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FIFA 23 wonderkids and best young players with the highest potential in Career mode

The rising stars of this year's beautiful game.

FIFA 23 wonderkids come in two forms - a list of the best youngest players with the highest potential ratings and a list of hidden gems with huge room for improvement.

This gives you two things to take advantage of - the players with the highest rating they can reach (spoilers - it's Kylian Mbappé, again!) and the players with the most growth over time, which is useful if you're looking for some career mode bargains. I know we do.

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Need helping picking players? Check out our pages on best players overall, best Premier League players, fastest players, best strikers, best wingers, best midfielders and best defenders. Don’t forget - Chemistry has been reworked for FIFA 23.

FIFA 23 wonderkids and best young players with the highest potential overall

Here's a list of the 21 best wonderkids in FIFA 23, classed as the players with the highest overall potential rating.

This means there are a lot of known players on there - Mbappé, Vinícius Jr. and Alexander-Arnold among them - which, incredibly, still have scope to get better.

Ultimately, this is where you'll find the absolute best young players - useful if you want the best young centre back with the highest potential rating, say, or the future best forward in the world.

Note - we've ordered this table by highest max Overall rating, as opposed to the maximum improvement possible - though that is visible in a dedicated column (with for a second year, Ansu Fati looking to have the biggest jump from their current to potential rating with 11 points).

RankNameClubPositionCurrentPotentialTotal Growth
1Kylian MbappéParis Saint GermainST91954
2Erling HaalandManchester CityST88946
3PedriFC BarcelonaCM85938
4Phil FodenManchester CityLW85927
5Vinícius Jr.Real MadridLW86926
6Gianluigi DonnarummaParis Saint GermainGK88924
7Florian WirtzBayer 04 LeverkusenCAM82919
8Kai HavertzChelseaCAM84917
9Dušan VlahovićJuventusST84917
10Jude BellinghamBorussia DortmundCM84917
11Ansu FatiFC BarcelonaLW799011
12Jamal MusialaBayern MunchenCM81909
13Rafael LeãoMilanLW84906
14João FélixAtletico de MadridCF84906
15Sandro TonaliMilanCDM84906
16Alessandro BastoniInterCB84906
17Trent Alexander-ArnoldLiverpoolRB87903
18Ryan GravenberchBayern MunchenCM798910
19Eduardo CamavingaReal MadridCM768913
20GaviFC BarcelonaCM798910
21VitinhaParis Saint GermainCM798910

The best young players with the highest potential to go in FIFA 23

As well as the above young players with the highest potential cap, another consideration are young players with the most room for improvement.

These are known as hidden gems - lesser-known players which, if snapped up early and improved upon, can you give you a real bargain in the career mode.

Every player in the below list will grow by at least 23 points in their Overall stat - a huge jump compared to the above table of Wonderkids, where the highest growth possible is 11.

These players will take a fair bit longer to reach their potential, but if you're in it for the long run with your Career Mode saves, this will make for some superb investments:

RankNameClubPositionCurrentPotentialTotal Growth
1Joshua FeeneyAston VillaCB558025
2Felipe ValenciaInter MiamiRM507525
3Diogo MonterioServette FCCB547824
4Gavin BeaversReal Salt LakeGK527624
5Attilio MorosoliFC LuganoGK517524
6Andreaș BrînzeaChindia TârgovișteGK487224
7Luke HarrisFulhamCAM618423
8Laurin UlrichVfB StuttgartCM608323
9Christian RiquelmeEverton de Viña del MarLB608323
10Fabio ChiarodiaWerder BremenCB608323
11Alfie DevineTottenham HotspurCAM608323
12Ashley PhillipsBlackburn RoversCB598223
13Guillaume RestesToulouse FCGK588123
14Ben ChriseneAston VillaLB588123
15Darko GyabiLeeds UnitedCM578023
16Serge NgmoaNew York Red BullsRW567923
17Oliwier SławińskiZagłębie LubinST547723
18Eirik BilkstadStrømsgodset ToppfotballCB547723

If you’re just getting started in FIFA 23, check out our Ultimate Team best starter teams page. You can improve your team by trading and spending FUT Coins - some of which can be earned by completing Milestone Objectives. It’s also a good idea to learn how Squad Battles and Champions work in FIFA 23. We also have an OTW tracker and RTTK tracker. Chemistry has been completely changed in FIFA 23 too and don’t forget about the wide variety of Skill Moves, and make sure to claim your Ted Lasso and AFC Richmond rewards in FUT while you can! Finally, if you need help building the perfect team, we have pages on the best players overall, best Premier League players and fastest players. Along with FIFA 23’s best lengthy players, wonderkids, best strikers, best wingers, best midfielders and best defenders.


Other things to know about the best young players and FIFA 23 wonderkids

As well as the above, there are a couple of points worth bearing in mind when hunting down your next world class talent:

  • Age is an important factor here. Whilst younger, lower-Overall players might come at a better price, if you can afford more developed players then often it's a safer bet, and a faster one. You might not be fitting in four, five or six seasons into one Career Mode playthrough, after all, and so may never see a seventeen-year-old's full potential.
Year after year, Mbappé is the best young player with the highest potential - but there are other players with more room for growth out there...
  • For those longer playthroughs, we recommend players with a starting Overall ranking as low as possible to keep the cost down - which is where the hidden gems table above comes in handy.
  • As always, be flexible with your positions. That's a good tip for FIFA in general, but don't forget that players often have expertise in more than one spot on the team sheet, and it's more about their technical attributes like Pace, Dribbling, or Finishing that make a difference.
  • For bargains, think about the size of the club you're buying from - are you more likely to get a good price from the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, or would it be best to try and get Gavin Beavers from Real Salt Lake?

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