Jack Wilshere suggests 16-year-old Max Dowman for England’s World Cup squad: who is the youngest ever to play?

London — When Jack Wilshere speaks about Max Dowman, the enthusiasm is unmistakable. Speaking to The Telegraph, the former England midfielder argued that the 16-year-old Arsenal prodigy should be fast-tracked into the Three Lions’ 2026 World Cup squad, a move that would catapult Dowman past Norman Whiteside and into the record books as the youngest player ever to appear in the competition.

Dowman, born on 31 December 2009, has already rewritten the age-related chapters of European football. Still 15, he became the youngest player to feature in the UEFA Champions League and the youngest to score in both that tournament and the Premier League. Those feats have not gone unnoticed inside the England camp.

Wilshere, who coached Dowman at Arsenal’s academy after retiring in 2022, is adamant the teenager is ready now. “The only thing I would say is, Spain would take him,” Wilshere told The Telegraph. “We have this way at times in England of building them up but then protecting them… He is definitely good enough. Even if he goes and he doesn’t play that much — which I think he can — I think he is good enough.”

The comparison with Lamine Yamal, the 16-year-old who drove Spain to the Euro 2024 title, is deliberate. “Yamal went as a 16-year-old and he was the best player in the tournament,” Wilshere noted.

England head coach Thomas Tuchel has left the door ajar. After omitting Dowman from his March squad, Tuchel said: “We always have the chance to call him up for the World Cup. Why wouldn’t I keep the door open? … Let him fight for his minutes.”

History suggests the leap is possible. Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside set the current benchmark at 17 years 41 days during Spain 1982. Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o (17 years 98 days) and Nigeria’s Femi Opabunmi (17 years 101 days) followed close behind. With the 2026 tournament kicking off in less than three months, Dowman — currently 16 — could shatter that mark if Tuchel heeds Wilshere’s advice and hands him a debut on the sport’s biggest stage.

For now, Dowman continues to train with Arsenal’s first team, each session another audition for a World Cup berth that would make him not merely England’s next superstar, but a global sensation before his 17th birthday.