Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the greatest soccer players to ever play the game. Messi and Ronaldo have been dominating soccer ever since they made their debuts back almost two decades ago. While Messi and Ronaldo are almost on the verge of retiring, soccer fans do not seem to be much impressed with the next generation of soccer stars.
Talking about the next big soccer stars, surely two names immediately enter the conversation- Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland. Mbappe and Haaland are two of the deadliest soccer stars in today’s world. Both players play a talismanic role for their respective teams. Mbappe, at only 24, is already Paris Saint Germain’s all-time top scorer.
Kylian Mbappe etched his name into PSG folklore during their 4-2 victory over Nantes last night.
He scored PSG’s 4th goal, which was his 201st goal for the club, taking him past Edinson Cavani and making him PSG’s all-time top scorer.
Remember, Mbappe is only 24.#ParimatchNG pic.twitter.com/gCxsYBAofk
— Parimatch Nigeria (@ParimatchNG) March 5, 2023
Meanwhile, Haaland is already breaking multiple records for his club, Manchester City, in his debut season. Other than Mbappe and Haaland, there are players like Jamal Musiala, Pedri, and so on. However, there’s another player who, despite being relatively unknown, is tearing up the Serie A this year. He is none other than Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian star is also one of the best soccer stars this season.
Kvicha Kvaratskhelia. That’s it. That’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/AqhM7DVlLI
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 12, 2023
In his first season in Europe’s top 5 leagues, Kvaratskhelia has become the first player in Serie A to score 10 goals and provide 10 assists. The 22-year-old forward has established himself as an integral part of the Napoli team which is looking to win its first Serie A title since the 1989-90 season. Kvaratskhelia’s Napoli has also reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League this season.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s boots are too big to fill?
It’s true that what Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have done throughout their soccer careers is almost impossible to replicate by any other soccer player. Over the years, Messi and Ronaldo have consistently performed day in and day out to achieve success like no other player has ever managed. Combined, the two stars have won over 12 Ballon d’Ors and scored 1627 goals (via messivsronaldoapp).
However, the fans believe that Messi and Ronaldo’s boots are too big to be filled by the next generation of soccer stars. Fans feel that even though the upcoming soccer stars are great, they will never be good enough to achieve what Messi and Ronaldo did over their careers. One fan even went on to the extent of writing, “Ronaldo and Messi has ruined this sport. These stats look mid when it’s not. “
Ronaldo and Messi has ruined this sport. These stats look mid when it’s not 😭 https://t.co/M8w5RXX9fO
— Janty (@CFC_Janty) March 20, 2023
However, it’s unfair to make such kind of statements about the current crop of young soccer stars. The rate at which Mbappe and Haaland are scoring goals nowadays is extremely impressive. To put into perspective, Haaland recently became the youngest player to score 30 goals in the Champions League, breaking Mbappe’s record which was previously held by Messi.
In addition to this, while Ronaldo has won multitudes of titles, he is unlikely to win the World Cup which Mbappe won when he was just 19. However, while Mbappe and Haaland do have the ability to break the long-held records by either Messi or Ronaldo, what would be challenging for the current crop of young soccer stars would be to play in the same way as consistently as Messi and Ronaldo have done over the years.