Erling Haaland is making a name for himself as one of the top strikers in football, setting records rapidly with Manchester City. The Norwegian forward scored twice in City’s 2–2 draw with Monaco in the Champions League, surpassing Kylian Mbappe in one of the tournament’s key scoring benchmarks, though Lionel Messi’s record remains intact.
With these goals, Haaland hit 52 career Champions League goals, overtaking Mbappe to become the second-highest scorer in the competition before the age of 26. Messi holds the record with 57 goals scored while with Barcelona before turning 26.
Now, Haaland leads over other greats like Raul Gonzalez and Karim Benzema in the all-time under-26 scoring list, with only Messi ahead of him. Haaland needs just seven more goals to match Messi’s record.
As Haaland won’t be 26 until July 21, 2026, he has the remainder of this season’s Champions League, concluding with the final in Budapest in 2026, to break Messi’s record.
Erling Haaland scores for Manchester City against Monaco. (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Haaland’s Champions League Success
Before surpassing Mbappe on the under-26 list, Haaland set another Champions League record. In Manchester City’s opener against Napoli, he reached 50 career goals in just 49 games, the fastest anyone has achieved this feat.
Haaland broke the previous record held by Ruud van Nistelrooy, who took 62 games to reach 50. Lionel Messi is third on this list, reaching his 50th goal in 66 appearances.
In terms of age, Haaland also hit this milestone faster than both Cristiano Ronaldo and Mbappe. He achieved it at 25 years and 59 days old, while Mbappe was 25 years and 356 days, and Ronaldo did not reach this goal until 28 years and 78 days.
The prolific City striker is on track for another impressive season, having already scored 11 goals in just eight appearances in the Premier League and Champions League this year.