever goalscorer. In July 2003, with the MetroStars (the old name for the Red and Whites) on the verge of a draw at DC United, Bob Bradley decided to use his latest attacking asset to try and tip the balance in his favour.

Gaven, then aged 16 and 253, did not know it at the time, but he was about to make history. In injury time, the young striker fired past Nick Rimando to give his side a precious win and vindicate his coach’s choice. It was a performance made possible by the fourth substitution rule — which only applied to the goalkeeper — and which was abolished at the end of the season following the outcry caused by the incident.

7 Santino Quaranta

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 217 days

• Club:DC United
• Position: Forward/Winger
• Nationality: USA
• Date of MLS first goal: May 19, 2001

Despite being thrown into the deep end of the pool at an early age, Santino Quaranta quickly proved himself at home in MLS. In his first season, the striker took part in 16 league matches for D.C. United and even scored five goals. The first, on May 19, 2001, made him the youngest goalscorer in MLS history.

A record he held for almost two years, before Gaven took it away from him. But unfortunately for him, as for McBean, his career never really got off the ground, due in no small part to a succession of physical ailments, despite a few better periods.

6 Christian Torres

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 186 days

• Club:LAFC
• Position: Winger
• Nationality: Mexico/USA
• Date of MLS first goal: October 19, 2020

Leaving an academy to join the first team is not always synonymous with success. Just ask Christian Torres. In three seasons at LAFC, the young Mexican international has only played in 11 matches, eight of them in MLS. Enough to make him the youngest goalscorer in the Californian franchise’s history, but not enough to establish himself over the long term.

That is why he signed a free transfer to CD Tapatio at the start of 2024. The opportunity for him to continue to grow in a league in which he can flourish before, why not, finding North American turf in the more or less near future.

5 Diego Fagundez

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 173 days

Diego Fagundez may now be an important part of the LA Galaxy squad, but he is still one of the great players to have come through the New England Revolution. In more than a decade with the Revs, the Uruguayan striker pulled on the jersey more than 270 times, scoring a whopping 54 goals in the process.

The first of these, scored in his first MLS match, established him as the youngest goalscorer in the Massachusetts franchise. A club where he quickly proved indispensable, even becoming the youngest player in MLS history to reach the 100-appearance mark for his club.

4 Jesus Ferreira

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 161 days

• Club:FC Dallas
• Position: Offensive midfielder/Forward
• Nationality: USA/Colombia
• Date of MLS first goal: June 4, 2017

Paternal heritage can sometimes be so heavy that it quickly becomes a burden. Jesus Ferreira’s seems to be more of a driving force. The son of the illustrious David Ferreira, considered one of the best South American players in MLS history, looks set to follow in his sire’s footsteps.

At almost 24, the FC Dallas attacking midfielder already has over 150 games and more than 50 goals to his name with the Texans. And he is incidentally the fourth-youngest goalscorer in league history. This mark was set on his first and only appearance of the 2017 season, on June 4, to complete his team’s convincing win over Real Salt Lake.

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3 Gianluca Busio

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 142 days

• Club:Sporting Kansas City
• Position: Midfielder
• Nationality: USA/Italy
• Date of MLS first goal: October 18, 2018

Gianluca Busio was quickly hailed as one of the great hopefuls of American soccer, and it wasn’t long before he made his mark on North America’s most prestigious league. At 16 years and 68 days old, he is the second-youngest player to provide an assist in MLS, and third on this list.

And like Bello, his international team-mate, Busio has decided to cross the Atlantic to discover Europe. The midfielder is now playing in Italy, where his father was born. He joined Venezia FC in 2021, where he has discovered Serie A and its gala fixtures against some of the greatest teams in the sport’s rich history.

2 Julian Hall

Age on first MLS goal: 16 years, 87 days

• Club:NY Red Bulls
• Position: Forward
• Nationality: USA/Poland
• Date of MLS first goal: June 6, 2024

Do you remember the records Given set with the New York Red Bulls? Julian Hall has broken them all. A pure product of the New York club’s academy, the young striker is a phenomenon. At just 16 years of age, he has already made 12 MLS appearances and scored two goals in just 159 minutes on the pitch.

Two goals netted in 2024, both of which helped his team avoid defeat. And that’s without even mentioning an assist that once again earned the Red Bulls a draw, this time against Atlanta United. The very definition of what could be considered a clutch player.

1 Freddy Adu

Age on first MLS goal: 14 years, 320 days

• Club:DC United
• Position: Forward
• Nationality: USA
• Date of MLS first goal: April 17, 2004

All records are made to be broken, but those set by Freddy Adu are unlikely to be broken for a long time yet. Already the youngest player in MLS history and the youngest to provide an assist, the former D.C. United player is also the youngest goalscorer of all time.

A feat achieved at just 14 years and 320 days of age, during the 2004 season in which the former USA international (17 caps, two goals) made 30 appearances in 30 matchdays. It is hard to say whether this will have had an impact on the future of his career, but it is certain that it did not unfold in the way that Adu’s debut suggested.

All statistics per MLS, MLS Record Book and Transfermarkt. Correct as of 10-17-2024.