Erling Haaland Edges Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo to Incredible Champions League Record

Manchester City blanked Napoli in their Champions League 2025-26 opener on Thursday. It was Erling Haaland who came up with the goods as he scored the equaliser in the 56th-minute of the game. He became the fastest player to score 50 goals in the Champions League. He took 49 games to reach the milestone. The previous record was held by Ruud Van Nistelrooy for Manchester United and Real Madrid. He took 62 games to reach 50 goals.  

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'Unheard of what he's doing' - Foden on Haaland

Following his record, his teammate hailed Haaland. “He seems to break every record going. At his age, it's unheard of what he's doing,” City teammate Phil Foden said. Messi still remains the youngest player to score 50 goals — reaching that figure at the age of 24 years, 284 days.

He has 130 goals in 151 appearances since joining City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022. “How lucky and fortunate we are to have to him,” added Guardiola, who said Haaland’s record puts him among the game’s greats like Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski.

The Norway international’s latest strike came from a looping header early in the second half at the Etihad Stadium.

He has scored 12 goals in seven appearances for club and country this season — including five in Norway’s 11-1 win over Moldova last week. He also struck twice in City’s 3-0 victory over United on Sunday (September 14, 2025).

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Haaland has now surpassed some of European soccer’s greats on the Champions League and European Cup all time scorers list. He moved ahead of Madrid icon Alfredo di Stefano and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

THE RECORD GOAL

He is level with Filippo Inzaghi and one behind Thierry Henry, who is 11th on UEFA’s list.

(With AP inputs)