ZywOo becomes youngest player to be named world's best
January 20, 2020: CS:GO prodigy Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut becomes the youngest and first French CS:GO player to achieve the top spot in HLTV's annual Top 20 rankings, and the first to receive the prestigious title in his first year of competition at the highest level, an award that could be considered the video game equivalent of the legendary France Football Ballon d'Or.
Our 19-year-old French superstar wowed the sporting community by securing three world firsts by winning the top spot: first French player, youngest player in the world and first to win the title so early in his professional career.
ZywOo impressed throughout the 2019 season by winning this trophy at such a young age, he set a new record with a 1.31 HLTV rating at major events, five HLTV MVP medals at major tournaments and five EVP mentions.
ZywOo joined Vitality in October 2018 and, alongside teammates Dan “apEX” Madesclaire, Cédric “RpK” Guipouy, Alex “ALEX” McMeekin and Richard “shox” Papillon, he achieved exceptional results in 2019.
“It’s an absolute honor to be named HLTV’s Best Player of 2019. A year ago, I couldn’t have even imagined that I would be mentioned alongside these absolute legends in CS:GO, and to take the top spot is truly mind-blowing,” said Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut.
“While I am extremely proud of this achievement, CS:GO is a team game and this would not have been possible without Vitality and my amazing teammates. I have never felt more motivated and committed to raising the bar in 2020 and making Vitality the best team in the world.”