Gilberto Mora, youngest ever CONCACAF player at World Cups
Gilberto Mora who entered the field for Mexico in the 2026 World Cup opening game vs South Africa (2-0) at the age of 17 years 240 days, set severl age records.
He is the youngest ever player to represent a host nation in the history of the competition.
He is the first ever player under 18 years from CONCACAF countries to appear in a World Cup game.
Mora became the 8th player aged below 18 in the World Cup history overall (and the first since 2002); he takes 6th place in the historical rankin
Had he scored vs South Africa, Mora would become also the youngest goal-scorer in World Cup history, surpassing Pelé by just one day (Pelé’s record set in 1958 is scoring at 17 years 241 days).
| WORLD CUP | YOUNGEST | PLAYERS | |||
| Player | Country | Age | Date | Game | |
| 1 | Norman Whiteside | Northern Ireland | 17-041 | 17/06/1982 | Yugoslavia 0-0 |
| 2 | Samuel Eto’o | Cameroon | 17-099 | 17/06/1998 | Italy 0-3 |
| 3 | Femi Opabunmi | Nigeria | 17-101 | 12/06/2002 | England 0-0 |
| 4 | Salomon Olembe | Cameroon | 17-185 | 11/06/1998 | Austria 1-1 |
| 5 | Pelé | Brazil | 17-235 | 15/06/1958 | Soviet Union 2-0 |
| 6 | Gilberto Mora | Mexico | 17-240 | 11/06/2026 | South Africa 2-0 |
| 7 | Bartholomew Ogbeche | Nigeria | 17-244 | 02/06/2002 | Argentina 0-1 |
| 8 | Rigobert Song | Cameroon | 17-353 | 19/06/1994 | Sweden 2-2 |