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FC 26 wonderkids: Best young players with high Career Mode potential

Wonder no more!

Published: Tuesday, 14 July 2026 at 5:09 pm

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The World Cup might have been dominated by oldies like Messi, but there are still plenty of FC 26 wonderkids for you to sign in Career Mode.

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Whether you're buying them to develop over time or plonking them right into your starting 11, there are names here for every budget.

Of course, unless you're using the best tactics, even the best wingers or best defenders won't help you out much.

But for a list of all the best young players in FC 26, here's a list of the wonderkids with the highest potential.

Best young players in FC 26 Career Mode

Endrick preparing to shoot for Real Madrid against Barcelona in FC 26.

Endrick is the best young player to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

The best young player in FC 26 Career Mode is Endrick. That's mostly because of his incredibly high potential ability, but he also has a decently high starting OVR rating and fairly affordable transfer value, too.

As well as him, here is the full list of the top 10 best wonderkids in FC 26:

We've defined wonderkids as players who are under 21, which is why some big names like Cole Palmer, Pedri and Jude Bellingham don't feature.

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We haven't just considered potential for this list, but also how much they could grow, how much they cost and what their contract lengths are.

Many players are going to be too expensive for all but the very richest clubs, which is why we've excluded a few – the likes of Lamine Yamal, Désiré Doué and João Neves, for example.

Unsurprisingly, the list is dominated by attacking talent, with little room for defenders and goalkeepers. That's why you can scroll down for our lists of the best wonderkids for each position.

Best young strikers in FC 26

Francesco Camarda preparing to shoot for Lecce in FC 26.

Francesco Camarda is the best young ST to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

The best young strikers in FC 26 with the highest potential are:

The most important thing for a striker is to be able to bang in goals for your team, and while some of these players may require some training, all of them have the potential to do that for teams of any budget.

They're especially handy if you can get one or two of them on loan for a club in a lower league.

Francesco Camarda is the pick of the bunch here. While his starting OVR of only 65 is low, this makes him the perfect signing for a smaller club on a long-term save. Over time, he has the potential to grow 19 points, finishing on a whopping 87 OVR, placing him as one of the best in the world.

For more ready-made options, the likes of Leipzig's Conrad Harder or Brighton's Charalampos Kostoulas are some great choices that won't break the bank.

Best young wingers in FC 26

Geovany Quenda is the best young winger to sign in FC 26 Career Mode.

Geovany Quenda is the best young winger to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

If you're after a tricky young winger, here are the best Career Mode picks in FC 26:

Having pacey players who can whip in a cross or cut inside is a blessing in FC 26, and some of these players are excellent choices who will regularly chip in with goals and assists.

You really can't ask for more in a winger than Geovany Quenda. Not only does he have a great starting OVR of 76 and a whopping 88 POT, but he can play wherever you want him. Right wing, left wing, right midfield, left midfield – the man can do it all.

Further down the list, we have some excellent young picks in the form of Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha, Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri and Real Betis's Pablo Garcia, all of whom have a high POT for anyone willing to put in the work to develop them.

Best young midfielders in FC 26

Franco Mastantuono receiving the ball in a game for Real Madrid in FC 26.

Franco Mastantuono is the best young midfielder to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

The lads controlling the tempo, we've grouped CMs, CAMs and CDMs all together into one, as a lot of the time, these players can play multiple roles. Here are the best young midfielders for FC 26 Career Mode:

There are so many excellent players to choose from in the centre of the park, with every budget covered.

If you've got the cash to splash, Franco Mastantuono, Lucas Bergvall and Warren Zaïre-Emery are the obvious choices – high starting OVR and the highest POT in the list.

As your budget decreases, things become more interesting. Lennart Karl offers excellent value for money, and you could even have yourself a Greek midfield pairing of Christos Mouzakitis and Konstantinos Karetsas, the latter of which is tipped for very great things, indeed.

Best young full-backs in FC 26

Givairo Read is the best young full-back in FC 26 Career Mode.

Givairo Read is the best young full-back to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

The role of the full-back is more important in modern football than ever, defending solidly but also getting forward and whipping in crosses, so here are the best choices at RB and LB in FC 26:

Even going back to the FIFA days, EA FC has always had a bit of an issue with young full-backs, with very few of them ever having much potential to grow – that's the same this year, as you can tell.

Givairo Read is certainly the pick of the bunch. Not only does he have the highest POT of the lot, but he's also going to cost you a lot less than the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Lewis Hall, both of whom are also great choices.

On the cheaper end of the spectrum, Diego León and Semm Renders will get you coverage on both flanks, all for a couple million quid – not too shabby, eh?

Best young centre-backs in FC 26

Pau Cubarsi slide tackling Éder Militão in FC 26.

Pau Cubarsi is the best young CB to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

The heart of your defence, having a strong, fast CB could be the difference when it comes to keeping goals out – here are the best wonderkid CBs in FC 26:

Pau Cubarsi may be small (he's a growing lad, after all), but Barca's diminutive centre-back tops out our list of the best young CBs with an excellent 88 POT.

There's plenty of value to be had lower down the list, however, with Stuttgart's Finn Jeltsch and Hamburg's Luka Vušković offering 87 POT for relatively low cost.

If you've looking for a player with more first-team potential from the get-go, however, then you probably want to look at the likes of Manchester United's Leny Toro or RB Leipzig's El Chadaille Bitshiabu instead.

Best young goalkeepers in FC 26

Guillaume Restes holding the ball and making a 'calm down' gesture in FC 26 Career Mode.

Guillaume Restes is the best young GK to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

The final line of defence, if you get yourself a wonderkid GK, you could be set for the next 20 seasons if you're lucky! So, here are our picks for the 10 best young GKs in the game:

Just like with the full-backs, there really aren't very many good options for wonderkids in the goalkeeping department.

Guillaume Restes of Toulouse is your best option, with the highest OVR and POT, but for that reason he's also the most expensive of the bunch.

Standard Liège's Matthieu Epolo might be a better choice, if you want to save a few bob, but if you're really strapped for cash, Lucca Brughmans of Genk is the perfect choice, but be aware that even at his peak, he'll still never be a truly world-class goalkeeper for you.

Best cheap young players in FC 26 with high potential: Hidden gems

Bailey Rice dribbling the ball for Rangers in FC 26.

Bailey Rice is one of the best cheap young players to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

Most of the players we've already listed are going to cost you a pretty penny, so they may be unattainable for all but the richest clubs.

That's why we've put together a list of some more budget-friendly players who would be perfect signings for a Championship-level team looking to gain promotion, who can grow alongside your team as it moves up the world.

If you've got a tiny transfer budget, then fret not! You can still get a few decent wonderkids for your team, and if you're willing to put in the effort to develop them, they'll grow with your team as it improves.

That's especially true of many of the under-18 players, such as Bailey Rice of Rangers, Louis Page of Leicester City and Nathan De Cat of Anderlecht.

These players would be great signings for a mid-table or bottom-half EFL Championship team, as they'll make decent squad players, eventually developing into first-team stars who can hopefully carry you into the Premier League in the long run, at which point you'll have the transfer budget to upgrade.

Best young women to sign in FC 26

Vicky López dribbling the ball for Barcelona in FC 26.

Vicky López is the best young women's player to sign in FC 26 Career Mode. EA Sports

Last year, EA introduced women's football to Career Mode, so there's now a whole new market of wonderkids ready for you to sign.

We've compiled a selection of the best young women players to sign in FC 26 Career Mode:

If you fancy a team to manage, FC Barcelona not only has four players in the top 10, but all of the top three best young women's players in the game (bar Real Madrid's Linda Caicedo, who we've excluded as she is the most expensive player in the game).

But if you aren't managing a financial powerhouse, we recommend trying to poach Clara Serrajordo from Barcelona for her sky-high growth potential of 23.

Other more budget-friendly options would be Lily Johannes from Lyonnes and Alara Şehitler from Bayern Munich, though anyone on this list would be an incredible signing for your team in the long run.

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Alex Raisbeck, smiling against a lime green background.

Alex RaisbeckGaming writer

Alex Raisbeck is a Gaming Writer at Radio Times, covering everything from AAA giants to indie gems. Alex has written for VideoGamer, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, PCGamesN and more.

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