Erling Haaland Records: Those He’s Broken Already and the Targets Still in Sight

Erling Haaland added another record to his collection on Thursday night when he became the fastest player to 50 UEFA Champions League goals.

Haaland — who reached that landmark in his 49th appearance in the competition by scoring for Manchester City in a 2-0 win over Napoli — was later backed by manager Pep Guardiola to one day break Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time UCL scoring record.

But that is not the only record in Haaland’s sights, while he already has plenty in his rearview mirror — including 18 in the Champions League alone.

Erling Haaland’s EIGHTEEN Champions League Records

The Champions League has been Haaland’s personal playground. Since bursting onto the scene with a debut hat-trick for Salzburg against Genk in 2019, he has collected records at a staggering pace.

He is the fastest player to 50 goals (49 games), as well as the quickest to reach 10, 20, 30 and 40. He was also the youngest to 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 — before extending both the fastest and youngest marks again when he hit 50. No one else has managed to tick off so many milestones in such short order.

Other standout firsts include being the only player ever to score a first-half hat-trick on his Champions League debut, the only man to score more than once on his competition debut for three different clubs (Salzburg, Dortmund and City), and the first to score multiple goals in four consecutive Champions League matches.

Add them up and Haaland now boasts 18 separate Champions League benchmarks, a haul that puts him alongside — and in some cases ahead of — Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé at the same stage of their careers.

Which other records does Haaland hold?

Haaland’s record-shattering is not confined to the Champions League. In the Premier League, he set a new benchmark for most goals in a single season with 36 in 2022/23, surpassing the long-standing totals of Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. He also became the first player to score hat-tricks in three consecutive Premier League home games, and the fastest ever to 20, 25 and 50 goals in the competition.

At Manchester City, he was the quickest player in history to 100 goals for a single club in Europe’s top five leagues, reaching the milestone in just 105 matches — faster than Cristiano Ronaldo did at Real Madrid. He has also won the Golden Boot in each of his first two Premier League seasons, something no player had managed before.

International football has brought more milestones. Haaland overtook Jorgen Juve’s long-standing Norway record of 33 goals in 2024 and now has 48 in 45 caps — after scoring five in an 11-1 win over Moldova earlier this month. His scoring feats go back to youth level too, most famously when he hit nine in one game against Honduras at the Under-20 World Cup in 2019.

In short, whatever the competition, Haaland tends to redefine what is possible.

Which records remain in Haaland’s sights?

For all that he has achieved, the records still within reach are arguably even more tantalising. The biggest target is Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League tally of 140 goals. Haaland has 50 already and, if he maintains his current scoring rate of close to nine per season, he could realistically surpass that within the next decade.

Lionel Messi’s 73 goals in a single club season for Barcelona in 2011/12 remains the gold standard for all forwards. Haaland’s best so far is 52 in 2022/23, which suggests that while Messi’s mark is daunting, it may not be untouchable. Messi also holds the record for most goals in a single Champions League campaign with 17; Haaland has already reached 12 in one season and could yet threaten that number.

In domestic football, Alan Shearer’s 260-goal Premier League record still looks mountainous. Yet given Haaland’s rapid pace — 88 league goals before his 26th birthday — it would be foolish to rule out a serious challenge if he spends the bulk of his career in England.

At international level, the ultimate prize is Cristiano Ronaldo’s 128 international goals. Haaland’s 48 for Norway leave him a long way short, but his current ratio of better than a goal per game keeps even that record within theoretical reach if he stays fit and firing into his mid-30s.