- Awards And Honors:
- UEFA Champions League (2023)
Erling Haaland
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Erling Haaland (born July 21, 2000, Leeds, England) is a Norwegian football (soccer) player who is among the most prolific goal scorers of his generation. Since 2022 he has been the leading striker for Manchester City FC in the English Premier League. In his first season with the club (2022–23), Haaland set a new record for goals scored in a single Premier League season (36). In addition, he has won the Golden Boot, the award for the Premier League’s top scorer, in three out of four seasons with Manchester City. Haaland began his professional career at age 15 in Norway and later played for Red Bull Salzburg in Austria and Borussia Dortmund in Germany. Haaland has also been an offensive force on the Norwegian national team and made his first FIFA World Cup appearance in 2026.
Early life
Haaland was born in Leeds, England, where his father, footballer Alf-Inge Haaland, was playing in the Premier League at the time. His mother, Gry Marita Braut, is a teacher and former heptathlete. After his father’s playing career ended, Haaland and his family moved to Bryne, Norway, a small, rural town about 20 miles (32 km) south of Stavanger. He grew up immersed in football, often riding out the long Scandinavian winters with friends playing on an indoor pitch.
Club career
Norwegian leagues: Bryne FK and Molde
By age 15 Haaland showed enough promise to join the roster of Bryne FK, his local professional football team, which plays in Norway’s second-tier league. The following year Haaland moved away from his hometown to join the club Molde FK, in Norway’s first-tier Eliteserien league. Molde was then managed by famed Norwegian striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who helped Haaland improve his heading skills. He scored a modest two goals in his first season there (2017), but he was Molde’s top scorer in his second season, netting a total of 12 goals.
Austria and Germany: Red Bull Salzburg and Dortmund
In January 2019 Haaland joined Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. After a quiet beginning on the bench, he became a starter in July and began scoring in nearly every match; he eventually scored three hat tricks (scoring three goals in a single match) in regular season play for the club. In addition, Haaland gained a wider reputation as an offensive prodigy following his debut UEFA Champions League match against the Belgian team Genk on September 17 that year, when he scored a hat trick in the first half of the match. That performance displayed his trademark athleticism (he stands 6 feet 4 inches [1.93 meters]), accuracy, and poise under pressure.
Haaland transferred to the German Bundesliga team Borussia Dortmund in January 2020, having scored 28 goals in 22 appearances for Salzburg. His career with Dortmund began with a hat trick in the opening 23 minutes of his first match, and he was the club’s top scorer in the following two seasons. He amassed 86 goals in 89 appearances, having a particularly strong 2020–21 season. During that campaign he was named Bundesliga Player of the Season and UEFA Forward of the Season, scored the most goals in the Champions League (10), and helped Dortmund win the German Cup.
Premier League: Manchester City FC
In 2022, with a release clause in his contract becoming operative, Haaland was heavily recruited by other clubs, including Manchester City FC, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. In the end Manchester City won out, as the team urgently needed a striker, boasted famed manager Pep Guardiola, and had sentimental value for Haaland (his father played for the club from 2000 to 2002). Haaland signed a five-year contract, and Manchester City reportedly paid a transfer fee of at least £51 million ($68 million).
Haaland made an immediate impact on his new team. In addition to setting the new record for most goals scored in a Premier League season (36), he also set a new historic standard for scores by a Premier League player in all competitions in one season (52) and for being the youngest player to reach 30 Champions League goals (set in March 2023, when he was 22 years and 236 days old, surpassing the previous record holder, Kylian Mbappé, by 116 days). His individual brilliance translated to team success, as Manchester City won a continental treble (victories in the Premier League championship; the Football Association (FA) Cup, England’s annual knockout tournament; and the Champions League) for the first time.
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The Norwegian striker was again Manchester City’s and the Premier League’s top scorer in the 2023–24 season, contributing 27 goals in 31 Premier League appearances and helping the team win the Premier League title for an unprecedented fourth year in a row. That accomplishment came in spite of Haaland missing two months of competition because of a foot injury. Haaland continued his strong performance in the following season, although his Premier League goal total dipped to 22, and the club did not win any major titles.
In January 2025 Haaland signed a contract extension that would keep him with Manchester City until 2034, the longest deal in Premier League history. In 2025–26, Guardiola’s last year with the club, Haaland scored 27 goals in Premier League competition, earning his third Golden Boot award. The team also found better success, winning the English Football League Cup and another FA Cup.
World Cup and international career
Haaland began playing for the Norwegian national team in his teens. He made a splash when, at 18 years old, he scored nine goals in a May 2019 match against Honduras in a FIFA Under-20 World Cup competition in Poland, setting a record for most goals in a single match at the event. Norway is not traditionally a major football power, and in the early 2020s its national team did not qualify for any major international competitions, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Still, Haaland was a dominant force on the team and was tied for top goal scorer in UEFA Nations League play in 2020–21 and 2022–23. In 2024 he became Norway’s all-time leading scorer with his 34th international goal and was named captain of the squad.
In 2026 Haaland helped Norway to its first World Cup berth since 1998. He scored an incredible 16 goals in 8 qualifying matches. Although the team was not considered a likely championship winner for the tournament, Haaland was seen as a contender to win the Golden Boot award for the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s top scorer. He scored twice in Norway’s first two matches, against Iraq and Senegal, with Norway winning 4–1 and 3–2, respectively. He was rested for Norway’s final group stage match, which it lost to France 4–1. He then scored once in Norway’s 2–1 victory over Côte d’Ivoire in his team’s first match of the knockout round. His brace against Brazil in the round of 16 gave Norway a 2–1 victory and entry into the quarterfinals, during which Norway lost to England and exited the tournament. Haaland’s seven goals put him in third place in the Golden Boot race, behind only Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.
Personal life
Haaland is in a long-term relationship with Isabel Haugseng Johansen, a former footballer. The pair met as teenagers in Bryne, Norway, and had a son together in December 2024.