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The Best Soccer Players: Kylian Mbappé vs Cristiano Ronaldo

Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the world’s most famous footballers. One is a prodigy who became the youngest player in history to score a World Cup goal, while the other has won five Ballons d’Or and three European Championships. With such different careers, it’s hard to say who is better. But this article will take a look at a few ways to see which of these two players is better than the other.

Cristiano Ronaldo Vs. Kylian Mbappé

Both players have been in the spotlight since they were very young. Both scored for their countries at an early age. However, while Ronaldo is being criticized for his habit of not being available for important games and of not being Cristiano Ronaldo, Mbappé is just starting to make waves. Cristiano Ronaldo Vs. Kylian Mbappé…here’s a breakdown of their careers so far. Growing up in France, Kylian Mbappé was quickly able to make a name for himself in his home country. With his multiple skills and speed, he would quickly make waves for the French national team, starring as a young teen in the UEFA European Under-16 Championship. He would go on to score 12 goals in 13 games, leading his team to the championship game and scoring the fourth goal for France in the 3-1 win over Spain.

Career Comparison

Kylian Mbappé is a French youth soccer sensation who has played at the youth level with the French national team since 2016. He scored 12 goals in 24 appearances with the French squad last year as a 16-year-old and 14 goals in 56 appearances this year. This puts him in the same category as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi. Even though he’s still only 19 years old, it’s hard to imagine Mbappé’s national team not surpassing this year’s FIFA World Cup performance. What we don’t know about Mbappé’s national team performance is how his play compares to Cristiano Ronaldo’s. Ronaldo was the subject of much criticism in the past for his play and performance as a teenager. After scoring 11 goals in 17 appearances for his country, Ronaldo had to sit out four years of competitive play.

Goals and Assists

All the stats will tell you that Mbappé is absolutely, incredibly great. His 18 goals and six assists lead Ligue 1 and the French national team, he has a Champions League-leading 16 goals, and he has scored the first goal at every World Cup tournament in which he has competed. Mbappé also leads La Liga in assists, showing that he can drive his team with his skills. But these kinds of stats don’t tell the entire story. For one, all of these numbers are achieved in just 26 league matches. Compare that to Ronaldo, who has 49 goals in the Premier League in less than two full seasons. Ronaldo has had a full campaign’s worth of games and his team-leading 16 assists are actually lower than Mbappé’s league-leading 16 goals.

Awards

The easiest way to compare Ronaldo and Mbappé is awards. Mbappé is only 18, so we won’t be looking at any major awards at this point. Ronaldo is a very controversial figure, however. Despite winning his fifth Ballon d’Or, many feel that it was unfair to France’s Antoine Griezmann who won the award just this past season. The player that won it this year wasn’t even playing in the World Cup final. Still, Ronaldo’s sixth Ballon d’Or is good for third overall, which means he’s still the most-awarded footballer in history. Although he has yet to win any major international awards, he’s third in the list of most-awarded players. Verdict: Ballon d’Or is not necessarily an award you should just pick up based on how it’s awarded.

Player Stats

The first way to rank their player stats is to use their Elo scores, which measures a player’s skill level in a number of categories, including their ability to score goals and to move the ball in the best directions possible. In addition, Mbappé and Ronaldo have produced nearly identical numbers in these categories since the start of the 2016/17 season. The following chart displays Mbappé’s scoring and assist percentage, while Ronaldo’s percentages are similar. To compare these data points, we will look at Mbappé’s Elo score (listed on the far left) and Ronaldo’s (listed on the far right). Although Ronaldo’s Elo score (3,959) is slightly better than Mbappé’s (3,938), the Frenchman has a slightly higher passing percentage and a better shooting percentage.

Club Stats

In terms of statistics, Cristiano Ronaldo’s best attribute is his passing. His 31.9 per cent success rate is the highest in the Premier League and the fifth-best in Europe (he also has the fourth-highest pass completion rate). On the other hand, Mbappé’s best attribute is his goal-scoring. The Frenchman has scored the fifth-most goals out of any player in the last two seasons, averaging 1.47 per game, which is the sixth-highest in the Premier League. The Final Comparison Both players have a similar goal output and dribbling percentage, while Ronaldo’s shooting percentage is slightly higher. Even though Mbappé dribbles the ball more often than Ronaldo, he spends more time with the ball than Ronaldo, so his stats are a little worse in this category.

International Stats

There is one metric by which fans and football analysts alike are able to compare players. This metric measures a player’s total matches in the highest level of the sport. The International Transfer Market (ITM) ranks the top 10 players according to these matches. Of these players, Ronaldo leads with 146 matches, with 18.4 goals scored. Mbappé has 103 matches, scoring 13.7 goals. However, only seven of Mbappé’s matches are at the top-tier level. Thus, he has scored six goals compared to Ronaldo’s 23.5 goals. This metric also illustrates that neither Ronaldo nor Mbappé had a full season at the top-tier level for the full duration of their careers. These statistics are not so useful, because Messi is also included in these lists, with 142 matches played and 15.8 goals scored.

Conclusion

We can now say that Kylian Mbappé is better than Cristiano Ronaldo, based on two criteria: Ronaldo is more famous, and he has won more trophies.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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