Erling Haaland in the Champions League: Records, stats, who he has scored against, how he compares to Mbappé, Ronaldo, Messi
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
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Erling Haaland is only 23, but the Manchester City forward has been rewriting record books since he announced himself in the competition with a first-half hat-trick on his debut, also becoming only the third player to score five times in a UEFA Champions League match.
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How many Champions League goals has Haaland scored?
Erling Haaland has scored 40 goals in just 35 UEFA Champions League appearances, rewriting the record books in the process. Still just 23 and in only his fifth campaign in the competition, the Norway striker is already 18th in the list of all-time Champions League scorers and having gone above the likes of Samuel Eto'o, Antoine Griezmann, Kaká and Wayne Rooney, is now within sight of Sergio Agüero, Alessandro Del Piero and Neymar.
Haaland in the Champions League
Overall
Games: 35
Goals: 40
By club
Salzburg: 6 games, 8 goals
Dortmund: 13 games, 15 goals
Man City: 16 games, 17 goals
Leeds-born Haaland burst onto the scene at Salzburg in 2019, becoming the first and so far only player to score a first-half hat-trick on his debut, in a 6-2 win against Genk. He scored in his first five appearances in the Champions League (a record eight goals in all), becoming only the third man to achieve the feat after Alessandro Del Piero and Diego Costa.
Haaland departed for Dortmund after the 2019/20 group stage and two goals on his first Champions League appearance for the club took him to double figures in the competition – after a then-record seven games. Haaland has since set similar marks for 15 goals (12 matches), 20 goals (14) and, following his move to Manchester City in summer 2022, 25 goals (20), 30 goals (25) and 35 goals (27); aged 22 years 272 days, he was also the youngest player to the latter mark. Haaland's Matchday 5 goal against Leipzig in 2023/24 also made him the quickest (35 games) and the youngest (23 years 131 days) to 40 goals in the competition.
How Haaland's Champions League goals have come
Left foot: 27
Right foot: 9
Headers: 4
Haaland has taken seven (left-footed) penalties in the competition, scoring six but missing one, at Bayern in the 2022/23 quarter-final second leg.
Haaland's Champions League games
2019/20 (Salzburg/Dortmund)
17/09/2019 Salzburg 6-2 Genk ⚽⚽⚽
02/10/2019 Liverpool 4-3 Salzburg ⚽
23/10/2019 Salzburg 2-3 Napoli ⚽⚽
05/11/2019 Napoli 1-1 Salzburg ⚽
27/11/2019 Genk 1-4 Salzburg ⚽
10/12/2019 Salzburg 0-2 Liverpool
18/02/2020 Dortmund 2-1 Paris ⚽⚽
11/03/2020 Paris 2-0 Dortmund
2020/21 (Dortmund)
20/10/2020 Lazio 3-1 Dortmund ⚽
28/10/2020 Dortmund 2-0 Zenit ⚽
04/11/2020 Club Brugge 0-3 Dortmund ⚽⚽
24/11/2020 Dortmund 3-0 Club Brugge ⚽⚽
17/02/2021 Sevilla 2-3 Dortmund ⚽⚽
09/03/2021 Dortmund 2-2 Sevilla ⚽⚽
06/04/2021 Man City 2-1 Dortmund
14/04/2021 Dortmund 1-2 Man City
2021/22 (Dortmund)
15/09/2021 Beşiktaş 1-2 Dortmund ⚽
19/10/2021 Ajax 4-0 Dortmund
07/12/2021 Dortmund 5-0 Beşiktaş ⚽⚽
2022/23 (Man City)
06/09/2022 Sevilla 0-4 Man City ⚽⚽
14/09/2022 Man City 2-1 Dortmund ⚽
05/10/2022 Man City 5-0 Copenhagen ⚽⚽
25/10/2022 Dortmund 0-0 Man City
22/02/2023 Leipzig 1-1 Man City
14/03/2023 Man City 7-0 Leipzig ⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽
11/04/2023 Man City 3-0 Bayern ⚽
19/04/2023 Bayern 1-1 Man City ⚽
09/05/2023 Real Madrid 1-1 Man City
17/05/2023 Man City 4-0 Real Madrid
10/06/2023 Man City 1-0 Inter
2023/24 (Man City)
19/09/2023 Man City 3-1 Crvena zvezda
04/10/2023 Leipzig 1-3 Man City
25/10/2023 Young Boys 1-3 Man City ⚽⚽
07/11/2023 Man City 3-0 Young Boys ⚽⚽
28/11/2023 Man City 3-2 Leipzig ⚽
Who has Haaland scored against in the Champions League?
Haaland has faced 19 different teams in the Champions League and scored against 14 of them – only Ajax, Manchester City (back when he was at Dortmund), Real Madrid, Inter and Crvena zvezda have successfully kept him out. Eight of his goals have come against Belgian opposition while Sevilla alone have shipped six in three outings.
| Opponents | Games | Goals |
| Ajax | 1 | 0 |
| Bayern | 2 | 2 |
| Beşiktaş | 2 | 3 |
| Club Brugge | 2 | 4 |
| Copenhagen | 1 | 2 |
| Crvena zvezda | 1 | 0 |
| Dortmund | 2 | 1 |
| Genk | 2 | 4 |
| Inter | 1 | 0 |
| Lazio | 1 | 1 |
| Leipzig | 4 | 6 |
| Liverpool | 2 | 1 |
| Man City | 2 | 0 |
| Napoli | 2 | 3 |
| Paris | 2 | 2 |
| Real Madrid | 2 | 0 |
| Sevilla | 3 | 6 |
| Young Boys | 2 | 4 |
| Zenit | 1 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 35 | 40 |
When has Haaland scored his Champions League goals?
Haaland's goals have been almost exactly evenly spread across both halves so far, but opposition managers should note that he gets stronger as they wear on. He is most dangerous midway through the second period.
| Time | Goals |
| 0–10 | 2 |
| 11–20 | 3 |
| 21–30 | 5 |
| 31–40 | 4 |
| 41 to half-time | 5 |
| First half | 19 |
| 46–55 | 4 |
| 56–65 | 4 |
| 66–75 | 6 |
| 76–85 | 4 |
| 85 to full time | 3 |
| Second half | 21 |
| TOTAL | 40 |
How many Champions League hat-tricks has Haaland scored?
Haaland has scored two Champions League hat-tricks, the first coming in the first half of his debut against Genk in 2019. He subsequently found the net twice on nine occasions – and became the first player to score multiple times in four consecutive Champions League appearances while at Dortmund – but another treble eluded him until he became only the third player to score five times in a Champions League match in the round of 16 second leg against Leipzig in 2023.
Haaland's Champions League goal comparison: Mbappé, Messi, Ronaldo
Haaland hit the ground running in the Champions League, taking just seven games to reach ten goals and another seven to reach 20 – both were records, though Sébastien Haller has since surpassed him in reaching the first landmark after just six games.
Nobody has got close to the mark of 20 goals in just 14 appearances. Harry Kane, his nearest rival, took ten games more; Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (both 36) and Kylian Mbappé (37) took much longer while Ronaldo, who did not score until his 27th Champions League outing, took 56.
Haaland's five-goal haul against Leipzig took him to 30 goals in 25 games, setting another new Champions League record; Ruud van Nistelrooy had the previous best with 34 matches. He then overtook the Dutchman's record of 42 games to be quickest to 35 goals, also reaching the mark at a younger age than previous record holder Kylian Mbappé (23 years 260 days), and repeated the feat for 40 goals (35 games, 23 years 131 days).
| Player | 10 goals | 20 goals | 30 goals | 40 goals |
| Haaland | 7 games | 14* | 25* | 35* |
| Kane | 12 | 24 | - | - |
| Van Nistelrooy | 15 | 27 | 34 | 45 |
| Lewandowski | 16 | 36 | 46 | 61 |
| Messi | 23 | 36 | 48 | 61 |
| Neymar | 19 | 38 | 49 | 65 |
| Benzema | 14 | 34 | 50 | 67 |
| Mbappé | 15 | 37 | 51 | 59 |
| Ronaldo | 37 | 56 | 74 | 82 |
| Haller | 6* | - | - | - |
*record
Champions League records Haaland holds
- Youngest to 15 goals – 20y 126d
- Quickest to 15 goals – 12 games
- Youngest to 20 goals – 20y 231d
- Quickest to 20 goals – 14 games
- Youngest to 25 goals – 22y 47d
- Quickest to 25 goals – 20 games
- Youngest to 30 goals – 22y 236d
- Quickest to 30 goals – 25 games
- Youngest to 35 goals – 22y 272d
- Quickest to 35 goals – 27 games
- Young to 40 goals – 23y 131d
- Quickest to 40 goals – 35 games
- Only player to score first-half hat-trick on competition debut
- Only player to score multiple times in four consecutive appearances
- Only player to score more than one goal on competition debut for three different clubs
Champions League records in Haaland's sights
- Youngest to 50 goals – Lionel Messi (24y 284d)
- Quickest to 50 goals – Ruud van Nistelrooy (62 games)
