Euros youngest scorer who beat Wayne Rooney's record had to announce retirement aged 26
Johan Vonlanthen holds the record as youngest-ever scorer at the Euros
Johan Vonlanthen holds the record as the youngest-ever goal scorer at the European Championships, but he had to retire from football prematurely.
The Swiss winger was just 18 years and 141 days old when he netted in Switzerland's 3-1 defeat to France at Euro 2004. While the nation would be ousted from the tournament after finishing fourth in their group, also suffering defeat to England and holding Croatia to a goalless draw, Euro 2004 will live long in the memories of record-holder Vonlanthen.
What makes the record even more remarkable, is the fact that the previous record was only set four days before Vonlanthen's feat. Wayne Rooney shook the world when he netted twice in England's 3-0 win against Switzerland at the age of 18 years and 237 days to break Cristiano Ronaldo's record (19 years and 128) days from earlier in the very same tournament.
But it wasn't always a case of living the high life for Vonlanthen, who was forced to hang his boots up from the beautiful game at the age of just 26 through injury. Playing for Colombian Primera División side Itagüí at the time, the player said: " Football does not mean the same to me know as it did before."
Before initially hanging up his boots, Vonlanthen made his way through the BSC Young Boys academy - signing his first professional contract at the age of 16. His big break would come in signing for PSV Eindhoven in 2003, where he would manage five goals in 29 games despite being loaned out to Brescia and NAD Breda for the majority of his tenure.
A move to Red Bull Salzburg in 2006 would see him net 11 in 85 appearances over the next five years - as well as 10 in 27 for Zurich during a loan spell between 2009 and 2010, leading him to sign for Itagui.
In a massive shock to the footballing world, the Swiss forward would return to professional football the very next year after announcing that he was done with the game - signing for Zurich's Grasshoppers. It was seemingly never the same for Vonlanthen though, who only made five appearances for the side in total - instead spending 17 games on loan to Schaffhausen.
He would make the move to Servette in 2014, going on to score 10 goals in 32 appearances, before rounding his career off at Wil between 2016 and 2018, scoring 11 goals in 66 games for the club. Throughout his career, Vonlanthen would make 40 appearances in total for Switzerland, being called up for the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008.
The European Championship's youngest-ever scorers -
- Johan Vonlanthen - 18 years, 141 days
- Wayne Rooney - 18 years, 237 days
- Renato Sanches - 18 years, 317 days
- Dragan Stojković - 19 days, 108 days
- Arda Güler - 19 years, 114 days
- Cristiano Ronaldo - 19 years, 128 days
- Ferenc Bene - 19 years, 183 days
- Cristian Chivu - 19 years, 238 days
- Patrick Kluivert - 19 years, 353 days
- Pietro Anastasi - 20 years, 64 days
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