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Teenagers: A Ligue 1 Trademark
Talent doesn’t wait for age, and French clubs have long understood this, such as Strasbourg, the youngest team in Europe, and AS Monaco. The current Ligue 1 McDonald’s leader is among the teams that have fielded the most teenagers this season.
Before their remarkable Champions League win against Barcelona, Monaco's coach Adi Hütter mentioned, “This campaign is an opportunity to showcase our talents like Ben Seghir, Akliouche, and Camara, who aren’t yet well known in Europe.” However, in France, they are already well-known.
Just like established players such as Zaïre-Emery (PSG), a French international, Restes (TFC), Fofana (OL), and Bouaddi (LOSC), who impressed against Real Madrid.
-> Stat: At 17 years and 3 days, Ayyoub Bouaddi became the second youngest player to provide an assist in a Ligue 1 McDonald’s match, after Eduardo Camavinga (16 years and 281 days with Rennes against Paris SG on August 18, 2019).
Adding to the list of rising talents at the start of this season – Mathis Amougou (ASSE), Valentin Atangana (Reims), captain of the French U-19 team that reached the Euro final this summer, George Ilenikhena (Monaco), and Nathan Zézé (FC Nantes) – it’s no secret that Ligue 1 McDonald's is brimming with young gems.
Twice as Many Teenagers in Ligue 1 McDonald's than Elsewhere
The scale of this phenomenon is unique in Europe. Among the top leagues, Ligue 1 McDonald’s has the highest number of “teenagers” (players born after Sunday, October 7, 2004) used this season. There are more than twice as many in France (55) compared to the other four major leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A).
In terms of clubs, Montpellier HSC tops the list with six players in this age group having played at least one minute this season. MHSC leads ahead of three clubs (five players each), including two French ones (PSG and Reims) alongside Barcelona. Highlighting this youth movement, their signing Rabby Nzingoula (18 years and 308 days) became the third youngest player to score in Ligue 1 McDonald’s this season, behind Bahereba Guirassy (17 years and 362 days) for Nantes against Auxerre and Warren Zaïre-Emery (18 years and 168 days) for PSG against Montpellier.
Despite having the most teenagers, Montpellier's young talents haven’t seen the most minutes, collectively playing just 564 minutes, which ranks seventh, far behind the young players of Reims (1161 minutes) and Monaco (1016), the only two clubs to exceed 1,000 minutes of playing time.
Top 10 Teenagers by Playing Time in Ligue 1 McDonald’s:
- 630 minutes: Guillaume Restes (TFC)
- 599 minutes: Valentin Atangana (Reims)
- 541 minutes: Mathis Amougou (ASSE)
- 509 minutes: Warren Zaïre-Emery (PSG)
- 469 minutes: Eliesse Ben Seghir (Monaco)
- 450 minutes: Nathan Zézé (FC Nantes)
- 433 minutes: Nhoa Sangui (Reims)
- 372 minutes: Emmanuel Biumla (Angers)
- 294 minutes: Rabby Nzingoula (Montpellier)
- 282 minutes: Sidiki Chérif (Angers)
-> Stat: RC Strasbourg Alsace fielded their youngest starting eleven in Ligue 1 McDonald’s this season against Angers, with an average age of 21 years and 269 days. In the 21st century, only OGC Nice fielded a younger starting lineup, against Evian on May 10, 2014 (21 years and 224 days).
Ben Seghir, the Most Decisive of the Young Players
Finally, among the 13 teenagers who have contributed with goals or assists, Monaco’s Eliesse Ben Seghir stands out as the best with 2 goals and 2 assists in Ligue 1 McDonald's this season.
At 19 years and 232 days, Eliesse Ben Seghir became the third youngest AS Monaco player to provide a brace of assists in Ligue 1 since Opta started collecting data (2006/07), following Kylian Mbappé (18 years and 145 days vs. Lille in May 2017) and Serge Gakpé (19 years and 112 days vs. Sedan in August 2006).
In the 2024/25 season, he has outshone Youssoufa Moukoko (OGC Nice), who has 2 goals and 1 assist. João Neves (PSG), the league's assist leader, is absent from this ranking, having turned 20 on September 27. However, the Portuguese international remains one of the standout young talents of our championship.
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