Brazilian superstar Neymar turned 26 today, and is clearly outscoring Cristiano Ronaldo at his age. But how does he compare to Lionel Messi when he was 26?
Click through the mini-gallery above to see how Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo compare at the age of 26.
Neymar shares his birthday with Ronaldo, but is seven years younger than the Portuguese. The world's most expensive player can look back at some impressive statistics, having scored 321 goals in 520 career games so far.
He has scored 268 goals in 437 games for Santos, FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain at club level, while netting another 53 in 83 games for Brazil so far.
In so doing, his goals return is clearly better than Ronaldo's at the age of 26. The Los Blancos man had scored 213 goals in 472 appearances for club and country by 5 February 2011, with 25 of his strikes coming for the national team.
Messi, meanwhile, had slightly better returns than Neymar when he turned 26 on 24 June 2013. The Argentine was already sitting on 348 goals in 462 games for club and country, with 35 of those strikes coming for his national team.
When looking at team trophies, Messi again leads the way with 19 of his titles coming by the age of 26, while Neymar has won 14 already – eight with Barcelona and six with Santos. Ronaldo had lifted 11 trophies – one with Sporting and 10 with United – when he turned 26.
Read: Reports: What Angry Ronaldo Said After Zidane Subbed Him
Messi is also leads Ronaldo and Neymar when it comes to individual trophies at the age of 26, with the FC Barcelona talisman having claimed four Ballons d'Or at that age, while Ronaldo had lifted just one and Neymar is yet to be named the best player in the world.
Do you think Neymar can achieve as much in his career as Messi and Ronaldo have so far? Have your say in the comments section below.
