The Mbappé case: what Pelé, Maradona, Eusebio and Ronaldo were like at 24

At his age, very few footballers added the records that the man born in the XXI District of Paris has. His name already rubs shoulders with that of great football legends such as Pelé, Diego Armando Maradona, Eusebio and Ronaldo. He immediately skips the unknown. What were these icons doing with the same age that Mbappé is currently?

Goals and titles at the age of 24 (clubs)

o’rei

With his double against Poland, Mbappé reached nine goals in World Cups and became the player under 24 with the most goals in this competition. He surpassed none other than Edson Arantes do Nascimento, who at that age had already evoked seven sacred cries between Sweden 1958 and Chile 1962. The rest of his five goals were scored in the following two editions (England 1966 and Mexico 1970). .

When Pelé’s identity document marked 24 years on the calendar, he already registered 397 entries with Santos. He was the star of ‘Peixe’, a club with which he had won 12 trophies, the most important being the Copa Libertadores (1962 and 1963) and the Intercontinental Tournament (1962 and 1963).

Maradona

The ‘Fluff’ took a little longer to make himself known at the World Cups. He was left out of Argentina 78 at the age of 18 and his debut only came four years later in the tournament organized by Spain. Through Iberian lands he was present twice on the scoreboard, with a double against Hungary. In Mexico 1986 he touched glory with five more goals and gave the Albiceleste their last World Cup.

At the age of Kilyan Mbappé, Diego was in Barcelona going through one of the most discreet and hard moments of his career. He arrived with the star transfer poster, but he could never get all the football off him. What’s more, months after his 24th birthday he was suspended for a brawl in a Copa del Rey match. This decreed his subsequent departure to Napoli, an institution with which he would make history.

Statistics of Maradona at club level with 24 years

eusebio

Unlike Pelé and Maradona, Eusebio’s 24 years did coincide in a World Cup. The ‘Mozambique Panther’ led Portugal to third place in England 1966, a contest that was the first participation of the Portuguese in a tournament of this magnitude. With nine goals in six appearances, he became the top scorer in the championship.

Regarding the club level, the former attacker was already four-time champion of his country with the Benfica shirt. With the ‘Águilas’ team, he won the second and last European Cup (1961-1962), signing a double in the final against Real Madrid. Between his time at Maxaquene and Benficallevaba he signed 277 goals.

Annotations of Eusebio at club level with 24 years

ronaldo

With the same chronological time as Mbappé, the ‘Phenomenon’ already had two World Finals to his credit. The first in 1994 had been won on the substitute bench, while the second was suffered on the field of play, losing to France. His statistics showed four goals in the history of the most important tournament for national teams.

The same season in which he turned 24, he was going through one of the worst moments of his career, after having relapsed into a serious injury that took him away from the playing fields for a year. Behind him were his spectacular seasons with Cruzeiro, PSV and Barcelona.

Annotations of Ronaldo at club level with 24 years