Francesco Camarda

Camarda was born in Milan, Italy. As a child, he also took an interest in kickboxing.

AC Milan

Youth

Camarda started his career with Afforese, a football school in Milan. During his time with Afforese, he trained with the academy of professional side AC Milan, and went on to join the club permanently in 2015, after just over a year with Afforese, the local team of Affori, the neighborhood where he grew up. In his first training session with AC Milan, he was deployed as a defender, but after continually dribbling through the opposition teams and scoring, he was moved up front to play as a striker.

During his time in the academy of AC Milan, Camarda established himself as a prolific goal-scorer; at an under-9 tournament in Vienna, Austria, he was taken off due to injury with his side 2–0 down to German opposition Bayern Munich. He asked his coach to return to the field and went on to score two goals and provide an assist in the eventual 3–2 win. His prolific form continued as he progressed through the academy, and he went on to score twenty-two goals in twenty-four games for AC Milan's under-15 side, leading them to the under-15 Scudetto title.

Eventually, his goal-scoring feats drew the attention of international media, and he was lauded for having scored 485 goals in only 89 matches for AC Milan's academy, an average of 5.45 goals per game. He trained with AC Milan's under-19 side at the age of fourteen, and scored two goals for the side in a friendly win against Eccellenza team Solbiatese.

Camarda made his UEFA Youth League debut against Newcastle United on 19 September 2023, scoring a brace in a 4–0 victory. These goals made Camarda the second-youngest player to score a brace in the tournament and the youngest-ever Italian goalscorer at 15 years, 193 days, breaking Fabrizio Caligara's record of 16 years, 189 days.

Senior

In November 2023, also due to an injury crisis, AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli called up Camarda as part of the first team squad for the Serie A game against Fiorentina on 25 November 2023; in order to do so, the club had to specifically request an authorization from the Italian Football Federation, as under-16 players are normally not allowed to be part of an Italian first team. He was eventually subbed on for Luka Jović in the 83rd minute, becoming the youngest Serie A footballer ever at 15 years, 260 days of age.

Camarda has represented Italy at under-15, under-16, and under-17 levels.

Club

As of match played 2 December 2023