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Arsenal’s Dowman becomes youngest Champions League player at 15

Images courtesy of Getty

Max Dowman, a substitute for Max in the 3-0 win over Slavia Prague, has become the youngest player to play in a Champions League game.

The forward, who was 15 years and 308 days old, broke the record set by Youssoufa Moukoko when the German played for Borussia Dortmund against Zenit for 16 years and 18 days.

In the 72nd minute, Dowman replaced Leandro Trossard in the absence of Dowman, whose record-breaking league run-off was set in 1903, as Arsenal recorded its 10th win in a row and eighth clean sheet in a row.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta praised the team’s performance, saying: “Max, at 15, immediately looked on and won free kicks. It doesn’t get any harder than this competition.”

He plays in a way that makes people very eye contact. He masters precisely timing the ball’s movement. There is a significant player there.

Six days prior to Dowman becoming the youngest Arsenal player to start a game since winning the EFL Cup against Brighton, he made a landmark.

    • five days ago

Who is the teenage prodigy of Arsenal?

Since he was 14 years old, Dowman has joined the first team for a warm-weather camp in Dubai in January 2024. He has been training with Arsenal’s first-team squad.

In the second half of last year, Arteta lacked attacking options due to the injuries of several key players, and supporters were already calling for the Englishman to get a chance.

Dowman, who won the Under-17s European Championship with England in May, is no stranger to setting records.

He also became England Under-19s’ youngest goalscorer last month.

So it should come as no surprise that he has been included in Arteta’s plans this term as the Gunners battle for success on four fronts.

Arsenal has taken steps to ensure both his career advancement and safeguarding with a player with such high potential competing in senior football.

In addition to these, he is given opportunities to get changed, his education is strongly prioritized, and his team-mates give him good support in an adult team setting.

Arteta and the club have taken caution in guiding Dowman’s development.

Who are the other young Champions League players?

Celestine Babayaro in action for ChelseaAFP via Images courtesy of Getty

Moukoko broke the 26-year mark by becoming the youngest player in the world’s elite competition five years ago.

Celestine Babayaro, a former Chelsea full-back, was the youngest player at the age of 16 years and 86 days when he first competed for Anderlecht at Steaua Bucharest in November 1994.

Lamine Yamal started for Barcelona in September 2023, starting against Antwerp with a time of 16 years and 68 days, second on the list.

Champions League players’ youngest:

1. Max Dowman (Arsenal) – 15 years and 308 days, 4 November 2025

2 Youssoufa Moukoko – 16 years 18 days, 8 December 2020

3. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) – 16 years and 68 days, 19 Sept 2023

4. Celestine Babayaro (Anderlecht) – 16 years and 86 days, 23 Nov 1994

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  • Arsenal
  • UEFA Champions League
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Arsenal’s Dowman becomes youngest Champions League player at 15

Images courtesy of Getty

Max Dowman, a substitute for Max in the 3-0 win over Slavia Prague, has become the youngest player to play in a Champions League game.

The forward, who was 15 years and 308 days old, broke the record set by Youssoufa Moukoko when the German played for Borussia Dortmund against Zenit for 16 years and 18 days.

In the 72nd minute, Dowman replaced Leandro Trossard in the absence of Dowman, whose record-breaking league run-off was set in 1903, as Arsenal recorded its 10th win in a row and eighth clean sheet in a row.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta praised the team’s performance, saying: “Max, at 15, immediately looked on and won free kicks. It doesn’t get any harder than this competition.”

He plays in a way that makes people very eye contact. He masters precisely timing the ball’s movement. There is a significant player there.

Six days prior to Dowman becoming the youngest Arsenal player to start a game since winning the EFL Cup against Brighton, he made a landmark.

    • five days ago

Who is the teenage prodigy of Arsenal?

Since he was 14 years old, Dowman has joined the first team for a warm-weather camp in Dubai in January 2024. He has been training with Arsenal’s first-team squad.

In the second half of last year, Arteta lacked attacking options due to the injuries of several key players, and supporters were already calling for the Englishman to get a chance.

Dowman, who won the Under-17s European Championship with England in May, is no stranger to setting records.

He also became England Under-19s’ youngest goalscorer last month.

So it should come as no surprise that he has been included in Arteta’s plans this term as the Gunners battle for success on four fronts.

Arsenal has taken steps to ensure both his career advancement and safeguarding with a player with such high potential competing in senior football.

In addition to these, he is given opportunities to get changed, his education is strongly prioritized, and his team-mates give him good support in an adult team setting.

Arteta and the club have taken caution in guiding Dowman’s development.

Who are the other young Champions League players?

Celestine Babayaro in action for ChelseaAFP via Images courtesy of Getty

Moukoko broke the 26-year mark by becoming the youngest player in the world’s elite competition five years ago.

Celestine Babayaro, a former Chelsea full-back, was the youngest player at the age of 16 years and 86 days when he first competed for Anderlecht at Steaua Bucharest in November 1994.

Lamine Yamal started for Barcelona in September 2023, starting against Antwerp with a time of 16 years and 68 days, second on the list.

Champions League players’ youngest:

1. Max Dowman (Arsenal) – 15 years and 308 days, 4 November 2025

2 Youssoufa Moukoko – 16 years 18 days, 8 December 2020

3. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) – 16 years and 68 days, 19 Sept 2023

4. Celestine Babayaro (Anderlecht) – 16 years and 86 days, 23 Nov 1994

related subjects

  • Premier League
  • Arsenal
  • UEFA Champions League
  • Football

More on this story.

  • Arsenal logo
  • Ask Me Anything logo

Arsenal’s Dowman Becomes Youngest-Ever Player In Champions League 

https://www.channelstv.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/arsenal-slavia-prague.jpg

Max Dowman, an Arsenal midfielder, started for Slavia Prague on Tuesday and scored a 3-0 lead, becoming the youngest Champions League player ever since that moment.

Youssoufa Moukoko, a German striker who was 16 years, 18 days old at Zenit St. Petersburg in 2020, was defeated by Dowman, who is 15 years, 309 days old.

Moukoko currently plays for Copenhagen’s FC.

On November 4, 2025, Slavia Prague and Arsenal FC’s UEFA Champions League – league phase day 4 football match pitting their teams at 0-0 against Slavia Prague in Prague, Czech Republic, with Spain’s #23 Mikel Merino celebrating with Arsenal’s #07 Bukayo Saka. (Photo by Michal Cizek/AFP)

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised Dowman’s “personality” and “courage” at the post-game press conference in Prague.

He said, “He comes in, he takes people on, he starts dribbling, he gets a foul,” and that is exactly what he does.

You are unable to instruct that. It’s irrelevant whether you have it or not on your passport.

I’m really happy with the fact that you put him in this situation and that he can adapt and give a good performance, Arteta continued.

Read more about [UCL] Flawless Arsenal Dispatch Slavia Prague, Extended Clean Sheet Streak To Eight Games.

On November 4, 2025, Slavia Prague and Arsenal FC’s UEFA Champions League – league phase day 4 football match, between the teams’ Spanish goalkeepers #01 David Raya, Brazilian defender #06 Gabriel Magalhaes, and English midfielder #56 Max Dowman, celebrate. (Photo by Michal Cizek/AFP)

When the Gunners defeated Leeds 5-0 on August 23 to claim his Premier League debut, Dowman was 15 years and 234 days old.

After teammate Ethan Nwaneri, who was 53 days younger on his debut in 2022, and he is the second-youngest Premier League player ever, second only to him.

But in the Gunners’ 2-0 victory over Brighton in the League Cup fourth round last week, Dowman became the youngest player to start a game for Arsenal.

Warri-Itakpe Derailment: Two Suspects Arrested, NRC Announces Resumption Date

The Warri-Itakpe railway in Agbor, Delta state over the weekend caused a train derailment, which resulted in two arrests.

The suspects are Blorie Kokori and Mudansuru Mutari, according to a statement from the Nigerian Railway Corporation on Tuesday.

The suspects are currently being interrogated by the police in Delta state, according to NRC Managing Director Kayode Opeifa, and will likely be transferred to Abuja for more information about the train’s sabotage.

According to him, operatives from the NRC Police Command worked with local security agents to apprehend the suspects on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at Kilometer 208 before Abraka, Delta State.

Their direct involvement in tampering with crucial rail track components was revealed through preliminary investigations and their confessional statements.

READ MORE: The NRC Suspends Services Four Days After Resumption of Warri-Itakpe Train After It Derails

At Kilometer 212+8 meters, close to Agbor, two of the seven Warri–Itakpe Train Service (WITS) coaches were pulled out by the derailment.

According to Opeifa, preliminary investigations suggested that suspected track vandalism may have contributed to the incident, which occurred on Saturday at around 7.30pm.

Additionally, the NRC boss added that a thorough security and safety audit of the track and related infrastructure was conducted on Sunday as a precautionary measure.

The NRC boss praised the Railway Police Command and community security networks for their swift and coordinated response, citing the Corporation’s zero-tolerance vandalism policy, and describing the incident as economic.

On Sunday, November 2, 2025, Opeifa confirmed that the restoration and complete re-railment of the Warri–Itakpe track had been completed.

He also provided assurance that regular train service on the corridor will resume on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, following the inspection and operational audit.

The NRC boss assured passengers and other stakeholders that the company would continue to uphold the highest standards of safety and reliability while also increasing surveillance, deploying advanced security systems, and boosting community involvement along all railroad corridors.

‘Birds of a feather’: Trump’s endorsement of Cuomo divides NYC voters

The final minutes of voting for Jessica Dejesus as the next mayor of New York City were up for grabs.

The 40-year-old Bronx resident of Mott Haven planned to support former governor Andrew Cuomo despite admitting to not having been closely following the election. She recalls his nearly nightly television appearances while he was the governor of New York State during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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She remarked, “He was our guy during the pandemic.”

However, Dejesus watched a TikTok video detailing US President Donald Trump’s support for Cuomo the day before the election.

Jessica Dejesus made the final decision to support Jahran Mamdani’s candidate for president [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera].

Dejesus is aware that she is not a fan of Trump, despite her mayoral campaign cliches. Social Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, received a closer look as a result of her nod.

“That’s impossible for us.” Trump has cut back on food stamps, which affects a lot of people, she said, referring to restrictions on US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in a bill that Trump and Republicans passed earlier this year.

In response to Trump’s massive deportation drive, she said, “I understand you have to stop bad people coming over the border, but there are a lot of good immigrants here as well.”

She admitted to going to her voting site and telling Al Jazeera that she still hadn’t decided. She said, “I’ll have to wait until that paper is in front of me.”

She declared, “I voted for Mamdani,” and she was done! she stated.

You really have no other options, they say.

A community like Mott Haven, which had a strong turnout for Mamdani and Cuomo in the June primary, can be seen as a final blow to the race by Trump’s endorsement.

Trump, in contrast, hoped that the endorsement of billionaire Elon Musk would sway the conservative New Yorkers, who cast ballots in unusually large numbers in the city’s 2024 presidential election.

You really have no choice, according to Trump in a Monday social media post, “whether you like Andrew Cuomo personally or not.”

“I urge you to cast your vote for him and sincerely hope he does a fantastic job.” He can do it, Mamdani can’t!

Additionally, Cuomo has made unwavering efforts to win Republicans’ votes. In 2024, the Republican Party registered a representative of 4.7 million voters in New York.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa currently holds about 14% of the vote, which is close to Mamdani’s lead over the former governor.

How effective Trump’s campaign strategy would be if Mamdani were to win the election, despite his threats to also target city funding. Trump’s intervention, however, did little to avert some steadfast Sliwa supporters’ minds.

Trump’s endorsement does not affect my vote, I believe. According to Artemio Figuero, a 59-year-old city street cleaner, who spoke to Al Jazeera in Jackson Heights, Queens, “Sliwa is for the people, and I have faith in that.”

According to Figuero, who spoke about Sliwa’s leadership of the vigilante anti-crime Guardian Angels organization, “he was a protector of the neighborhood.”

Artemio Figuero, 59, [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera]
Artemio Figuero, 59, poses in front of a Jackson Heights, Queens, polling place [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera]

Trump’s support, according to other Republicans who had long adapted to casting ballots outside of their party in the liberal-dominated local elections, was a positive, if not revolutionary, development.

Lola Ferguson, a 53-year-old registered Republican who had already planned to support Cuomo, told Al Jazeera in Mott Haven, “I like that Trump endorsed him.”

She said, “He is aware that Cuomo is a better choice for the city.”

Cuomo, on the other hand, has refuted Trump’s endorsement claims, citing Mamdani’s false label of a “communist” as a “bad Democrat” in favor of him.

Trump’s action, however, was not unexpected for Mamdani supporters. Many of the city’s richest residents, including billionaires Miriam Adelson and Bill Ackman, who also back Trump, have supported Cuomo.

Andre Augustine, a 33-year-old employee of a college access nonprofit, who voted for Mamdani, said that “birds of a feather flock together.”

“I believe the indicators were already in place. I believe that Cuomo simply wouldn’t be open about it because all those who were funding Trump’s campaign were also doing it, he said.

Trump’s endorsement, in the opinion of some, was the icing on the cake.

Dominique Witter
In [Joseph Stepansky/Al Jazeera] Mott Haven in the Bronx, Dominique Witter can be seen.

Although Dominique Witter, a healthcare tech consultant, applauded Cuomo’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city, he had gradually shifted to Mamdani.

She didn’t make a decision until the race’s final sprint.

As she prepared to cast her ballot in Mott Haven, she said, “It took me a while to get there, but I’m voting for Mamdani.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Trump’s endorsement was ineffective. Because that’s not what we want, don’t we? she stated.