Goal medallists

The 2022 World Cup is probably the last time we’ll see two football greats in action. So who’s poised to take the torch from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo? Check out six contenders who’ve put their best feet forward so far

The 2022 World Cup may be the last time we see football greats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in action. Who will take the torch from them? Here are six contenders

The world may be divided about who the best football player in the world is today, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. But, for the last decade and more, it’s definitely been one of them. Sure, Robert Lewandowski is a great finisher, Antoine Griezmann is special on the counter, Kevin De Bruyne controls the play like it’s a video game, and every club has their own talisman that its supporters feel is God’s gift to the sport, life, and everything. But, the best in the world?not really. That slot has been reserved for Messi or Ronaldo. This year, however, the baton will be passed — a new set of stars will emerge; not just to be applauded and appreciated, but to rule. In a world changed forever by Covid-19, football, too, will have a new order.

Make no mistake, both Messi and Ronaldo are still formidable. Let’s face it, though, the cracks are just starting to show. The air of inevitability around them has diminished; neither of them was in the last-eight of the Champions League — the last time that happened was in 2004-05, when social media had barely been born; and by the time the next World Cup ends in December 2022, the Argentine will be almost 36 and the Portuguese nearly 38.

So, roll over Beethoven. And (well, might as well borrow the entire phrase), dig these new rhythm and blues.

The big question, then, is, who’s it going to be? But before we jump in, a moment to philosophise, as all sports writers must.

Achieving stardom is an inexact procedure, a function of several factors the subject has no control over. The great Brazilian footballer Socrates found Europe too cold, literally and otherwise, and didn’t have a good time in soccer’s most developed continent. Thierry Henry grew into a legend at Arsenal after an insipid season at Juventus. And had Brazil listened to their team psychologist’s advice and not played Pele in the 1958 World Cup, who knows how that career would have turned out?

With a minimum of 50 club games in Europe’s top five leagues as the cutoff, we look at players who could be the next big thing. By virtue of their role, attacking players get a disproportionate amount of interest in such discussions, but then for every Johan Cruyff and Diego Maradona, there is a Franz Beckenbauer and Gordon Banks, a Fabio Cannavaro or Virgil van Dijk.

That is why we’ve zeroed in on the precocious from across the pitch: from Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal to Erling Braut Haaland who has more than a nose for a goal. If Haaland is proof that some players have it in their blood — his father Alf-inge Haaland played for Norway and his mother Gry Marita Braut is a former heptathlete — the rise of Jadon Sancho is in no small part due to his growing up in an area (south London) that has produced a string of professional players. “I would class myself as a street footballer, obviously that’s where it all started, on the street,” he told the website Goal.com.

Alphonso Davies, meanwhile, grew up in Canada — not exactly known for its soccer culture — but at 20 is a defensive mainstay at Bayern Munich.

This conversation on the “arty dozen” (read on to see who else made the cut) comes at a strange time in European football. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez launched his wrecking ball of a project — the proposed breakaway European Super League — last month and saw it disintegrate in hours. Perez now says his club can’t afford either Haaland or Kylian Mbappe, the first teenager since Pele to score in a World Cup final. Keen to shed the image of an avaricious American, Liverpool owner John Henry now reportedly wants to sign Mbappe to make amends for associating with the Super League. And Bayern are trying to outdo Manchester United and Arsenal by offering Eduardo Camavinga regular game time even though he is still a teenager.

Back to the new Messi and Ronaldo, see who else made it to our Top 12, spread across positions of attack, defence, midfield and goal.