Haaland and Mbappe Finally Get a Rare Chance to Meet

Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe were expected to define the next great football rivalry, but they have actually faced each other only once in six years. They could meet again on Friday evening, June 26, when France plays Norway for first place in their group, though the article says Haaland is likely to start on the bench.

Mbappe, 27, moved for 180 million euros and has reached the finals of the last two World Cups, making him one of the favorites for the current tournament. Haaland, 25, leads Manchester City, which he has helped to two English league titles. Last season they scored 42 and 38 goals respectively, yet both finished without a trophy.

The article says the comparison with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has been hampered by the fact that Mbappe plays in Spain and Haaland in England, so they do not meet weekly as Messi and Ronaldo did. Since Haaland joined Manchester City and Mbappe joined Real Madrid, they have met only once, in a knockout match that City won 3-2 at home; Haaland missed the return leg, when Mbappe scored a hat trick at the Bernabeu. This year they have met three times, with Mbappe once on the bench, once out injured, and once as a substitute, while Haaland was substituted in the 56th minute and Mbappe came on in the 69th.

The piece also argues that injuries, rotation, and the current Champions League format have prevented the kind of repeated high-stakes meetings that built the Messi-Ronaldo myth. It notes that Messi and Ronaldo met six times in the Champions League before Messi turned 25, including semifinals in 2008 and 2011 and the 2009 final, while their teams dominated Europe from 2008 to 2018. By contrast, City and Real have not reached that level consistently, and this season finished only 8th and 9th in the league phase. The article concludes that Haaland and Mbappe remain historic players, but the football world has already shifted attention toward younger stars such as Lamine Yamal.