Erling Haaland breaks record: Quickest players to hit 50 Champions League goals

Scoring phonomeun 

Erling Haaland added another goalscoring record to his incredible collection of individual accolades with his opening goal in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League. All eyes were on Kevin de Bruyne as he made his return to the Eithad after a distinguished career at City but Haaland stole the headlines, once again.

Just days after scoring a brace in the Manchester derby, Haaland netted his 50th Champions League goal to become the quickest player to reach that landmark in the history of the famous competition. The 25-year-old also moved into the top ten scorers in the history of the European Cup/Champions League, surpassing Real Madrid icon Alfredo Di Stefano (49). Haaland is level on 50 goals with Thierry Henry but the Arsenal legend required 112 games to reach that landmark.

Erling Haaland: Quickest player to hit 50 Champions League goals

It’s quite incredible that Haaland has reached 50 goals in the most prestigious club competition in the world in just 49 games - at a rate of more than one goal per game. The lethal striker has scored 27 goals in the competition for Man City, 15 for Borussia Dortmund and eight for RB Salzburg. Haaland famously scored 12 goals as City won the competition in 2023 but his record compared to his peers is staggering.

As the graphic above illustrates, Ruud van Nistelrooy previously held the record with the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker hitting the landmark in 50 games. Lionel Messi ranks third with the Barcelona legend requiring just 66 games with Robert Lewandowski in fourth place on 77 games. Kylian Mbappé has 57 goals in 88 games in the Champions League after scoring a brace for Real Madrid against Marseille on Tuesday night but he required 79 games to reach 50 goals.