Haaland tipped to beat Mbappe and Foden to best-in-world tag

Erling Haaland’s incredible scoring record for Borussia Dortmund has seen him tipped to succeed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of world football

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s domination of world football appears to be slowly but surely approaching its conclusion.

The duo have undoubtedly been the two best players in the world for well over a decade, winning the Ballon d’Or 11 times out of the last 12 since 2008, with Luka Modric accounting for the rest of world football’s sole victory in 2018.

Yet, with both players now in their mid-30s, age is starting to catch up with them as they try to continue the phenomenal records both of them have set over the last 15 years.

After his summer move to PSG, Messi has failed to hit the ground running, with no goals in five league matches – although he is faring better in the Champions League, with three goals in three appearances, including a stunner against Man City.

Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, has outscored Messi since returning to Manchester United in the summer, with nine goals in 12 matches, including crucial strikes against Atalanta in the Champions League, but his presence has also been blamed for the Red Devils’ struggles at times this season, with plenty of question marks over how the forward can adapt to different tactical set-ups.

Whilst Ronaldo continues to be a feared goal threat, both United’s struggles and Juventus ’ before that suggest the idea of building a team around the 36-year-old’s scoring prowess risks exposing weaknesses elsewhere, and has created a general sense that football tactics may well be leaving the Portuguese star’s style of play behind.

It means that the next generation of players have well and truly closed the gap on Messi and Ronaldo.

Come 2025, it is unlikely that Ronaldo, who will be 40, and Messi, who will be 38, will still be playing at the highest level, and instead it will be younger players being named the best in the world.

We asked readers to vote on who they think will be the best player in the world in four years’ time, and the results were interesting.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his stunning scoring record at Borussia Dortmund, over a quarter of fans believe that Erling Haaland will be the best player in the world in 2025.

The Norwegian striker garnered 26.1% of the votes and it is easy to see why.

Still just 21, Haaland has netted a ridiculous 70 goals in 69 appearances in all competitions for Dortmund and, come 2025, will be entering a period in his career that many others would consider their prime – meaning it is difficult to see him not dominating world football.

Whilst Haaland has been tipped to have a rivalry with PSG star Kylian Mbappe over the next decade, our poll suggests there is only one winner between the two.

Whilst Mbappe is in second place, he is well over 10% behind Haaland, having 15.2% of the vote.

The French 22-year-old burst onto the scene nearly five years ago and, whilst he continues to score regularly for PSG, the fact Les Parisiens also have the likes of Neymar and Messi to call upon means he is not the focal point of his side’s attack in the same way Haaland is.

Perhaps a transfer away from the French capital – with a move to Real Madrid heavily rumoured – will see Mbappe start to recreate the scoring record of Haaland once more.

In terms of the best of the rest, Man City star Phil Foden was voted third on the list, with fans giving him a. 11.8% chance of being the best player in the world.

Next up was Foden’s international teammate Bukayo Saka, who had 8.1% of fans tipping him to be the best in the world in 2025.

Fifth on the list was rising Liverpool star Harvey Elliott, who enjoyed a very promising start to his senior career before suffering a dislocated ankle against Leeds United earlier this season.

Do you agree with the results? Have your say in the comments below.