At 19, Desire Doue scored twice in a Champions League final and broke Eusebio's record
On 31 May 2025, Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 to win their first Champions League. Their teenage winger Desire Doue scored two and set up another, becoming the first teenager ever to score twice in the final, just three days short of his 20th birthday, and erasing a record Eusebio had held since 1962.
Doue was born in Angers in 2005 to an Ivorian father and a French mother and holds both nationalities. Football runs through the family: his brother and several cousins play professionally, and his uncle and godfather Noumandiez Doue refereed international matches for Ivory Coast. He joined the Rennes academy at five, and at 17 became the first player born in 2005 to score in one of Europe's five major leagues. A late winner against Dynamo Kyiv that autumn made him France's youngest scorer in European club competition.
PSG paid 50 million euros for him in August 2024, and he turned down Bayern Munich to go. The move paid off quickly. He converted the decisive penalty at Anfield to knock out Liverpool, scored the lone goal against Angers that clinched the club's 13th French title, and equalised from distance against Aston Villa in the quarter-final. In the final he also became the youngest player to provide an assist in the showpiece match, beating Jude Bellingham's mark from a year earlier.
That season brought a haul of individual prizes, including the Golden Boy, Ligue 1's young player award and the Champions League young player of the season. He then scored against Bayern at the Club World Cup and was named its best young player, even though PSG lost the final to Chelsea. In 2025-26 PSG won the Champions League again, beating Arsenal on penalties, and he retained the Ligue 1 young player title.
Analysts highlight his ball carrying: over one season he ranked in the top one percent of midfielders in Europe's big leagues for successful dribbles. He counts Neymar and Lionel Messi as idols and is often called Neymar's heir in Paris. Capped by France in March 2025, he scored against Norway at the 2026 World Cup.
Source: Désiré Doué
