FIFA 22 best young players: Career mode’s top strikers, midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers

Career Mode remains one of the most popular game modes in FIFA 22 – especially with the new player development and training options in this year’s game.

As a result, finding the best young players in FIFA 22 and developing them at your club is more important than ever.

To help get you started on your Career Mode journey, Goal has compiled a list of the best young players in FIFA 22. These are the players aged 20 or under who have the highest potential rating in the game and are divided by position in the lists below.

All players are listed by their main position, but any position they can play is shown. For example, Bukayo Saka can play at left-back, but his primary position in the game is right midfield. You can also train him to play on the wing in the game if needed by assigning him that role and giving him minutes there.

All players need the right training and lots of game time to ensure they develop properly and reach their full potential. Substitutes and reserve players will not improve as much if they do not get minutes.

PO. = Position(s)

CR = Current Rating

PR = Potential Rating

VA. = Value

*Clubs listed are the clubs the players are assigned to in FIFA 21 Career Mode, while ages shown are the age at the start of Career Mode

FIFA 22: Best Young Goalkeepers

#	Name	Age	Club	PO.	CR	PR	VA.
1	M Vandevoordt	19	Genk	GK	71	87	£3.7m
2	C Chatzigavriel	17	Free	GK	58	84	Free
3	G Mamardashvili	20	Valencia	GK	75	83	£9m
4	D Alemdar	18	Rennes	GK	68	83	£2.1m
5	Joan Garcia	20	Espanyol	GK	67	83	£2.1m
6	K Tzolakis	18	Olympiacos	GK	67	83	£2m
7	B Verbruggen	18	Anderlecht	GK	65	83	£1.4m
8	G Bazunu	19	Man City	GK	64	83	£1.1m
9	E Green	20	Saint-Etienne	GK	72	81	£3.8m
10	Ayesa	20	Real Sociedad B	GK	67	81	£1.8m
11	Arnau Tenas	20	Barcelona	GK	67	81	£1.8m
12	J Blazquez	20	Atletico Talleres	GK	65	81	£1.5m
13	S Lammens	18	Club Brugge	GK	64	81	£1.1m
14	Alejandro Iturbe	17	Atletico Madrid	GK	62	81	£750k
15	Pere Joan	19	Mallorca	GK	62	81	£750k
16	C Boyce-Clarke	18	Reading	GK	59	81	£600k
17	E Destanoglu	20	Besiktas	GK	72	80	£3.8m
18	Miguel Morro	20	Rayo Vallecano	GK	66	80	£1.5m
19	L Chevalier	19	Lille	GK	64	80	£1.1m
20	R Neshcheret	19	Dynamo Kyiv	GK	64	80	£1.1m
21	C Rushworth	19	Walsall	GK	63	80	£950k
22	X Dziekonski	17	Jagiellonia Bialystok	GK	63	80	£950k
23	J Olschowsky	19	Borussia M’gladbach	GK	63	80	£950k

Gianluigi Donnarumma has been the best young goalkeeper in FIFA for the past few seasons, but he’s now 22-years-old and after signing for Paris Saint-Germain costs more than £100 million in Career Mode.

That means you will have to look elsewhere for a long-term solution between the posts, even if you are a superclub that can compete with PSG for the world’s best players.

Genk’s Maarten Vandevoort is the best young goalkeeper in FIFA 22 as he can reach an overall rating of 87 and can be bought for relatively cheap at the start of the game.

Cypriot teenager Charis Chatzigavriel is available for free in some games as his current club, APOEL Nicosia, is not one of the teams in the game. You may be able to convince him to join your club, but his current rating of 58 means it will take a while for him to reach his potential.

FIFA 22: Best Young Defenders

#	Name	Age	Club	PO.	CR	PR	VA.
1	A Davies	20	Bayern Munich	LB, LM	82	89	£49m
2	Nuno Mendes	19	PSG	LWB, LB, LM	78	88	£25m
3	J Gvardiol	19	RB Leipzig	CB, LB	75	87	£10.8m
4	W Fofana	20	Leicester	CB	78	86	£24.9m
5	Eric Garcia	20	Barcelona	CB	77	86	£18.5m
6	Goncalo Inacio	19	Sporting CP	CB	76	86	£12.9m
7	J Timber	20	Ajax	CB, RB	75	86	£9.9m
8	L Stergiou	19	St Gallen	CB	67	86	£2.2m
9	S Dest	20	Barcelona	RB, RM	76	85	£13.3m
10	J Bogle	20	Sheffield Utd	RWB, RB	74	85	£7.7m
11	D Rensch	18	Ajax	RB	73	85	£6m
12	M Vuskovic	19	Hajduk Split	CB	72	85	£4.3m
13	T Nianzou	19	Bayern Munich	CB, CDM	71	85	£3.6m
14	A Bella Kotchap	19	Bochum	CB	71	85	£3.6m
15	L Netz	18	Borussia M’gladbach	LB, LM	68	85	£2.5m
16	L Geertruida	20	Feyenoord	RB, CB	76	84	£13.3m
17	B Badiashile	20	Monaco	CB	76	84	£13.3m
18	W Saliba	20	Arsenal	CB	75	84	£9.9m
19	J Frimpong	20	Bayer Leverkusen	RB, RWB	74	84	£7.7m
20	T Lamptey	20	Brighton	RWB, RB	74	84	£7.7m
21	M Guehi	20	Crystal Palace	CB	73	84	£5.2m
22	O Kossonunou	20	Bayer Leverkusen	CB, RB	73	84	£5.2m
23	R Ait Nouri	20	Wolves	LWB, LB	73	84	£5.6m
24	M van de Ven	20	Wolfsburg	CB, LB	68	84	£2.6m
25	Morato	20	Benfica	CB	68	84	£2.6m
26	J Branthwaite	19	Everton	CB	68	84	£1.8m
27	A Truffert	19	Rennes	LB, LW	75	83	£9.9m
28	Manu Sanchez	20	Atletico Madrid	LB	73	83	£5.6m
29	L Cacace	20	Sint-Truidense	LWB, LB, LM	72	83	£4.2m
30	Eduardo Quaresma	19	Sporting CP	CB	71	83	£3.6m
31	H Siquet	18	Standard Liege	RB, RWB	69	83	£2.7m
32	M Dardai	19	Hertha Berlin	CB, CDM	69	83	£2.7m
33	Z Laci	18	AEK Athens	CB	68	83	£2.2m
34	B Omeragic	19	Zurich	CB, RB	67	83	£2.2m
35	A Dedic	18	RB Salzburg	RB, LB	66	83	£1.8m
36	L Colwill	18	Huddersfield	CB	66	83	£1.7m
37	R Tagir	18	Istanbul Basaksehir	CB	65	83	£1.5m
38	A Gomez	19	Club Atlas	LB, CB	63	83	£1.1m
39	V Barco	16	Boca Juniors	LB	63	83	£1.1m
40	R van den Berg	16	PEC Zwolle	CB	59	83	£580k

Alphonso Davies is not only one of the quickest players in the game, he’s also the best young defender in FIFA 22.

The Bayern Munich and Canada left-back can also play in left midfield, giving you great versatility and helping you exploit the wings with his pace.

His price tag may put off a lot of teams, so there are good alternatives available at full-back including recent Borussia Monchengladbach signing Luca Netz and Standard Liege’s Hugo Siquet.

There are plenty of good young centre-backs again this year, with Ajax’s Jurrien Timber valued at less than £10m and St Gallen’s Leonidas Stergiou costing just over £2m.

Swiss defender Stergiou can be bought for cheap thanks to his current rating of 67, but can reach 86 overall with the right training and game time. 

FIFA 22: Best Young Midfielders

#	Name	Age	Club	PO.	CR	PR	VA.
1	Pedri	18	Barcelona	CM	81	91	£46.4m
2	R Gravenberch	19	Ajax	CM, CDM	78	90	£28.4m
3	J Bellingham	18	Borussia Dortmund	CM, LM	79	89	£31.8m
4	F Wirtz	18	Bayer Leverkusen	CAM, CM	78	89	£25.4m
5	M Greenwood	19	Man Utd	RM, ST	78	89	£26.2m
6	E Camavinga	18	Real Madrid	CM, CDM	78	89	£25.4m
7	B Saka	19	Arsenal	RM, LM, LB	80	88	£39.1m
8	N Madueke	19	PSV	RM, ST	77	88	£19.8m
9	J Musiala	18	Bayern Munich	LM, CAM	76	88	£15.1m
10	Gabriel Martinelli	20	Arsenal	LM, LW	76	88	£15.5m
11	T Kubo	20	Real Madrid	RM, CM, CAM	75	88	£11.6m
12	G Reyna	18	Borussia Dortmund	CAM, LM, RM	77	87	£18.9m
13	M Damsgaard	20	Sampdoria	LM, LW	77	87	£19.8m
14	D Szoboszlai	20	RB Leipzig	CAM, LM	77	87	£19.8m
15	C Tzolis	19	Norwich	LM, RM, ST	74	87	£8.6m
16	N Rovella	19	Juventus	CM, CDM	70	87	£3.5m
17	M Kudus	20	Ajax	CAM, CM	77	86	£19.8m
18	Bryan Gil	20	Tottenham	LM, RM, CAM	76	86	£14.2m
19	E Smith Rowe	20	Arsenal	CAM	76	86	£14.2m
20	T Almada	20	Velez Sarsfield	CAM, LW, RW	74	86	£8.6m
21	Nico Melamed	20	Espanyol	LM, CAM, RM	74	86	£8.6m
22	A Sima	20	Brighton	RM, ST	73	86	£6.5m
23	B Gilmour	20	Chelsea	CM, CDM	72	86	£4.7m
24	F Pellistri	19	Man Utd	RM	70	86	£3.5m
25	Francisco Conceicao	18	Porto	RM	70	86	£3.4m
26	F Carvalho	18	Fulham	CAM, CM	67	86	£2.2m
27	C Clark	18	RB Leipzig	CAM, CM	66	86	£2.1m
28	O Skipp	20	Tottenham	CDM, CM	75	85	£9.9m
29	M Ihattaren	19	Juventus	CAM, RM, CM	75	85	£10.3m
30	C Jones	20	Liverpool	CM	73	85	£6.5m
31	M Olise	19	Crystal Palace	CAM, RM, LM	73	85	£6m
32	A Velasco	18	Atletico Independiente	LM, LW, ST	73	85	£6m
33	I Moriba	18	RB Leipzig	CM	73	85	£6m
34	Y Demir	18	Barcelona	CAM, RM	70	85	£3.2m
35	K Kozlowski	17	Pogon Szczecin	CAM, CM	68	85	£2.6m
36	A Diallo	18	Man Utd	RM	68	85	£2.7m
37	S Biuk	18	Hajduk Split	LM, LW	68	85	£2.7m
38	Talles Magno	19	New York City	LM, CF	68	85	£2.7m
39	A Vranckx	18	Wolfsburg	CM, CDM	67	85	£2.2m
40	Gavi	16	Barcelona	CM	66	85	£1.8m
41	C Patino	17	Arsenal	CM, CDM	62	85	£1m
42	R Lavia	17	Man City	CDM	62	85	£1m
43	P Dwomoh	17	Antwerp	CAM, CM	60	85	£670k

Unsurprisingly, Barcelona have the best young midfielder in FIFA 22 with Pedri already a high-rated star even before he reaches his full potential.

Unlike the real world where he could burn out after playing so many games for club and country, FIFA 22 will not punish you for starting him in every single game and more minutes will actually help him reach his potential rating of 91 even quicker.

A lot of the best young midfielders in FIFA 22 are quite expensive as they have high current ratings, such as Jude Bellingham, Mason Greenwood and Eduardo Camavinga.

However, there are some players available for less than £10m, including Norwich’s versatile Christos Tzolis and Velez Sarsfield’s Thiago Almada.

Cheaper again are Juventus’s defensive-minded midfielder Nicolo Rovella and Chelsea’s Billy Gilmour. Both of these are on loan at the start of the first season, but may become available options before your second season begins.

Fulham’s Fabio Carvalho and Kacper Kozlowski are reasonable options for the first summer and may even be willing to join lower league clubs on loan.

FIFA 22: Best Young Forwards

#	Name	Age	Club	PO.	CR	PR	VA.
1	E Haaland	20	Borussia Dortmund	ST	88	93	£118.3m
2	Vinicius Jr	20	Real Madrid	LW	80	90	£40m
3	A Fati	18	Barcelona	LW	76	90	£15.1m
4	Rodrygo	20	Real Madrid	RW	79	88	£33.1m
5	J Doku	19	Rennes	RW, RM	77	88	£19.8m
6	R Cherki	17	Lyon	RW, LW	73	88	£6m
7	C Hudson-Odoi	20	Chelsea	RW, LW	77	87	£19.8m
8	A Hlozek	18	Sparta Praha	ST, LM, RM	74	87	£8.6m
9	H Elliott	18	Liverpool	RW, CM	73	87	£6m
10	Kayky	18	Man City	RW	66	87	£2.3m
11	P De la Vega	20	Atletico Lanus	RW, LW, RM	74	86	£8.6m
12	Concalo Ramos	20	Benfica	CF, ST	72	86	£4.7m
13	S Gimenez	20	Cruz Azul	ST, CF, CAM	71	86	£3.9m
14	B Sesko	18	RB Salzburg	ST	68	86	£2.7m
15	D Scarlett	17	Tottenham	ST	63	86	£1.3m
16	M Boadu	20	Monaco	ST	76	85	£14.2m
17	C De Ketelaere	20	Club Brugge	LW, CAM, ST	75	85	£10.8m
18	B Brobbey	19	RB Leipzig	ST	73	85	£6.5m
19	K Adeyemi	19	RB Salzburg	ST	71	85	£3.9m
20	O Popescu	18	FCSB	LW, RW	70	85	£3.2m
21	Fabio Silva	18	Wolves	ST	70	85	£3.2m
22	S Esposito	18	Inter	ST, CAM	68	85	£2.7m
23	M Juwara	19	Crotone	ST	67	85	£2.3m
24	L Delap	18	Man City	ST	64	85	£1.6m
25	G Plata	20	Sporting CP	RW	74	84	£8.2m
26	F Farias	18	Atletico Colon	ST, CF	72	84	£4.7m
27	K Sulemana	19	Rennes	LW, ST	72	84	£4.7m
28	Reinier	19	Real Madrid	CF, CAM	71	84	£3.9m
29	Joao Pedro	19	Watford	ST	71	84	£3.9m
30	A Broja	19	Chelsea	ST	70	84	£3.3m
31	M Rogers	18	Bournemouth	LW	66	84	£1.9m
32	Karrikaburu	18	Real Sociedad B	ST	65	84	£1.5m
33	F Orozco	19	Atletico Lanus	LW, RW	65	84	£1.5m
34	F Fofana	18	PSV	ST	64	84	£1.4m
35	J Braaf	18	Man City	LW, RW	64	84	£1.4m
36	W Faghir	17	Stuttgart	ST	64	84	£1.4m
37	C Palmer	19	Man City	RW, CAM	64	84	£1.4m
38	L Barry	18	Aston Villa	ST, LW	63	84	£1.3m
39	Barrenetxea	19	Real Sociedad	LW, ST, RW	74	83	£7.7m
40	K de la Fuente	19	Marseille	LW, RW	72	83	£4.3m

Not only is Erling Haaland the best young forward in FIFA 22, he can also become the best player in FIFA 22.

His potential rating of 93 is Lionel Messi’s current rating in the game, meaning Haaland can become one of the game’s GOATs – at least virtually anyway!

He’s valued at over £100m as a result, so may not be the striker you need in Career Mode unless you’re managing a club with lots and lots of money.

Sparta Praha’s Adam Hlozek might be a much cheaper alternative at £8.6m and his versatility means you can also play him on either side of midfield as you look to develop his attributes.

Ansu Fati has a surprisingly low value at the start of the game, but it could be tricky to convince Barcelona to sell their new No. 10.

Red Bull Salzburg have a pair of exciting, young attackers in Karim Adeyemi and Benjamin Sesko, while Steaua Bucharest’s Ovidiu Popescu can play on either wing and will be tempted by a move to one of Europe’s bigger leagues.