Only five players have made their debut for the Argentinian national team before turning 18 years old.

Ernesto Brown and Gootlob Weiss made their debuts at 17 in 1902 and 1903, respectively, not in modern football.

Jorge Cecchi made his debut in 1980 at 17 as well.

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Diego Maradona remains the youngest player to have represented Argentina.

Maradona made his debut just months after his 16th birthday in 1977.

Since June 6, 2025, the club now officially has its fifth member, Franco Mastantuono.

Born in 2007, the young winger was subbed on in the 84th minute of a 1-0 win against Chile in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers, making his debut at just 17 years and nine months of age.

Unlike his peers, Mastantuono has gained media interest for over a year.

The winger has been starting games for River Plate, one of the two biggest clubs in Argentina since he turned 16 and has been a regular starter and key player at just 17.

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Lionel Scaloni was not the only one who recognised the River Plate Academy products immense talent.

For the past months, almost all of the top European teams have been chasing the up-and-coming stars signature.

In the end, Mastantuono narrowed his choices down to either Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid and is now expected to sign for the club from the Spanish capital.

Real wanted to sign him so badly that they flew to Argentina to guarantee the signature.

They are now expected to use the release clause in his contract to pay €45m for Mastantuono to play for Los Blancos.

In this player analysis and scout report, we will examine Mastantuonos immense talent, why Real Madrid were so keen on signing the 17-year-old for this kind of money, and how he has already impacted the play of his current club, Club Atlético River Plate.

Franco Mastantuono Cutting Inside

Joining Real Madrid means receiving much more attention and pressure from the media and fans worldwide.

Franco Mastantuono will receive this attention from now on, and he will soon be compared to Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.

Mastantuono is just about a month younger than Yamal, but there are many similarities.

Both play on the right wing, both are left-footed, both take on a significant amount of responsibility for their clubs, and both enjoy cutting inside.

Looking at Mastantuonos play, he is not a typical winger overall, but hes still a really good one.

Compared to other wingers, Mastantuono lacks pace.

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While he is not slow at all, he lacks the last gear other wingers have; he can’t simply outrun opposing defenders, but he makes up for it with many other abilities.

Mastantuono’s biggest strength is what we Germans call Vororientierung“, which has no direct translation into English, but can be described as attacking anticipation.

Despite his age, he always knows where his opponents are and where the pressure will come from; he easily gets past overaggressive defenders near the sideline regularly and picks up the pace from there.

Looking at this situation, Mastantuono has just evaded a pressing defender with a nice turn near the sideline and is now moving forward with the ball at his feet.

He might not be faster than the defenders, but with his good first move, he got enough of a head start to go down the line and can now roam freely.

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