Haaland V Mbappe: Football's Next Great Debate

Over the last 15 years, football fans from all over the world have enjoyed the brilliance of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Both players have performed at levels rarely seen before, breaking countless records and accumulating a bewildering number of trophies between them. And whether you are in the Messi camp or the Ronaldo camp when it comes to who is the GOAT, you can’t help but acknowledge the genius of both.

End of an era

There was always going to come a time when the Messi/Ronaldo era came to an end, and despite both still setting the standard for everyone else, there are signs that that moment is not too far away. For example, this season’s Champions League is the first in 16 years without Messi or Ronaldo in the quarter-finals.

The next generation

It was suggested that we might never see players like Messi and Ronaldo again and that they were once in a lifetime talents but that might not be the case. Over the past couple of years, two players have emerged who could possibly be pretenders to their thrones: Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.

Crunching the numbers

To highlight just how important these players could be, you only have to look at some stats. Erling Haaland’s 19th Champions League goal came in his 14th game. Ronaldo needed 54 games to reach the same number and Messi needed 38 games. If you are betting on football at Space Casino, it’ll come as no surprise to find the 20-year-old is the clear favourite to be Champions League top scorer this year.

In the same week that Haaland bagged his 19th and 20th Champions League goals, Kylian Mbappe became the youngest player in history (22 years and 80 days) to score 25 goals in the competition, beating Leo Messi’s record of 22 years and 286 days. With 15 assists also to his name in the tournament, the Frenchman has now been involved in 40 Champions League goals in just 42 games.

If we go back to the start of the 2019/20 season, when Haaland burst on the scene at Red Bull Salzburg, only Robert Lewandowski has scored more goals than the Norwegian, while Mbappe is matching Messi but a little behind Ronaldo.

The debate has already begun

Talk has already began on social media about who is the best out of these two youngsters, echoing the Messi v Ronaldo debates which have dominated the last decade. Some are already suggested that Haaland and Mbappe are better than their predecessors but that’s a judgement that needs to be saved for another day.

Much could depend on how these players develop over the next few years, whether they can maintain their fitness and which clubs they move to next. Mbappe has been strongly linked with both Liverpool and Real Madrid with the former maintaining regular contact over the last year, while Manchester City appear to be leading the race to sign Haaland for a fee likely to be in excess of £100million. All eyes will be on the summer transfer window as the immediate futures of two of the world’s brightest football talents are mapped out.

Haaland V Mbappe: Football's Next Great Debate to Soccer Archives

Top of This Page