Erling Haaland beats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to scoring milestone
The Manchester City striker scored in the 5-2 win over Juventus on Thursday, his second goal of the Club World Cup.
Manchester City confirmed their place at the top of Group G with a comprehensive 5-2 thrashing of Juventus at the Club World Cup.
Erling Haaland started on the bench for City but he made an impact after being brought on, scoring his side’s third goal early in the second half. That was his 123rd in just three seasons for Man City, playing a total of 145 games for Guardiola.
Even more impressive, the goal against Juventus was Haaland’s 300th goal as a professional. The 24-year-old reached that incredible milestone during spells with Molde, RB Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and the Norwegian national team.
Haaland’s 300 goals came in just 375 appearances, far fewer than the other goal-scoring icons of the modern game. ESPN Research reports that Haaland was considerably quicker than the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo (554 games), Lionel Messi (418 games) and Kylian Mbappé (409 games) to reach 300.
City came into the summer tournament off the back of a disappointing 2024/25 season, in which they failed to win a single trophy. Pep Guardiola has been tasked with a major rebuild of the squad this summer and the early signs are promising for the City boss.
“I liked the way we did it,” Guardiola told broadcaster DAZN after the Juventus win. “It has been a long, long time since we had a performance like this on and off the ball. The players were committed and we are happy to beat a top side.
“This is just one game, but I think the players felt again what it was like to be a good team. The belief always comes from your performances, not your past.”
City managed to finish the Premier League season with a positive run that allowed them to clinch a spot in the Champions League for 2025/26. The recent arrivals of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri have helped to add fresh impetus to the squad but the goal-scoring form of Erling Haaland will remain the key for City.
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