Karim Benzema or Mo Salah? Who is the better player?
These two are the most famous and influential Muslim footballers in the world. Karim Mostafa Benzema also known as “Coco” and Mohammed Salah as the “Egyptian Messi”. They are firm believers in Islam and open to the idea of living in harmony. In the course of time, both of them have dominated their own position and fame in world football. There was a time when people used to underestimate them as a liability for the team but now they are the most important players who are always required for any victory. In this article, we will discuss the careers of the two of them as well as compare them based on the statistics.
1: Personal Stats
The role of a “Forward” is the most crucial position of every football team. In a match, they create goal opportunities as well as score goals to win. There are several positions like the centre forward, left-wing, right-wing and second striker. Benzema plays as the central striker and Salah plays on the right-wing. Every football fan knows how good they are in their respective positions as they continue to dominate their supremacy. Let’s have a look at their personal stats this season.
Benzema was in his prime time when he played for Real Madrid in the 2015/16 season. He had his best season with 24 goals, 7 assists, 82% completed passes, 682 passes and 98 shots. On the other hand, Salah was unbelievable during the 2014/15 season. He scored 20 goals, 10 assists, 80% completed passes, 886 passes and 115 shots.
If we compare them based on the statistics we can see that Benzema is slightly ahead of Salah but we should also understand that it is very difficult for a winger to score compared to a striker. Based on the above stats they have quite similar stats making it a tie.
2: Titles
A league trophy is something that you can easily compare between two players. When a player wins many league trophies from being associated with a team, his value increases a lot compared to others.
Karim Benzema won a total of 29 trophies for his club, including 4 French Super Cup, 1 French Cup, 4 French Championship for Olympique Lyon and 4 FIFA Club World Cup, 3 Spanish Championship, 4 Spanish Super Cup, 2 Spanish Cup, 4 Champions League and 3 UEFA Super Cup.
Salah won a total of 8 trophies for his club, including 1 FIFA Club World Cup, 1 English Championship, 1 Champions League, 2 English League Cup, 2 Swiss Championship,
1 UEFA Super Cup.
No doubt Benzema is more experienced than Salah and has won more trophies than him. Based on the number of titles Benzema lifted he is the clear winner in this category.
3: International Career
“The Egyptian Messi” represented his country in both the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was shifted to the Egypt national football team on 3rd September 2011. Salah has scored 47 total goals across 82 appearances till now for Egypt. Mo Salah was named the captain of the Egyptian National team in 2019. Whenever Salah is on the pitch for his country he always gives his 100%. Salah was also Egypt’s leader in the AFCON final. Egypt lost the match on penalties after playing a stunning game. People of Egypt know the amount of passion Salah has for his country and a majority of them will also rate him as the best Egyptian footballer ever. He is a great role model for the people of Egypt and all his fans around the world.
Benzema is a former player of the France youth international team who made his debut with the team at a local tournament in the Czech Republic. After playing under-18 to under-21 games for his country, he was shifted to France’s senior team on 9th November 2006.
Benzema has scored 36 total goals across 94 appearances till now for France. He won 1 European under-17 championship and 1 UEFA Nations League for his country. He is 3 times footballer of the year for France. Karim Benzema was banned from the French national team for his involvement in a scandal. So, unfortunately, he did not get a chance to play for his country till 2021.
Despite Benzema not playing for his country for so long he has better stats and achievements compared to Salah.
4: Clubs
Mo Salah started his club career with Basel, but the situation got better for Salah after he moved to Roma. Football pundits say that it was in Rome that Salah realized his true style of play which made him a player today. His prime time began when he joined Liverpool on 22nd June 2017. He scored a total of 152 goals in just 237 games in a very short time, making him one of the best players at Liverpool. Mo Salah holds the record for most goals scored in a single season in the Premier League (32). Looking at Mo Salah’s performance in the current situation, it seems that it is still possible for him to win the Ballon d’Or in the future.
Benzema is a French champion who currently plays for the Spanish club Real Madrid in La Liga. A highly talented striker, Benzema is known for his technical skills, strong playing style and ability to score huge goals. Benzema began his football career with the local club Bron Terraillon. In 1996, he joined Lyon, the largest club in the city, and later negotiated through club-like academies. Benzema made his sensational debut in the 2004-05 season and appeared sporadically in his first season as Lyon won the title among those things. He was in his prime time when he signed for Real Madrid in 2009. Benzema has made a lot of contributions to Real Madrid’s success.
Big Benz won many titles for Real and scored a lot of goals. He scored a total of 311 goals in 593 games for Real. With his sensational hat-trick, Real enters the semi-final of the Champions League 21/22 season by beating PSG with an aggregate of 3-2 and another against Chelsea this season.
Benzema had a long and better career than Salah while Salah played for different clubs but his major success came late with one club.
5: Individual Stats
Individual Honours Of Benzema:
Bravo Award: 2008
Ligue 1 top scorer: 2007–08
French Cup top scorer: 2007-08
UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Month: January 2008, April 2008
UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year: 2007–08
UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2007–08
Golden Lion for the best Lyon sportsman: 2007, 2008
French Rookie of the Year: 2006
Peace Cup Best player and Bronze Boot: 2007
Étoile d’Or: 2007–08
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21
UEFA Champions League top assist provider: 2011–12
Onze d’Or: 2020–21
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: 2021 (4th)
AS Award Best Player of the Year: 2021
La Liga Best Player: 2019–20
Trofeo Alfredo Di Stéfano: 2019–20
UNFP Best French Player playing Abroad: 2019, 2021
2021–22 Supercopa de España top goalscorer
MARCA La Liga Best Player (Voted by Fans): 2019–20, 2020–21.
Real Madrid Player of the Season: 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20
La Liga Team of the Season: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21.
UEFA La Liga Team of the Season: 2019–20
La Liga Player of the Month: October 2014, June 2020, March 2021, September 2021
Madrid Sports Press Association Award (APDM)
L’Équipe’s Team of the year: 2020, 2021
ESM Team of the Year: 2020–21
Ballon d’or nominations: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 (4th in 2021).
FIFA FIFPro World XI nominations: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Member of Guinness World Records 2021: Player with the most consecutive seasons in the UEFA Champions League, qualified in the competition without interruption since 2005.
2005 UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup top scorer
2014 FIFA World Cup Man of the Match: Honduras and Switzerland
French Player of the Year: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2021
UEFA European Championship Bronze Boot: 2020
UEFA Nations League Final Man of the Match: 2021
UEFA Nations League Finals Bronze Boot: 2021
UEFA Nations League Finals Goal of the Tournament:2021
Individual Honours Of Salah:
CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year: 2012
UEFA Golden Boy: 2012
Swiss Super League Player of the Year: 2013
El Heddaf Arab Footballer of the Year: 2013, 2017, 2018
A.S. Roma Player of the Season: 2015–16
Globe Soccer Best Arab Player of the Year: 2016
CAF Team of the Year: 2016 (as a substitute), 2017, 2018, 2019
Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2017, 2021
Premier League Player of the Month: November 2017, February 2018, March 2018, October 2021
PFA Player of the Month (10): November 2017, December 2017, February 2018, March 2018, December 2018, January 2019, April 2019, September 2021,October 2021, February 2022
BBC African Footballer of the Year: 2017, 2018
African Footballer of the Year: 2017, 2018
Goal Arab Player of the Year: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2017–18
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2017–18
Premier League Golden Boot: 2017–18, 2018–19
Premier League Player of the Season: 2017–18
PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2017–18,[111] 2020–21
Liverpool Fans’ Player of the Season Award: 2017–18, 2020–21
Liverpool Players’ Player of the Season Award: 2017–18, 2020–21
PFA Fans’ Player of the Year: 2017–18, 2020–21
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2017–18
ESM Team of the Year: 2017–18
Onze d’Argent: 2017–18
Honorary Citizen of the Chechen Republic: 2018
Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine: 2018
UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award: 2018 (3rd place)
FIFA Puskás Award: 2018
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: 2018, 2021 (3rd place)
FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2019
FSA Player of the Year: 2018, 2021
Liverpool Goal of the Season: 2018–19 (vs. Chelsea)
GQ Middle East Man of The Year Award: 2019
Fans’ Footballer of the Year award: 2020, 2021
IFFHS CAF Men’s Team of The Year: 2020, 2021
IFFHS Best CAF Men’s Player of the Decade: 2011–2020
IFFHS CAF Men’s Team of the Decade: 2011–2020
Laureus Sporting Inspiration Award: 2021
Golden Foot: 2021
IFFHS Best CAF Men’s Player of the Year: 2021
BBC Premier League Player of the Year: 2021
When the list of achievements is that long then it gets difficult to decide on a winner. It would be very unfair to decide a winner in this section as both of them have achieved a lot in their careers.
Who is the better player between Salah and Benzema?
This kind of comparison with footballers continues year after year without any definite answer because it always opens the way for them to improve. Statistics show that Benzema has been better than Salah in the past, but with age, he is having difficulty playing in the same old style. Undoubtedly, he is a versatile player, which makes him the best striker in La Liga 2021. At 29, Salah has achieved a lot and is hungry for more. Undoubtedly, they are the maestros of La Liga and the Premier League respectively.
Based on the above comparisons we can conclude that despite being so close to each other Benzema is a little ahead of Salah. However, soon this can change if Salah maintains his form in Liverpool
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