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Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has beaten superstar attackers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to an incredible goalscoring milestone by a considerable margin. The Norwegian achieved the record in City's 5-2 thumping of Juventus at the FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) on Thursday, June 26.
Haaland is widely considered one of the best strikers in world football at the moment. His incredible strength, blistering pace, aerial prowess, lethal finishing and top-notch positioning have helped him win numerous accolades and set multiple records.
In the 52nd minute of the game against Juventus, Haaland found the back of the next to extend the Cityzens' lead to 3-1. The strike was the 300th goal in his professional career, coming in just his 371st senior appearance.
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According to ESPN (via AS), the 24-year-old reached the milestone quicker than Ronaldo (554 games) and Messi (418 games), and even French superstar Kylian Mbappe (409 games). The breakdown of his 300 strikes is as follows -
- Molde - 20 goals (50 games)
- RB Salzburg - 29 goals (27 games)
- Borussia Dortmund - 86 goals (89 games)
- Manchester City - 123 goals (145 games)
- Norway - 42 goals (43 games)
After a dismal, trophyless 2024-25 campaign, Haaland has started his CWC campaign with City on the right note. Besides the goal against Juve, he bagged a goal and assist in the 6-0 trouncing of Emirati side Al-Ain and looked solid in a 30-minute appearance in the 2-0 win over Wydad AC.
Up next, he will be seen in action when Pep Guardiola's side face off against Al-Hilal in the Round of 16 of the CWC on Monday (June 30).
"In terms of numbers, they are similar" - When Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola compared Erling Haaland to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
After Erling Haaland signed a 10-year contract extension at Manchester City, club boss Pep Guardiola compared his numbers to legendary attackers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Considered two of the best players of all time, Messi and Ronaldo headlined a heated rivalry that lasted for the better part of a decade. The pair have won a stunning 13 Ballon d'Or titles between them and have bagged over 850 goals each thus far.
At just 24 years of age, Haaland has breached the 300-goal mark, and looks set to chase the record set by the trailblazing Argentine and Portuguese attackers. While Guardiola claimed that the Norwegian is a different kind of player to the iconic pair, he pointed out the statistical similarities that he has shown thus far in his career.
Speaking ahead of Manchester City's game against Ipswich Town in January 2025, the Spanish tactician said (via PremierLeague.com):
"Erling is a different type of player, everybody knows it. But in terms of numbers, scoring goals, they are similar. I don't know, at the age Erling is right now, how many goals Leo or Cristiano had scored but it doesn't matter. All three, and Kylian Mbappe as well, they have an unbelievable number so all of them are top."
