Erling Haaland Surpasses Pele as One of the Fastest Players to Reach 50 International Goals
Story: Written by Okafor Joseph October 13,2025
Manchester City’s prolific striker, Erling Haaland, continues to redefine goal-scoring standards after becoming one of the fastest players in football history to reach 50 international goals, ranking ahead of legendary figures like Pele, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Barely three months into the 2025–26 season, Haaland has already scored an astonishing 21 goals in 12 matches across all competitions for club and country. The Norwegian sensation is currently enjoying the best scoring streak of his career — finding the net in each of his last 10 appearances.
The 24-year-old’s most recent heroics came in Norway’s 5–0 victory over Israel in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, where he bagged his sixth international hat-trick — despite missing a first-half penalty.
“You think you’ve seen everything, but he just gets better,” said teammate Alexander Sorloth after the game.
“There’s nothing he can’t do. His statistics are unbelievable.”
Norway’s assistant coach Kent Bergersen added, “There are no words that can do him justice — he scores in every possible way.”
Haaland joins elite company
With 51 goals in just 46 matches, Haaland becomes the sixth male player ever to score 50 or more international goals in fewer than 50 appearances.
He reached the mark faster than global icons Harry Kane (71 games), Neymar (74), Kylian Mbappé, Robert Lewandowski (90), Messi (107), and Ronaldo (114).
The all-time fastest to reach 50 remains Poul Nielsen of Denmark, who achieved it in just 36 games between 1910 and 1924. He’s followed by Gerd Müller and Ferenc Puskás (both 41 games), and fellow Hungarian Sándor Kocsis (42 games).
While Pele reached 50 goals in 49 appearances, Haaland’s feat came sooner — underscoring his rapid rise among football’s elite finishers.
Chasing historic records
Now Norway’s all-time top scorer, Haaland’s next target is guiding his nation to their first World Cup appearance since 1998.
He also has his eyes on Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s joint record of 10 international hat-tricks — currently sitting on six.
At his current scoring rate of 1.09 goals per game, Haaland could one day challenge Ronaldo’s world record of 141 international goals — a mark that still stands as the benchmark in men’s football.
For now, the Norwegian “goal machine” shows no sign of slowing down, continuing to make history with every game
