Haaland sets Champions League scoring benchmark but still far behind Ronaldo

By Canadian Press on September 18, 2025.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Erling Haaland became the fastest player to score 50 goals in the Champions League with his latest strike for Manchester City on Thursday.

The Norway striker reached the landmark figure in his 49th game in European club soccer’s top competition. He surpassed the previous record by former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward Ruud van Nistelrooy, who took 62 games to score 50 goals.

Haaland headed City in front 1-0 against Napoli early in the second half at the Etihad Stadium.

Haaland this season has scored 12 goals in seven appearances for club and country. He hit five goals in Norway’s 11-1 win over Moldova. He then struck twice in City’s 3-0 victory over United on Sunday.

The 25-year-old 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.

He is level with Filippo Inzaghi and one behind Thierry Henry, who is 10th on the list, according to UEFA.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in the Champions League with 141 goals, while Lionel Messi is second with 129.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

James Robson, The Associated Press

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