Kylian Mbappe vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid icons past and future meet as France play Portugal at Euro 2024

Off the pitch, Mbappe has some catching up to do. Ronaldo remains an icon in Madrid, has a hotel bearing the CR7 branding in the city, attracts more than half a billion followers across his social media accounts and even has a galaxy named after him.

But Mbappe, having been the star attraction and huge selling point of PSG during his time there, will be placed on a similar pedestal once he arrives in Madrid.

Before all those bells, whistles and social media debates, the small matter of a Euro 2024 quarter-final.

Neither man has set the tournament alight so far. Mbappe looks hampered by a range of issues – including a broken nose from the opening game against Austria and having to play in the discomfort and distraction of a protective mask.

France’s style of play, as evidenced by their lacklustre last-16 win over Belgium, is characterised by stodginess and a need for everything promising in attack to go through Mbappe. When he is crowded out or out of form, the system does not work – leading to the pre-tournament favourites failing to score from open play in four matches in Germany.

Questions of Ronaldo, meanwhile, focus around whether he should even start after two below-par, goalless showings against relative minnows Georgia and Slovenia, where at times the bright attacking talent Portugal possess seemed actively hampered by the presence of a man more than a decade older than his team-mates.

Will such a grand occasion as this quarter-final bring the best out of one or both of these men? We wait with baited breath.

If it is Mbappe who comes out on top, the journey from doe-eyed child admiring posters of Ronaldo to being the sport’s undisputed poster boy will surely be complete.