Erling Haaland has reached another incredible milestone at just 26, moving beyond Ronaldo Nazário and Zlatan Ibrahimović in international goals after scoring twice for Norway.
Haaland Makes History at 26 as Two Legendary Goal Totals Fall
Erling Haaland has written another chapter in football history after moving past the international goal totals of Ronaldo Nazário and Zlatan Ibrahimović at just 26 years old.
The Manchester City striker scored twice as Norway defeated Denmark 3-2 in the UEFA Nations League.
Those goals took Haaland to an incredible:
64 goals in only 56 appearances for Norway.
That total is now higher than the international career records of two of the greatest strikers of their generations.
Haaland scores twice against Denmark
Norway were involved in a dramatic Nations League match against Denmark.
Oscar Bobb opened the scoring before Haaland doubled Norway’s advantage.
Denmark then fought back through Mikkel Damsgaard and Rasmus Højlund to make it 2-2.
But Haaland had the final word.
The Norway captain scored again in the 74th minute to complete his brace and secure a 3-2 victory.
It was another decisive performance from the striker on the international stage.
Haaland moves past Ronaldo Nazário
Haaland’s latest goals took him beyond one of the most famous strikers in football history.
Brazil legend Ronaldo Nazário finished his international career with:
62 goals in 98 appearances.
Haaland has now reached 64 goals.
Even more remarkably, he needed only 56 matches to get there.
At just 26, the Norwegian has already scored more international goals than Ronaldo managed during his entire Brazil career.
Zlatan Ibrahimović also overtaken
Haaland has also moved past another legendary striker.
Zlatan Ibrahimović ended his Sweden career with:
62 goals in 122 appearances.
Before facing Denmark, Haaland was level with the Swedish icon.
His first goal took him to 63.
His second moved him to 64.
That means Ibrahimović is no longer the highest-scoring male player from a Nordic national team.
Haaland becomes Nordic record holder
The achievement gives Haaland another important place in football history.
With 64 international goals, he is now the highest-scoring male player from a Nordic country.
He has achieved the record while still only 26.
And with many years potentially still ahead of him, the final number could become much higher.
His scoring rate is extraordinary
The most impressive part of Haaland’s record may not even be the total itself.
It is how quickly he has reached it.
Haaland has scored:
64 goals in 56 Norway appearances.
That is an average of more than one goal per game.
By comparison:
Ronaldo Nazário: 62 goals in 98 games
Zlatan Ibrahimović: 62 goals in 122 games
Erling Haaland: 64 goals in 56 games
The difference shows just how unusual Haaland’s international scoring rate has become.
Already Norway’s greatest goalscorer
Haaland had already become Norway’s all-time leading scorer before this latest milestone.
Now he is beginning to move past famous names from outside his own country.
His international career is quickly becoming as remarkable as his club record.
Despite Norway not historically being one of Europe’s biggest football nations, Haaland has continued to score at an extraordinary rate.
Nations League record continues to grow
The striker also continues to strengthen his position in the UEFA Nations League record books.
Haaland is already the competition’s all-time leading scorer.
His goals against Denmark added another two to that total.
The Nations League has become one of the competitions where Haaland has been most dominant.
Not the world international record yet
There is an important difference between Haaland’s latest achievement and the overall international scoring record.
He has surpassed the totals of Ronaldo Nazário and Ibrahimović.
But he has not broken the world record for international goals.
That record remains held by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portugal superstar is still far ahead on the all-time list.
However, Haaland’s age and scoring rate mean comparisons will continue as his career develops.
A huge test against Portugal comes next
Haaland will soon have another opportunity to add to his incredible total.
Norway’s next Nations League match is against Portugal.
That creates a fascinating storyline.
Haaland, one of the fastest-scoring international forwards in history, could line up against Cristiano Ronaldo, the current world-record holder.
Another goal would take the Norwegian to 65 for his country.
Haaland keeps rewriting history
At 26, Haaland has already achieved numbers that many legendary strikers never reached.
He has overtaken Ronaldo Nazário.
He has overtaken Zlatan Ibrahimović.
He is Norway’s record scorer.
And he is now the highest-scoring male international player from a Nordic country.
But perhaps the most frightening part for his rivals is that Haaland may still have many years left to add to the record.
With 64 goals in only 56 games, the Norwegian goal machine is showing no sign of slowing down.
