Styopa Mkrtchyan ranked among the top 100 best young footballers in World for passing quality

22-year-old Armenian national team and Croatian club Osijek defender Styopa Mkrtchyan has been included in the list of the top 100 young footballers in World based on the number and quality of progressive forward passes. The study was conducted by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) in cooperation with the analytics platform Impect, which analysed performance data of players under 23 from 52 leagues worldwide.

Despite Osijek’s unsuccessful season, sitting second from bottom in 9th place in the Croatian league, Mkrtchyan is having an impressive campaign and ranks in the middle of Worlds’s best young players in terms of progressive passing.

Statistics highlighting Mkrtchyan’s maturity

According to CIES, Mkrtchyan makes 6.2 progressive passes per 90 minutes with 67.4% accuracy — a rate that puts him among top 100 young players in ball progression.

His Croatian league stats also confirm his high level:

• 13 matches this season, 1 assist

• 36.9 passes per game with 83% accuracy

• 3.2 long passes per match (44% accuracy)

• 480 accurate passes — the best in Osijek and 20th in the league

• 3 key passes and 1 created big chance

His performance in duels stands out as well: 58% of duels won, one of the best figures among all Croatian league defenders. His average SofaScore rating is 6.99, confirming his consistently strong performances.

Who is the world’s best U23 player?

According to Impect, the best U23 player in the world in progressive passing is 20-year-old Belgian defender Jorne Spileers from Club Brugge, averaging 11.8 progressive passes with an outstanding 84% accuracy.

The top 10 also includes:

• Jorne Spileers (Belgium, Club Brugge)
• Dean Huijsen (Spain, Real Madrid)
• António Silva (Portugal, Benfica)
• Håkon Wolden (Norway, Rosenborg)
• Zeno Debast (Portugal, Sporting)
• Artemijus Tutyskinas (Slovenia, Celje)
• Mate Smeets (Belgium, Genk)
• Aboubakar Sedi Kinte (Norway, Tromsø)
• Jack McGlynn (USA, Houston Dynamo)
• Warren Zaïre-Emery (France, PSG)