Erling Haaland grabbed the eyeballs of the football world first in 2020 when the Norwegian scored a scarcely-believable nine goals in a single game at the Under-20 World Cup against Honduras.
Ever since, he has gobbled up goal-scoring records, first with RB Salzburg and then with Borussia Dortmund and now with Manchester City.
The 22-year-old has found an extra gear at Pep Guardiola’s side, where he has made a mockery of Premier League defenders as he breached the 30-goal mark inside 30 games. Mohamed Salah’s single-season record (for a 38-game season) stands at 32 and looking at the ease with which Haaland has scored so far, it stands no chance.
Premier League’s all-time single-season goal-scoring record though is 34, jointly held by Andy Cole (1993-94) and Alan Shearer (1994-95).
Haaland’s meteoric rise – coupled with the gradual, inevitable decline of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, mostly thanks to the vagaries of age – has provided football fans with a vision of what lies ahead.
Messi and Ronaldo have dominated world football over the last decade and a half, with the duo sharing 12 Ballon d’Or’s between them. The duo has also set the bar for goalscoring standards, both at the club and national levels.
So, how long does Haaland have to keep doing what he has done to reach the ridiculous highs accomplished by Messi and Ronaldo?
In terms of age, Haaland is far ahead of the Argentinian and Portuguese when they were 23.
For both club and country, at the senior level, Haaland has 201 goals in 244 games right now. Meanwhile, at a similar age, Messi had 140 goals in 262 games, while Ronaldo’s stats stood at 102 goals in 303 appearances.
Haaland has a few more months to go before he gets to 23, meaning he can push his tally further, with City still in the hunt on three fronts.
But what needs to be noted is that Messi and Ronaldo never were their sides’ central strikers during their early years. Ronaldo was used more as a winger at Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, while Messi was part of an attacking triumvirate at Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.
Both Messi and Ronaldo reached the peak of their powers at a later stage in their career.
Messi was at his productive best in 2012, when he scored 91 goals in the calendar year, a tally Haaland would find hard to break even at his current break-neck pace.
Ronaldo’s strike rate is marked by his longevity, with the current Al Nassr attacker finding the net close to 400 times after turning 30.
On the international front, Ronaldo leads the tally with 122 goals in 198 appearances. Even though Haaland scores at a much higher rate than the Portuguese, his chances of trumping Ronaldo will be hampered by Norway’s stature as an international side, having last qualified for the World Cup in 1998 and the Euros in 2000.
Haaland’s goal-scoring rate, at the moment, is phenomenal. If he maintains it and continues to play for a dominant side like City, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to expect him to break Messi’s and Ronaldo’s records.
With Messi and Ronaldo – the latter in particular — having a few more goal scoring seasons in their tanks, the duo can get close to 900 goals or beyond.
At a hypothetical level, if Haaland plays an average of 60 games a year, for the next 15 seasons, he would get to 938 career goals.
Haaland has started better than anyone in the chase to the intimidating heap of records set by Messi and Ronaldo. But the ascend will only get tougher with time. If the Norwegian plays for the right club and manages his injuries, it isn’t going to be a wild chase.
Comments
SHARE