The heirs to Ronaldo and Messi – wonderkids Mbappe, Haaland and Sancho will battle in the Champions League and they’re set to rule the world
We've been blessed to see two of the greatest footballers of all time in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo share the stage at the top of the football pyramid for over a decade.
However, both players aren't getting any younger - Messi turns 33 this year while Ronaldo is 35 - so many are looking at who can step into their shoes in the future.
Kylian Mbappe, who won the World Cup with France aged just 19, is being tipped as a future Ballon d'Or winner and is already a star on the world stage.
The 21-year-old will surely have rivals for the personal accolade though and Borussia Dortmund pair Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho, both 19, are making waves at the moment.
Interestingly, all three are set to be on the same pitch when Mbappe's Paris Saint-Germain entertain Dortmund in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 clash on Wednesday night - and it's the younger duo who are in control of the tie thanks to Haaland's double in Germany.
With Mbappe two years older than Haaland and Sancho, marvelbet369.com has taken a look at how the Dortmund forwards are doing compared to Mbappe at that stage and how all three are performing this term.
- You can listen to full commentary of PSG vs Borussia Dortmund LIVE on talkSPORT 2, kick-off 8pm
Like Mbappe, Sancho and Haaland are also tipped to have great careersMbappe was at the same stage Haaland and Sancho are at now during the 2017/18 season.
He had a French league title under his belt the year before as Monaco broke the PSG stronghold on the division to lift the Ligue 1 trophy. In that season he also won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season award.
PSG snapped him up in the summer of 2017, although his first season in the French capital was actually on loan.
Mbappe was on the cusp of adding more trophies to his locker at this stage of 2017/18 as PSG were running away with the Ligue 1 title. They were also about to win the Coupe de France (French FA Cup) and Coupe de la Ligue (French League Cup).
Goals and assists are important stats for forwards and Mbappe got 21 goals and 15 assists in all competitions in 2017/18. His goal record the season before was slightly better with a tally of 26 goals and 14 assists.
Mbappe has taken his game to new heights this term, scoring 30 goals and providing 17 assists so far and it surely won't be long before the likes of Real Madrid or Barcelona come knocking. Or maybe a Premier League move will happen with a bunch of very optimistic Liverpool fans believing he will come to Anfield this summer...
On the international stage, Mbappe won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship with France in 2016 and had 16 caps for Les Bleus' senior side before their memorable 2018 World Cup campaign. However, he only had four international goals to his name prior to the finals in Russia.
He's a supremely talented player but Mbappe's main strengths lie in his speed - just watch his 70-yard solo effort against Lyon at the weekend. He also has very good ball control and dribbling skills.
So it's no surprise that he's played in many different attacking positions. He spent most of the 2016/17 season partnering Radamel Falcao up front but was moved to the right of an attacking three when he joined PSG. This is also where he's played for most of his international career.
However, Mbappe has returned to the centre forward position in recent weeks, partnering the likes of Edinson Cavani and Mauro Icardi up top.
Norwegian frontman Haaland got his big move halfway through this season, joining Dortmund from Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg in December.
Like Mbappe had this time two years ago, Haaland has a league title to his name, winning the Austrian top flight last season. He also won the Austrian Cup.
Haaland only scored five goals for Salzburg in 2018/19 but his career has gone into the stratosphere this term.
He's currently on 40 goals in all competitions in 2019/20 including nine in eight German Bundesliga matches for his new club.
Haaland also has ten Champions League goals this season including a stunning double in the first leg against PSG. He also has nine assists meaning he's blown Mbappe's 2017/18 stats out the water, although Haaland spent the first half of this season at a lower standard league.
Another reason it's no surprise that Haaland is scoring more than Mbappe as he's been playing as the target man up front his whole career.
Haaland has even been likened to a '6ft 5ins Harry Kane' by talkSPORT's Tony Cascarino, who said: “He is extraordinary.
“He reminds me of a 6ft 5in Harry Kane, but he’s bigger, stronger and quicker, he’s that’s good. He’s so much of a threat.
“Just watching he just oozes confidence and even before the game he’s got a big smile on his face, he’s laughing. He’s only 19.
“I can’t remember a forward that big, that quick, that strong, and with that great a touch in the game.”
His main strength is undoubtedly his physical presence as well as his deadly composure in front of goal.
However, despite his tall frame, he's no slouch. Against PSG, Haaland was filmed covering 60 metres in just 6.64 seconds. The World Indoor Athletics Championship 60m record is 6.34 seconds.
On the international stage, Haaland had the option of representing England as he was born in Leeds but represents Norway.
He won the Golden Boot at the FIFA Under-19 World Cup last summer but hasn't done it at senior level with just two caps to his name.
That surely won't be the case for much longer and Haaland could even play against England in the groups of Euro 2020 if Norway get through their play-off ties.
In August 2017, Sancho made a brave decision to turn his back on Manchester City and pursue a new adventure elsewhere.
Dortmund took a chance on the then raw 17-year-old but it's fair to say Sancho has repaid the faith shown in him by the German giants.
The start of the 2017/18 campaign saw Sancho have success on the international stage as he was part of the squad that won the Under-17 World Cup with England to back up his UEFA Under-17 European Championship Golden Player award earlier in 2017.
At club level he had a fairly quiet 2017/18 season, making twelve Bundesliga appearances but things really came together for him after that.
Sancho somewhat burst onto the scene in Germany with 13 goals and 19 assists in a memorable 2018/19 campaign.
His playing style goes hand-in-hand with Dortmund's attacking philosophy and his main attributes of dribbling and ball control has allowed him to make the position on the right of the front three his own.
His form also saw him earn a first call-up for England's senior team and he's now a regular fixture in Gareth Southgate's squad.
It's been more of the same for Sancho this season, with 17 goals and 19 assists to his name thus far and he'll surely add to that assist tally with the prolific Haaland now a teammate.
It's no surprise that Sancho has been linked with a move back to the Premier League - the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool understood to be interested in him.
talkSPORT presenter Jason Cundy suggested that Sancho would help Liverpool dominate for years to come if he went to Anfield.
“Liverpool need to do what [Manchester] City did,” said the host. “City went out and had two in every position.
“Liverpool fans saying ‘he won’t get in our team’… trust me, over the course of 50 games in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup there will definitely be games he will play.
“Because the challenge for Liverpool now is back-to-back-to-back titles. Three in a row, it has to be."
One thing that will bother Sancho is his lack of trophies, however. Dortmund should have won the Bundesliga last season but a collapse in form saw Bayern Munich clinch the title. It looks likely Bayern will win it again this term too.
In fact, the only trophy Sancho has at senior level is the DFL-Supercup, which is the equivalent of the Community Shield in Germany.
And just when you think Dortmund's future can't get any brighter, they also have another wonderkid waiting in the wings.
Striker Yousouffa Moukoko has 38 goals at youth level to his name this season and it surely won't be long before he gets a proper run out in the first-team.
And we wouldn't bet against the quartet ruling the football world for some time with their outrageous talent.
