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While goalkeepers, defenders, and midfielders tend to need to get copious amounts of experience to reach the upper-echelons of their position, more players simply take to being a striker instantly, with some of the best young strikers in the sport already being among the best in the world.
This is why the best young strikers in Career Mode are so appealing to FIFA 23 gamers, with the young strikers and centre forwards that have the highest overall ratings often featuring tremendous speed and finishing. Here, we’re going through the very best of the bunch.
Choosing FIFA 23 Career Mode’s best young strikers (ST & CF)
Featuring the likes of Erling Haaland, Victor Osimhen, and, of course, Kylian Mbappé, FIFA 23’s best young strikers have superb overall ratings now, and many of them have hefty potential ratings for the future.
Here, the best young ST and CF players are sorted by their predicted overall ratings, needing to be 25-years-old or younger as well as have one of the two striking positions listed as their preferred role.
At the foot of the page, you’ll find the full list of all of the predicted best young strikers (ST and CF) in FIFA 23.
Kylian Mbappé (91 OVR – 95 POT)
Team: Paris Saint-Germain
Age: 23
Wage: £1,478,249
Value: £166.5 million
Best Attributes: 97 Acceleration, 97 Sprint Speed, 93 Finishing
It won’t come as a surprise that the cover star, Kylian Mbappé, is the best young striker in FIFA 23, coming in with an absurd 91 overall rating at the age of 22.
The French superstar already ranks as one of the best players in the game, but his massive 95 potential puts him atop even Lionel Messi – and by a good couple of points. The speedster can best any defender with his 97 acceleration and 97 sprint speed, while his 93 finishing finishes the job.
Mbappé was seemingly on his way to Real Madrid but made a u-turn and opted to stay at PSG. That decision saw him rewarded with the most lucrative contract in football history by the French giants. In May 2022, Mbappe signed a new three-year deal with PSG and became the world’s highest-paid footballer, earning over £1m a week.
Mbappe has won four Ligue 1 medals in his time at PSG and has also been voted France’s player of the season on three occasions, including in the 2021/22 campaign after his 25 goals and 17 assists helped PSG claim yet another title.
He has also started the 2022/23 campaign on a positive note, scoring nine goals for PSG across all competitions, including a brace against Juventus in the Champions League. On the international front, he already has 27 goals from 57 appearances for France, as well as a World Cup winners’ medal to his name.
Erling Haaland (88 OVR – 94 POT)
Team: Manchester City
Age: 22
Wage: £94,000
Value: £118 million
Best Attributes: 94 Sprint Speed, 94 Shot Power, 94 Finishing
It’s certainly not a bad thing to come second to Mbappé in this list of the best young strikers to sign in Career Mode, especially if you have an 88 overall rating as Erling Haaland does.
Standing 6’4’’ with strength (93) and shot power (94) ratings to match, Haaland’s a menacing striker in FIFA 23 who’s capable of out-muscling centre backs and firing pin-point shots past the goalie. That said, he doesn’t need to be in the box to score, with his 87 long shots making the Norwegian a threat from over 18 yards as well.
For Red Bull Salzburg, Haaland netted over one goal per game, scoring 29 in 27. For Dortmund, he continues to score more goals than he plays 90 minutes, with 68 by his 67th appearances before completing a blockbuster move to Manchester City in the summer of 2022.
During the 2021/22 campaign, injuries limited the Norwegian to only 30 appearances across all competitions, while playing for Borussia Dortmund, but he still managed to score 29 goals.
Haaland has taken the Premier League by storm, highlighted by scoring successive hat tricks in two halves of football. He also bagged a brace in his Champions League debut for Manchester City and already has 12 goals from only seven appearances in the 2022/23 campaign.
There’s no stopping the Norwegian at the moment. He also boasts a great scoring record the Norway national team, having scored 20 goals in 21 appearances.
Lautaro Martínez (85 OVR – 89 POT)
Team: Inter Milan
Age: 25
Wage: £125,000
Value: £67.5 million
Best Attributes: 89 Balance, 89 Reactions, 88 Jumping
Coming into FIFA 23 with an 85 overall rating, which makes him one of the best young ST players in Career Mode, Lautaro Martínez offers a rather different build to the others.
The Argentine certainly isn’t lacking for pace with his 86 acceleration, 83 sprint speed, and 86 agility, but his strengths are in his overall athleticism and even as an aerial threat. The 5’9’’ ST boasts 89 reactions, 88 jumping, 87 heading accuracy, 84 strength, and 86 positioning, which make him a menace in the box.
Often playing alongside Romelu Lukaku up top last season, Martínez was somewhat of a complementary piece, left open by defences that tried to stop the mighty Belgian. Now, with a new but not as headline-grabbing big man with him, Edin Džeko, the young player is the star of the attack for a new-look Inter Milan.
The Argentine enjoyed his most prolific campaign in an Inter jersey for the 2021/22 season, scoring 24 goals across all competitions and finishing third in the Serie A scoring charts. In the current campaign, he has started on a strong note, with three goals and one assist in five Serie A appearances.
On the national front, he has a strong record in front of goal, scoring 20 goals in only 38 appearances in an Argentina jersey.
João Félix (83 OVR – 91 POT)
Team: Atlético Madrid
Age: 22
Wage: £52,000
Value: £70.5 million
Best Attributes: 87 Ball Control, 86 Agility, 86 Dribbling
Ranking as the top CF wonderkid in Career Mode, João Félix also comes in as the best young CF in FIFA 23 by virtue of his positional bias and 83 overall rating.
With five-star skill moves, 87 ball control, 86 dribbling, 86 agility, 84 composure, and 84 positioning, it’s clear that Félix’s strengths are in picking up the ball and carrying it towards the goal. His finishing (89) and short passing (80) need some development, but the Portuguese forward is still a very exciting and skilful young player.
While he boasts a lot of potential, Félix is yet to hit the heights expected of him since Atletico paid a club-record £113m to sign him from Benfica in 2019. He is yet to score double digits in a single season for Atletico Madrid. His most prolific campaign came in the 2021/22 season, where he scored eight goals in 24 league appearances.
In the current campaign, he is yet to open his account and the return of Alvaro Morata to the club will no doubt make it even more difficult for the youngster to secure regular minutes. Regardless, he has all the qualities required to prove his worth to Diego Simeone.
Since making his senior debut for Portugal in 2019, he has scored three goals from 22 appearances.
Alexander Isak (82 OVR – 86 POT)
Team: Newcastle
Age: 22
Wage: £32,000
Value: £38.5 million
Best Attributes: 86 Attack Positioning, 85 Sprint Speed, 84 Volleys
Adding another tall striker to the ranks of the best young STs in FIFA 23 is Alexander Isak, who combines height, athleticism, and finishing ability in a way that’s vaguely reminiscent of a certain superstar Swedish striker.
Born in Solna, Isak stands 6’4’’ and boasts 83 finishing, 84 volleys, 85 sprint speed, 86 attack positioning, 81 reactions, and a five-star weak foot. The young player is invariably in the best position to receive the ball, and thanks to those ratings, he can just as easily dispatch of one-timers that arrive along the ground or in the air.
Throughout his still very young career, Isak hasn’t struggled to find the back of the net. In his first season with Real Sociedad, he scored 16 goals in all 45 games, improving on that tally with 17 goals in 34 LaLiga contests in the 2020/21 season. In the 2021/22 campaign, his numbers somewhat dropped after he recorded only 10 goals across all competitions from 41 games.
His performances remained stellar and Newcastle were happy to pay a club-record £63m fee to land his signature. He bagged a goal on his debut for the Magpies against Liverpool and already looks like a top addition at Tyneside.
On the international front, he is also seen as the future of Sweden, with nine goals from 37 appearances.
Victor Osimhen (80 OVR – 88 POT)
Team: SSC Napoli
Age: 23
Wage: £57,000
Value: £37 million
Best Attributes: 92 Sprint Speed, 88 Jumping, 85 Finishing
Making his claim among the best young strikers in FIFA 23 with an 80 overall rating is Victor Osimhen, who, at 23-years-old, already features some incredibly user-friendly attribute ratings.
The main appeal of signing Osimhen in Career Mode is tapping into that hefty 87 potential rating. However, even before he reaches those heights, the Nigerian striker will be of tremendous use thanks to his 92 sprint speed, 88 jumping, 85 finishing, 84 acceleration, and 78 heading accuracy.
After a £63 million move from LOSC Lille to SSC Napoli in 2020, the Lagos-native was thrust into the starting XI and has made quite the impression since then. After scoring 10 goals in 24 Serie A appearances in his debut season, he improved that tally in the 2021/22 campaign, scoring 14 goals in 27 and finishing as Napoli’s top-scorer in all competitions.
Osimhen was linked with a host of top sides, including Manchester United and Arsenal in the summer of 2022 but Napoli maintained their stance that he was not for sale. The 23-year-old has started the current season strong, scoring twice in five Serie A outings as well as recording one assist.
On the national scene, he is the pride of the Super Eagles with 15 goals from only 23 appearances and has been tipped to become the nations’ record scorer in years to come.
Donyell Malen (79 OVR – 85 POT)
Team: Borussia Dortmund
Age: 23
Wage: £51,000
Value: £28 million
Best Attributes: 90 Acceleration, 90 Sprint Speed, 84 Agility
Concluding the top-tier of the best young strikers in FIFA 23 with at least an 80 overall rating, Donyell Malen will likely have more appeal than some of those above because of his speed ratings.
The strength Malen gives BVB – or your team, should you sign him in Career Mode – is that instant-pace speedster who can quickly cut through defences on the break. The Dutchman’s 90 acceleration and 90 sprint speed make him the perfect option to feed when counter-attacking.
Having arrived at Signal Iduna Park this summer from PSV Eindhoven, where he scored 55 goals and 24 assists in 116 games, Malen was put to work right away.
Playing either on the left wing or alongside Haaland up top at the time, the young player didn’t find the back of the net through his first nine games in Germany but did end the season with three Champions League games in six appearances. Last season, he improved on those numbers, with 11 goal contributions in 27 Bundesliga games, scoring five goals and recording six assists.
He is yet to open his Bundesliga account in the 2022/23 campaign but was on the scoresheet in Dortmund’s DFB-Pokal win against 1860 Munich back in August.
Since making his senior debut for Netherlands in 2019, he has scored four goals from 19 appearances.
All of the best young strikers (ST & CF) in FIFA 23 Career Mode
In the table below, you’ll find all of the best stikers in FIFA 23 (ST and CF), with the selections being sorted by their overall rating.
| Name | Predicted Overall | Predicted Potential | Position | Age | Team | Value | Wage |
| Kylian Mbappé | 91 | 95 | ST, LW | 23 | Paris Saint-Germain | £166.5 million | £1,478,249 |
| Erling Haaland | 88 | 94 | ST | 22 | Manchester City | £118 million | £94,000 |
| Lautaro Martínez | 85 | 89 | ST | 25 | Inter Milan | £67.5 million | £125,000 |
| João Félix | 83 | 91 | CF, ST | 22 | Atlético Madrid | £70.5 million | £52,000 |
| Alexander Isak | 82 | 86 | ST | 22 | Newcastle | £38.5 million | £32,000 |
| Victor Osimhen | 80 | 88 | ST | 23 | Napoli | £37 million | £57,000 |
| Donyell Malen | 79 | 85 | ST | 23 | Borussia Dortmund | £28 million | £51,000 |
| Luka Jović | 79 | 84 | ST | 24 | Fiorentina | £23.2 million | £112,000 |
| Kasper Dolberg | 79 | 83 | ST | 24 | OGC Nice | £21.9 million | £32,000 |
| Dušan Vlahović | 78 | 85 | ST | 22 | Juventus | £24.9 million | £37,000 |
| Jonathan David | 78 | 86 | ST | 22 | LOSC Lille | £27.5 million | £27,000 |
| Amine Gouiri | 78 | 85 | ST, LM | 22 | Stade Rennais | £24.9 million | £25,000 |
| Tammy Abraham | 78 | 86 | ST | 24 | Roma | £27.1 million | £42,000 |
| Arthur Cabral | 77 | 85 | ST | 24 | Fiorentina | £20.2 million | £14,000 |
| Luis Javier Suárez | 77 | 86 | ST, LM, CAM | 24 | Olympique de Marseille | £20.2 million | £20,000 |
| Patson Daka | 77 | 84 | ST | 23 | Leicester City | £18.5 million | £67,000 |
| Nicolás González | 77 | 83 | ST, LW | 24 | Fiorentina | £14.6 million | £40,000 |
| Saša Kalajdžić | 77 | 82 | ST | 25 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £13.8 million | £23,000 |
| Darwin Núñez | 76 | 85 | ST | 23 | Liverpool | £14.6 million | £11,000 |
| Adam Hložek | 76 | 87 | ST, LM, RM | 20 | Bayer 04 Leverkusen | £13.8 million | £430 |
| Myron Boadu | 76 | 85 | ST | 21 | AS Monaco | £14.2 million | £31,000 |
| Mërgim Berisha | 75 | 80 | ST | 24 | FC Augsburg | £7.3 million | £34,000 |
| Juan Camilo Hernández | 75 | 81 | ST, RM, LM | 23 | Columbus Crew | £7.7 million | £38,000 |
| Odsonne Édouard | 75 | 83 | ST | 24 | Crystal Palace | £10.8 million | £38,000 |
Now that you know the best young strikers to sign in Career Mode, you can go and splash your club’s cash on one of the most exciting players in FIFA 23.
Looking for the best young players?
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FIFA 23 Career Mode: Best Young Right Wingers (RW & RM) to Sign
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FIFA 23 Career Mode: Best Young Attacking Midfielders (CAM) to Sign
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