Erling Haaland Smashes Goal Record After 100 Games Climbing Above Legendary Strikers

Erling Haaland Smashes Goal Record After 100 Games Climbing Above Legendary Strikers

Edwin Kiplagat
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:13 PM
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  • Erling Haaland's 103 goals after 100 games in Europe is mind-boggling, and it towers above some of the game greats
  • The 22-year-old Manchester City striker dwarfs the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
  • On his current strike rate, the young striker is on pace to smash every imaginable record domestically and in Europe

Erling Haaland's hattrick in the Manchester derby on Sunday caused a seismic shift in the world of football. Many records that stood for decades fell as the youngster announced his arrival.

Although Haaland has played for a few years, his derby day heroics were no mean feat. A stats graphic revealed that he scored more goals in 100 games than some of the sport's heavy hitters.

Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, World Cup, Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1
Erling Haaland has 14 Premier League goals in just eight matches. Photos by Denis Doyle, Laurence Griffiths and Alessandro Sabattini.
Source: Getty Images

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From Romario to Cristiano Ronaldo, Haaland's record in a century of games is extraordinary. The Sky Sports stat showed that Haaland had scored 103 goals in 100 appearances in major European leagues.

To put it in context, at 100 games, Messi had scored just 41 goals. The great Romario was the closest player to him, with 90 goals in 100 appearances. Brazil's Ronaldo had 86, a brilliant testament to how phenomenal O Fenomeno was.

Haaland's incredible strike rate

That's more than double Kylian Mbappe's 48 goals in his first 100 Ligue 1 games. Cristiano Ronaldo had 16 in 100 games.

With 14 goals in just eight Premier League matches in his debut season, Haaland is on pace to obliterate the single-season goal record in the league. Currently, Mohamed Salah holds the record for most goals in a 38-game season in the league with 32.

If he maintains his current scoring streak, the Norwegian would finish the season with a mind-boggling 67 goals and would extend it to 71 if he played every minute, according to projections by Sky Sports.

Haaland breaks Premier League hattrick record

Sports Brief earlier reported on Haaland becoming the fastest player to hit three hattricks, a milestone which took him just eight games.

For instance, Michael Owen is closest to him, having taken 48 games to score three trebles. It took Luis Suarez 71 games to score three Premier League hattricks, while Ruud Van Nistelrooy needed 59 matches.

Authors
Edwin Kiplagat photo
Edwin Kiplagat
Edwin Kiplagat has five years of experience in journalism working as a Sports Editor at Africa Insight Communications and ESPN. Edwin Kiplagat is a Bachelor's Degree holder in journalism from the Multimedia University of Kenya.