Comparing Erling Haaland’s record to Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo at the age of 24

Erling Haaland has scored over a hundred more goals than Cristiano Ronaldo, and considerably more than Lionel Messi, had managed at the same age.

Having won the treble with a wildly prolific tally of 52 goals in his debut season with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Haaland has already arguably achieved everything there is to achieve in the club game.

He’s missing a League Cup, while his second year at The Etihad was relatively disappointing, but he still retained the Premier League title and Golden Boot.

The striker, who was born in Leeds while his father Alfie was still turning out in the Premier League, turns 24 today.

We thought we’d use this opportunity to take a look at how his numbers stack up against two icons of the game that have set impossibly high standards – Messi and Ronaldo. And the numbers are extraordinary.

In terms of senior appearances for club and country, Haaland averages just less than a goal or assist per game with 256 goals and 54 assists (310 goal contributions) in 313 appearances. That averages out as a goal every 87 minutes and a goal or assist every 72 minutes.

That’s considerably more prolific at this stage of his career than both Messi and Ronaldo were at the same age.

It should be noted, though, that Haaland has spent his entire career as an out-and-out centre-forward, the focal point of attacks, and – particularly at Manchester City – blessed with a supply from some wonderfully creative players.

Ronaldo started out as a winger at Manchester United and it wasn’t until much later in his career that he adapted his game to more of a classic No.9.

Messi, meanwhile, has never played as a traditional striker, although he has been deployed to great effect as a false nine on many occasions throughout his career.

It was around the age of 24 that both Messi and Ronaldo exploded their game into wildly prolific new heights.

Messi turned 24 in 2011 and went on to notch a career-best tally of 50 La Liga goals and 73 in all competitions the season immediately after.

Ronaldo turned 24 in 2009 and moved to Real Madrid a few months later, going on to become Los Blancos’ all-time top goalscorer with an outrageous tally of 438 goals in 450 appearances.

It remains to be seen whether Haaland is capable of taking his game to new levels in his upcoming, theoretically peak years, or whether he’ll be able to match either’s longevity. But he’s got a head start on the two era-defining players in terms of his numbers at the age of 24.

Perhaps the most striking thing is the Champions League numbers. Ronaldo is comfortably the prestigious European competition’s all-time top goalscorer with 140 goals. But he’d only scored 11 Champions League goals by the time he was 24, 30 fewer than Haaland has managed at the same age.

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Here’s the full breakdown of the numbers:

Erling Haaland

Appearances: 313
Goals: 256
Assists: 54

Minutes per goal: 87.5
Minutes per goal or assist: 72.2

Hat-Tricks: 20
Penalties: 45/50

League Goals: 176
Champions League Goals: 41
International Goals: 31

Trophies

Club: Austrian Bundesliga x 1, Austrian Cup x 1, DFB Pokal x 1, Premier League x 2, FA Cup x 1, Champions League x 1, UEFA Super Cup x 1

Youth: Syrenka Cup (Norway Under-17) x 1

International: None

Individual: European Golden Shoe x 1, Austrian Bundesliga Player of the Season x 1, Bundesliga Player of the Season x 1, FWA Footballer of the Year x 1, Premier League Player of the Season x 1, Premier League Golden Boot x 1, Golden Boy x 1, PFA Players’ Player of the Year x 1, UEFA Men’s Player of the Year x 1, Champions League top scorer x 2

READ: The fastest players to reach 50 goals in Europe’s big leagues since 2000: Haaland dominates…

Lionel Messi

Appearances: 326
Goals: 197
Assists: 84

Minutes per goal: 125.4
Minutes per goal or assist: 87.9

Hat-tricks: 10
Penalties: 19/24

League Goals: 119
Champions League Goals: 37
International Goals: 17

Trophies

Club: La Liga x 5, Champions League x 3, Copa del Rey x 1, Supercopa de Espana x 3, UEFA Super Cup x 1

Youth: FIFA Under-20 World Champions x 1, Summer Olympics x 1

International: None

Individual: Ballon d’Or x 2, European Golden Shoe x 1, La Liga Best Player x 3, Pichichi (La Liga top scorer) x 1, Golden Boy x 1

Cristiano Ronaldo

Appearances: 362
Goals: 132
Assists: 66

Minutes per goal: 199.9
Minutes per goal or assist: 133.3

Hat-tricks: 1
Penalties: 16/20

League Goals: 78
Champions League Goals: 11
International Goals: 21

Trophies

Club: Portuguese Super Cup x 1, Premier League x 2, FA Cup x 1, League Cup x 1, Champions League x 1

Youth: Toulon Tournament x 1

International: None

Individual: Ballon d’Or x 1, European Golden Shoe x 1, Premier League Player of the Season x 2, PFA Players Player of the Year x 2, Premier League Golden Boot x 1