Fast forward to spring 2025, and it finally feels like Ronaldo and Messi's golden era is at an end, but two new young pretenders to the throne might just stake a better claim than Mbappe and Haaland do, and that is some statement.
Whilst Haaland and Mbappe remain prolific, their stocks have dropped slightly in the short term at least, and two new stars have taken Europe by storm in next to no time.
Lamine Yamal and Desire Doue were not two names on the lips of many 18 months ago. Doue still wasn't until six months ago. However, the two teenagers are now football's hottest prospects, and the age-old debates are already starting to rumble in the background.
Before long, those noises will be heard loudly, front and centre of every media outlet.
Lamine Yamal: Best in the world?
It feels like Yamal has been around for years.
The 17-year-old sensation has already had two seasons as a regular starter at Barcelona and is a key figure in the Spanish national team. After five goals and five assists in LaLiga during the 2023/24 campaign, Yamal then played a starring role as he helped Spain win the 2024 European Championship.
It was evident that Barcelona and Spain had the real deal already: a star for the present and future.
Yamal's game has reached new heights under new Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick, however. With a style of football which encourages attacking the opposition with numbers and individual freedom, Yamal has excelled on the right-hand side.
The parallels to Messi are hard to ignore when he glides past defenders before curling an effort effortlessly into the top corner on the grandest of stages.
18 goals and 21 assists in all competitions in the 2024/25 season showcase how pivotal Yamal has been this season as Barcelona won a domestic double and reached the Champions League semi-final.
Yamal has been brilliant at creating goals from the moment Xavi began giving him opportunities. After skipping past his man, the winger floats a devastating cross for whoever is waiting in the box, and it makes little difference where he is on the pitch; Yamal will find whoever is making a run with pinpoint accuracy. Remind you of someone?
Goals hadn't come so easily for him, though, and although he has always been capable of scoring in spectacular fashion, he was often wasteful when in shooting range.
In the last couple of months of this season, that changed.
Whether Yamal has been working hard on his finishing ability or his confidence in front of goal has grown, he couldn't stop scoring at the end of the season, placing him firmly in the Ballon d'Or discussion.
He produced performances that exceeded superlatives in the two legs of the Champions League semi-finals, the Copa Del Rey final and the El Clasico that put Barcelona on the edge of the LaLiga title.
The goal catalogue from those games would be impressive if it were an end-of-season compilation, but these were some of the biggest games in football and Yamal at 17, stunningly led by example.
A kid playing like someone in their prime, at the top of their game.
With the goals now coming as frequently as the assists, there is no roof to Yamal's ceiling.
If Ousmane Dembele wins the Champions League with PSG this Saturday, then it might be him and not Yamal who wins the Ballon d'Or in September.
For me, though, Yamal is already the best player in the world, and I expect him to keep doing things on a football pitch that we mortals can't even imagine, as this special player continues to break boundaries.
Devastating Doue to rival Yamal for years to come
Isn't it funny that generational talents seem to announce themselves in pairs? First Messi and Ronaldo, then Haaland and Mbappe, and now Doue and Yamal, football doesn't like to have just one headline act.
If I had written this article this time last year, though, few would be familiar with the name Desire Doue. The exciting young winger was still at Rennes then, but his world was about to change.
After impressing PSG boss Luis Enrique with an assist and all-around electric performance as Rennes drew 1-1 with PSG at the Parc De Princes last February, he became a priority signing for Enrique that summer.
Struggling for fitness and game time in his first few months in Paris, Doue eventually scored his first goal for the club and provided an assist in the Champions League as PSG blew Salzburg away in December.
Since then, the 19-year-old hasn't looked back.
The goals and assists have flowed with regularity as his devastating pace, box of tricks and deadly right foot has given defences nightmares. 13 goals and 15 assists in all competitions are impressive numbers considering most of them came in the second half of the season. Those goals have helped PSG to a domestic double and a Champions League final in what is turning into a dream first season at the club for Doue.
It was an outrageous goal from range against Aston Villa in the Champions League quarter-finals when Doue truly announced himself on the European stage. Comparisons to Yamal have since begun to be murmured.
This Saturday night, Doue has the chance to outdo his new rival Yamal (for this season at least) by helping PSG complete a historic treble in the UEFA Champions League final.
This is only the first chapter in a rivalry that threatens to dominate debates for a decade or more.
Football thrives on such rivalries because, as we saw time and again in the Messi vs Ronaldo era, superstars push each other to break limits and reach new heights in an endless battle to steal the headlines.
Football's latest evolution?
We need more Yamals and Doues and fewer system-based players in a sport that has become too tactical and formulaic. Supporters want a reason to be on the edge of their seats, treated to expressive football and moments of magic that live long in the memory. Yamal and Doue produced their fair share of such moments this season in a Champions League campaign which delivered some of the best games we have seen in years.
Football's new duo looks set to headline the latest evolution of this great sport, one which encourages individualism and front-foot football. If the promising signs at the end of this season continue into the next one, then the 2025/26 season should be box office.
With Messi and Ronaldo playing outside of Europe, an era of breaking records and achieving greatness time after time has ended.
Yamal and Doue lead the way in a host of emerging young pretenders with grand ambitions.
South American wonderkids Franco Mastantuono, Estevao, and Claudio Echeverri promise to join them as the stars of a fearless new era.
Time then to crown a new king. Let the battle commence.