Nigerian forward George Ilenikhena has set a new record in the UEFA Champions League by becoming the youngest African player to make 15 appearances in the competition.
He has broken the previous record held by former Nigerian international Nwankwo Kanu.
UEFA has officially announced this achievement. The milestone was reached when the player was 19 years and 157 days old, breaking Kanu’s previous record of 19 years and 260 days.
Ilenikhena is one of the youngest players in Europe’s top club competition to reach this milestone.
He was born on August 16, 2006, and moved to France when he was three years old.
He moved up through the French youth football teams and started his professional career with Amiens SC.
His play at the youth level and in Ligue 2 caught the eyes of others, which resulted in him joining Royal Antwerp in 2023.
While in Antwerp, Ilenikhena made his debut in the UEFA Champions League and scored a key winning goal in the 92nd minute against FC Barcelona.
The goal happened when he was a teenager and was one of his first big highlights on the European stage.
In July 2024, the player moved to AS Monaco. Since joining the Ligue 1 team, he has kept playing in both Ligue1 and European matches.
During this time, he also set a new club record by becoming Monaco’s youngest player to score a goal in the Champions League, surpassing the previous record held by Kylian Mbappé.
The record that Ilenikhena broke was set by Nwankwo Kanu when he was playing for Ajax in the mid-1990s during his early career.
Kanu had a successful career, which included winning the UEFA Champions League, and his record as the youngest African player to make 15 appearances in the competition stayed unchanged for many years.