Messi, Ronaldo, Haaland, Mbappe: Comparing their records by the age of 21

For the last two decades, we’ve been living in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s world.

As two of the greatest players to ever kick a ball about, it wouldn’t be an understatement to brand ourselves one of the most blessed generations of fans in history.

As a pair, Ronaldo and Messi have broken just about every single record there is to break and then relentlessly driven the ceiling to a stratospheric and seemingly unreachable level.

However, in the last few years there has emerged a new breed of pretenders bidding to usurp the dynasty that Ronaldo and Messi have built.

Now let’s get this straight right out of the gate, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haalnd have some very big shoes to fill but all the signs are pointing in the right direction.

Considering just how much of their careers lie ahead of them still, it’s safe to say that the possibilities are endless for the pair.

Ten Hag to Manchester United DONE? | The Football Terrace

That is bought into stark limelight when you look a little deeper and compare their records at the age of 21, to those of Messi and Ronaldo.

PlanetFootball have compiled their records and it makes for fascinating reading.

Cristiano Ronaldo at 21:

Appearances: 242Goals: 62Assists: 44

Minutes per goal: 267Minutes per goal or assist: 156

Hat-tricks: 0Penalties: 4/6

Trophies won: One (FA Cup)

Lionel Messi at 21:

Appearances: 200Goals: 92Assists: 46

Minutes per goal: 154Minutes per goal or assist: 103

Hat-tricks: 2Penalties: 10/13

Trophies won: Five (La Liga x2, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, FIFA Under-20 World Cup).

Erling Haaland at 21:

Appearances: 148Goals: 106Assists: 28

Minutes per goal: 99Minutes per goal or assist: 78

Hat-tricks: 10Penalties: 15/17

Trophies won: Four (Austrian