One of the undoubted highlights of Lionel Messi’s seventh Ballon d’Or win was the look on teammate Kylian Mbappe’s face when it was revealed that he had finished ninth in the running.

Paris-born Mbappe sets the highest of standards for himself in a scintillating career, which has seen him adopt the position as the next in line to dominate the game after Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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The World Cup winner and unstoppably rapid goalscorer has even set himself the aim of leaving PSG in 2022 when his contract expires, looking to step away from teammates Messi and Neymar and move to Real Madrid.

There’s no bitterness involved with Mbappe’s plot to take over the game outside of Messi and Neymar’s shadows though, with Mbappe alongside Messi offering full support at the golden ball ceremony.

However, that doesn’t mean that Mbappe’s competitive edge wasn’t triggered by yet another crown as the world’s best player for Messi, with the Frenchman clearly believing it’s his time to rise to that pinnacle.

Mbappe turns 23 on December 20 which seems hard to believe considering it seems like an eternity ago that he burst onto the scene during Monaco’s 6-6 Champions League last 16 win over Manchester City in 2017.

Nevertheless, the 22-year-old continues to rack up records, which begs the question, how does he compare to Messi at the same age?

Career at 22

Messi debuted for Barcelona in 2004 following a sharp rise through the club’s academy after moving to Spain from his native Argentina, but it wasn’t until the next year when he scored his first goal.

The boy from Rosario nailed down a place in the starting lineup over the course of the next season, but didn’t feature for Barca past the last 16 of their 2006 Champions League win due to injury against Chelsea.

2007 saw the Messi-hype reach fever pitch when he recreated Diego Maradona’s goal against England by carrying the ball from the halfway line to score against Getafe, and things continued to kick on.

His goal scoring increased, and he was given the number 10 shirt by new arrival Pep Guardiola, with Messi integral in a historic treble during the 2008-09, establishing him as not just one of the best in the game, but potentially one of the best of all time.

Mbappe was part of Leonardo Jardim’s super team at Monaco, featuring the likes of Radamel Falcao, Fabinho, Bernardo Silva and Thomas Lemar.

Earning his place in the line up in 2016, Mbappe broke Thierry Henry’s club records as their youngest ever player and youngest ever goal scorer.

Debuting at 16 and scoring at 17, Mbappe already looked like a superstar, but it took Monaco’s incredible 6-6 away goals win over City for the world to stand up and take notice.

A Ligue 1 title followed in 2017, before an embarrassed PSG paid an estimated £163million for the teenager, and quickly got their money’s worth.

Mbappe’s goal scoring has been unmatched in the French league, earning him a starting berth in the France line-up that won the 2018 World Cup, thanks in part to Mbappe’s four goals, one of which came in the final.