Ronaldo and Messi officially surpassed by Haaland

Erling Haaland overtakes Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, establishing a new goal-scoring record at the national team level

Erling Haaland continues to prove himself as a “goal-scoring machine,” surpassing legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi by becoming the fastest to score 50 goals for a national team. The Manchester City star reached this milestone after scoring a hat-trick in Norway’s 5-0 victory over Israel.

The win keeps Norway at the top of Group I in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers for the European zone, six points ahead of second-placed Italy, despite Italy having one game in hand. The last time Norway participated in the World Cup was in 1998, and now they are very close to making history thanks to Haaland’s outstanding form.

At 25 years old, Haaland has reached 51 goals in 46 matches for the Norwegian national team, setting a record pace in world football history. To compare, Lionel Messi took 107 matches to reach 50 goals, while Cristiano Ronaldo needed 114 matches.

In the win against Israel, Haaland opened the scoring at 27 minutes to make it 2-0, before Idan Nachmias scored an own goal to extend the lead to 3-0. In the second half, the 2000-born striker completed his hat-trick with goals in the 63rd and 72nd minutes, securing a convincing 5-0 victory for Norway.

Notably, Haaland could have scored even more than three goals, as he missed two penalty kicks in the first half.

This was Haaland’s sixth hat-trick for the national team since he scored his first goal for Norway in a 1-2 loss to Austria during the 2020 UEFA Nations League.

The striker’s incredible form extends beyond the national team. In the current season with Manchester City, Haaland has scored 15 goals in 13 matches across all competitions, leading the “Golden Boot” race in the Premier League.

During the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Haaland has scored 12 goals in 6 matches, including five goals against Moldova in an 11-1 win in September and three recent goals against Israel.

Manchester City, with Haaland, will return to Premier League action on October 18th, visiting Everton. Pep Guardiola’s team currently sits fifth in the standings and is striving to close the gap with league leaders Arsenal.

Related articles

Revelations about Ronaldo will shock everyone Defender Pepe admits no one can stop Cristiano Ronaldo from retiring. See more