Top 3 U-23 Soccer Strikers In The World Right Now
Soccer or football, depending on where you live, is by far the most popular sport in the world. For kids almost all around the world the idea of growing up to be a famous soccer star is a dream that’s shared massively. While actually becoming a soccer player is a hard task in itself, becoming a soccer star is one of the most daunting missions in the sports world. But for some, they’re just born with it. Many soccer odds experts continuously come up with predictions lists of who the best young soccer players in the world are, usually with strikers and forwards right in the top of the lists, especially come awards season. To help clear the debate, here are our picks for the 3 best soccer strikers under 23 years old right now.
Kylian Mbappé, 22, France
In the world of professional soccer, no other players get as much recognition and praise as the strikers and French international superstar Kylian Mbappé has proven time and time again that all the praise is deserved and all the hype is real. Ever since starting out his career with French club Monaco at the age of 16, Mbappé has taken the soccer world by storm becoming one of its most polarizing stars. His playing style has drawn comparisons to another French goal scoring legend, Thierry Henry as well as who is considered by many as the best striker to ever grace the fields, Ronaldo Nazario de Lima.
At only 22 years old PSG’s main attacking striker can already boast about having won the French League title with Monaco before making a record setting transfer move to Parisian giants PSG where he joined forces with the likes of Neymar Jr., Angel di Maria and other top stars to form one of the world’s most dominating teams as well as continuing to collect domestic titles left and right with his team. If that wasn’t enough, Mbappe was one of the key characters in France’s 2018 World Cup title winning run, where he was seen and taken as one of the team’s main leaders even at such a young age. Mbappe is considered by many as the world’s next big superstar, with people already placing him as the heir to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s throne at the top of the soccer world.
Erling Haaland, 20, Norway
While Mbappé is a polarizing player not just for his scoring abilities but for many other reasons, if we were to focus on scoring alone then Borussia Dortmund and Norway striker Erling Braut Haaland is the guy you want on your attack. Haaland’s goal scoring skills could easily be considered out of this world and illegal at points. He resembles a mix between two other very polarizing goal scorers. On the one hand he has the physical archetype of Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimović, with great mobility and an impressive talent to play with his back turned to defenders as a pivot. On the other hand, he has the natural scoring abilities of Polish living legend Robert Lewandowski. If you watch “Lewa” play, chances of him scoring at least, yes at least one goal are very, very high, the same runs with Haaland.
At just 20 years old, Haaland is wanted by basically all of the best teams in the European soccer hemisphere, but he seems as happy as one could be defending the yellow and gold of Borussia Dortmund. Should he move on later in his career, which is a very real possibility, there will be absolutely no shortage of teams fighting over who’s considered as the world’s most dominant goal scorer.
Joao Felix, 21, Portugal
If you’re from Portugal and since you erupted into the professional soccer scene people are already pinning you as CR7’s natural heir to the throne of the Portugal soccer crown, then you know you must be doing something right. That’s exactly the case with 21-year-old, former Benfica starlet and now Atlético de Madrid superstar Joao Felix.
Ever since he made his official debut with Benfica, one of Portugal’s most important teams, the talent was noticeable and his rise to fame began. Felix’s style which combines an almost magic touch with plays that sometimes look like they’re done with a video game controller helped him become the most expensive transfer in Spanish superclub Atlético de Madrid’s history. After two seasons with the team Felix has already won his first La Liga title, beating out the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. With his career straight ahead it’s only a matter of time before we see Felix leading the Portuguese national team like his predecessor CR7.
