The best XI of FA Youth Cup winners this century features Man City, Chelsea swaps | OneFootball

Some huge names have used FA Youth Cup final success as a springboard for greater things – though often away from where they won it…

Manchester City host Manchester United on Thursday night in the 2026 final, with both clubs winning the competition three times each this century, the Red Devils having more overall success than any other club with 11 wins.

City, though, contribute more stars to this XI of the best players to have won the FA Youth Cup since 2000. But not as many Chelsea…

Goalkeeper: Sam Johnstone (Manchester United)

Very few of the 50-plus goalkeepers to play in FA Youth Cup finals this century have made the breakthrough to play regularly in the top flight, making Johnstone the stand-out. Playing for Manchester United, he was part of the Class of 2011 that beat Harry Maguire’s Sheffield United 6-3 over two legs. He never featured at senior level for United but later became a Premier League regular – with West Brom, Palace and Wolves – while earning four England caps.

Right-back: Reece James (Chelsea)

Some top-class right-backs have graced the FA Youth Cup final (certainly more than left-backs), with James getting the nod over Kieran Trippier – then of Manchester City – because he won it twice, on the second occasion captaining Chelsea to beat Arsenal 7-1 on aggregate alongside Conor Gallagher, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Billy Gilmour and…

Centre-back: Marc Guehi (Chelsea)

Guehi played in both of those finals with James, the first triumph coming against the centre-back’s current club in 2017. He also scored against Arsenal in the first leg the following year.

Centre-back: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)

Christensen also played in two FA Youth Cup finals for Chelsea, losing the first to Norwich in 2013 before beating a Fulham side that featured Moussa Dembele, whose goals in each leg couldn’t stop the young Blues winning 7-6 on aggregate. Christensen played 161 games for Chelsea at senior level before moving to Barcelona, all the while winning 80 caps for Denmark.

Left-back: Nathan Ake (Chelsea)

Another FA Youth Cup winner with Chelsea to really make his name at City, Ake was part of the Blues’ victory over Blackburn in 2012 before being on the losing side a year later against Norwich. In between, the Netherlands defender made his debut and first senior starts for Chelsea as a 17-year-old. In both finals he played at centre-back, but moves to left-back here due to limited other options.

MF: Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United)

Mainoo is one of two of United’s class of ’22 to make Premier League appearances for the Red Devils. The other: Alejandro Garnacho, who scored twice in the 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, is Chelsea’s problem now.

MF: Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

It may sound odd to say of one-time world record signing who won four Serie A titles and the World Cup with France but, certainly not at Manchester United, Pogba did not fulfil the potential he showed while part of the Red Devils’ FA Youth Cup-winning team of 2011. After it, the France midfielder did not get the opportunities he felt he deserved at Old Trafford, joining Juventus on a free before United bought him back for £89million in 2016. Which they now wish they hadn’t.

MF: Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

Wilshere was a winner as a young player, scoring in the first leg of a 6-2 aggregate win over Liverpool in 2009, before managing Arsenal in an FA Youth Cup final 14 years later. That didn’t go quite as well; his young Gunners, featuring Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, were thrashed 5-1 by West Ham at the Emirates.

LW: Morgan Rogers (Manchester City)

Rogers was a scorer for City in their 2020 win over Chelsea as part of a team that featured Cole Palmer, Liam Delap (both now of Chelsea), James McAtee and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, with Oscar Bobb only making the bench. City made around £135million by selling the sextet.

CF: Daniel Sturridge (Manchester City)

Doing a reverse Guehi and Ake, Sturridge was a youth star at City, scoring twice as a 16-year-old in the 2006 final defeat to Liverpool before finding the target again in 2008 when Chelsea were beaten 3-1 on aggregate. In 2007-08, Sturridge became the only player to score in the FA Youth Cup, FA Cup and the Premier League in the same season.

RW: Cole Palmer (Manchester City)

Like Sturridge, Palmer was an FA Youth Cup winner with City before then making Chelsea his senior stage. Indeed, Palmer’s youth cup win came against Chelsea in 2020, his winning goal in a 3-2 win atoning for his penalty miss in the shootout a year prior when Liverpool beat City.