Argentine football player Mateo Apolonio made history on Thursday, making his professional debut at just 14 years and 29 days old. 

The teenager, who plays as a striker for Primera Division’s Deportivo Riestra, was subbed in for Gonzalo Bravo five minutes before the end of his team’s Copa Argentina clash against Newell’s Old Boys. Apolonio broke the Argentine record for youngest player to make a professional debut, previously held by Albiceleste icon Sergio Agüero, who started his career at Independiente.

Football clubs in Argentina have always taken pride in the development of their youngsters or pibes. Argentinos Juniors, Lanús, and Vélez Sarsfield, to name three, are among the most boastful when it comes to talking about the quality and quantity of players that have come through their ranks. However, few have had to call upon talent at such a young age.

“He’s the captain of his age-group and we had him on our sights,” said former player and current Riestra head coach Cristian Fabbiani. “He’s very dynamic and the club is betting on him. Now we have to help him keep developing.”

Apolonio talked about the experience on a video the club shared on social media. “I was relaxing at home when my mom called me over, and then I saw my dad crying on the phone. ‘You were called for the first team,’ he said.”

According to Fabbiani, the teenager had been training with the first team since January while simultaneously playing with his age group.

“He was a bit nervous, that’s normal. We let him keep the shirt as a souvenir.”

The match, however, wasn’t one to remember for Riestra, who fell 1-0 to Newell’s and was eliminated from the Copa Argentina.

Youngest debutants in Argentine and world football

Apolonio joins a long and prestigious list of teenagers who made their debuts at record-breaking ages. Agüero, the previous record holder for Argentine football, was 15 years and 33 days old when he first took to the pitch with Independiente on July 5, 2003, against San Lorenzo.

To find the youngest debutant before Agüero, you need to go back 27 years to find none none other than Diego Maradona, who made history in 1976. The Argentine icon was 15 years, 11 months, and 20 days old when he first played a Primera División match with Argentinos Juniors, facing Talleres de Córdoba on October 20.

Apolonio, however, falls short from the world record.

The current record belongs to 11-year-old Eric Marshall, who debuted for FC Gar’ou in the fourth tier of Liberian football in 2021. The previous holder was Bolivian Mauricio Baldivieso, who stepped on to the pitch for Club Aurora in 2009 at age 12. His father, former Bolivian national team player Julio César Baldivieso, was the team manager at the time.