Manchester City striker Erling Haaland broke Norway’s all-time goalscoring record at the age of 24 in their Nations League win against Slovenia. He netted his 33rd international goal early in the game to go level with Jørgen Juve, who played in the 1920s and ’30s. Haaland then claimed the record outright in the second half with his 34th goal for Norway. It took him just 36 games to reach this milestone since his Norway debut in 2019.
Juve, who later played at centre-back, achieved the previous record of 33 goals in his first 27 games for Norway. He finished his international career with 45 caps without adding to his goal tally. After retiring from football, Juve became a newspaper journalist. Ninety years after Juve set the record, Haaland equaled it by slamming home a rebound through Jan Oblak’s legs.
Captaining his country in the absence of the injured Martin Ødegaard, Haaland then broke the long-standing record with a first-time finish from 16 yards out. He ended the game with an impressive 10 shots, seven of which were on target. Alexander Sørloth scored Norway’s other goal in the 3-0 victory.
After the match, Haaland hinted at some more good news, sharing a picture on social media of him with the ball under his shirt, along with a baby emoji and the word “soon,” suggesting that his partner Isabel Haugseng Johansen is pregnant.
While Haaland’s 34 goals may seem a relatively low tally compared to Cristiano Ronaldo’s 132 international goals for Portugal or Lionel Messi’s 109 for Argentina – or even the 68 of Harry Kane (England) and Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland) – it still places him higher than many other nations’ top scorers. Kenny Dalglish and Denis Law, for example, are Scotland’s top scorers with 30 goals each.
Haaland’s Other Records:
Haaland has already reached many goalscoring landmarks in his club career, amassing 236 goals for Molde, Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City.
* His 100th goal for Manchester City – in his 105th game – equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record at Real Madrid of fewest games needed to reach a century for a team from Europe’s top five leagues.
* He holds the record for most Premier League goals in a season – with the 36 he scored in 2022-23.
* In Germany, he became the youngest player to ever hit 50 Bundesliga goals – aged 21 – and needed the fewest games to do it (50).
* He reached 40 Champions League goals in 35 games, 10 fewer than Ruud van Nistelrooy, the previous record holder.
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