Lionel Messi vs Kylian Mbappe: How the Two Paris Saint Germain Stars Compare at 23 Years of Age

• Statistics show that Lionel Messi was miles ahead of Kylian Mbappe when he was 23 years old at Barcelona
• Messi had already won three Ballon d'Or titles and three Champions League titles, with Mbappe yet to win any at the same age
• Mbappe might be the next big thing, but Messi's levels at the same age remain beyond phenomenal

There is little doubt that Kylian Mbappe is headed to the very top of professional football. Mbappe made his debut at 17 years of age while at AS Monaco and has since established himself as one of the most revered attackers in the modern game.

He was in the news headlines for the wrong reasons in August after video footage showed him bumping into Lionel Messi. Whether it was accidental or not, the incident generated widespread reactions.

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Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney was one of the prominent personalities who asked Mbappe to remember that Messi was well beyond him at his age.

Here at Sports Brief, we have tried to debunk and analyse Rooney's assertions. With Mbappe now 23 years of age, we look at what Messi had achieved by the time he was 23.

From the onset, the only advantage that Mbappe has over his PSG teammate is that he has a World Cup to his name. He was part of the exciting France squad that won the title in Russia four years ago.

But after the World Cup comparison, it is an extreme downhill for Mbappe, with Messi beating him(by a margin) in all the other categories.

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For starters, by the time Messi was 23, he had already won three of the seven Ballon d'Or he has to date. Mbappe is yet to win a Ballon d'Or.

Messi had three Champions League titles, while Mbappe's best performance remains PSG's runup to the final in 2020, where they lost to Bayern Munich.

La Liga and Ligue 1 titles

Messi had four La Liga titles in domestic titles, but this cancels out with the five Ligue 1 titles that Mbappe has won at PSG and Monaco. But one could argue that the La Liga title carries more weight given that PSG have established complete dominance in the French Ligue.

Take nothing away from Mbappe's role in AS Monaco's triumph, though.

For Mbappe to have any serious chance of replicating Messi's career, he needs to put in the work and hope his competitors like Erling Haaland and Vinicius Junior don't pose a serious challenge to the Ballon d'Or battle.

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YouTube account Magical Messi has put it,

Mbappé is GOOD, but Messi was already the GOAT at 23.

Over to you, Kylian!

Mbappe boldy declared that Lionel Messi's and Cristiano Ronaldo's reign was over

This comes on the backdrop of Kylian Mbappe appearing to declare himself as the heir apparent of the Lionel Messi's and Cristiano Ronaldo's throne.

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Mbappe has been widely touted as the next superstar to take over the two arch-nemesis who have dominated football headlines for over 10 years plus.

The pair has 12 Ballon d'Ors between them, among many other individual and collective awards. Mbappe, meanwhile, has lit up the football world since making his debut at the age of 17.