Kylian Mbappe and Erling Braut Haaland are the next big things in football.

As Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi plough deeper into their thirties, football fans are turning their attention to the younger players who might ascend the throne as Ballon d'Or winners.

And although it's impossible to tell for sure who will come to dominate the beautiful game in the 2020s, it's fair to say that Haaland and Mbappe are on track to achieve exactly that.

Heirs to Ronaldo and Messi's throne

Besides, in a week where Ronaldo and Messi bowed out of the Champions League second round for the first time since 2004/05, both Haaland and Mbappe progressed to the quarter-finals.

Haaland scored no less than four goals across Borussia Dortmund's round of 16 tie with Sevilla, extending his Champions League to a barely-believable 20 strikes in just 14 appearances.

Meanwhile, Mbappe dumped Messi's Barcelona out of Europe with four strikes of his own, including a Camp Nou hat-trick, to become the competition's youngest ever player to reach 25 goals.

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Mbappe vs Haaland

So, it's fair to say Mbappe and Haaland know how to play football and many supporters are already starting to compare them in the manner that we've become so familiar with for Ronaldo and Messi.

And trust us, we're by no means above that tantalising comparison culture, so we thought it made sense to run the Haaland vs Mbappe debate through some of our Messi vs Ronaldo metrics.

As such, we've turned to FIFA 21 and its 29 in-game attributes to try and assess who the most complete player out of the two really is by who takes the victory in each individual category.

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Mbappe vs Haaland on FIFA 21

And using the data collected at Futhead.com, we've been able to establish exactly that, so be sure to check out how the boffins at EA Sports think Mbappe and Haaland compare down below:

In Game: Physical

Acceleration: Kylian Mbappe (96)

Agility: Kylian Mbappe (92)

Balance: Kylian Mbappe (82)

Jumping: Kylian Mbappe (77)

Reactions: Kylian Mbappe (92)

Sprint speed: Kylian Mbappe (96)

Stamina: Kylian Mbappe (86)

Strength: Erling Braut Haaland (91)

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In Game: Skill

Ball control: Kylian Mbappe (90)

Crossing: Kylian Mbappe (78)

Curve: Kylian Mbappe (79)

Dribbling: Kylian Mbappe (92)

Finishing: Kylian Mbappe (91)

Free kick: Kylian Mbappe (63)

Heading: Kylian Mbappe (73)

Long passing: Kylian Mbappe (70)

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Long shots: Erling Braut Haaland (83)

Defensive awareness: Erling Braut Haaland (45)

Penalties: Erling Braut Haaland (80)

Short passing: Kylian Mbappe (83)

Shot power: Erling Braut Haaland (93)

Sliding tackle: Kylian Mbappe (32)

Standing tackle: Erling Braut Haaland (38)

Volleys: Kylian Mbappe (83)

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In Game: Mental

Aggression: Erling Braut Haaland (82)

Interceptions: Erling Braut Haaland (41)

Positioning: Kylian Mbappe (91)

Vision: Kylian Mbappe (80)

Composure: Kylian Mbappe (84)

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Final score: Kylian Mbappe 21-8 Erling Braut Haaland 

So, as it stands, Mbappe is most definitely the winner and it's clear to see that EA Sports view him as the more complete footballer, giving him the nod in no less than 72% of their in-game attributes.

Now, it goes without saying that EA Sports dished these ratings out at the start of the season, so we're inclined to think that they'll give Haaland an even bigger boost when FIFA 22 rolls around.

Besides, it does seem a little strange that Mbappe is given the nod over Haaland so convincingly when it comes to categories like heading, finishing and volleys.

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Nevertheless, for the moment, Mbappe maintains his position as Messi and Ronaldo's heir and only time will tell whether Haaland can usurp him by the time the throne becomes vacant.