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“As a striker, I think I’m among the best, but I think Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more goals than me this season, so statistically speaking, no, I’m not the best. This is the truth.”
Norwegian forward Erling Haaland spoke with these words after scoring a double against Iraq in the first round of the World Cup group stage.
“I mentioned”Marca newspaperThe total numbers in his report confirm that Holland continues to approach perfection as the Manchester City forward beat Brazil in the round of 16, scoring another brace in a 2-1 victory to ignite the race for the Golden Boot award.
Holland leads the tournament’s top scorers with 7 goals each, along with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, with Harry Kane just behind them with 6 goals.
For the first time in the history of the world championships, 3 players overcame the barrier of 7 goals in one match of the tournament.
Holland averages more than one goal per game for Norway
But what Holland is doing with Norway looks even more impressive as he tops the goals-per-game record. He scored 62 goals in 54 international matches, averaging 1.14 goals per game.
No player in the history of the teams who scored 60 or more goals has managed to maintain the same goalscoring record.
The closest people to this feat are Ferenc Puskas, who scored 84 goals in 85 games for Hungary (0.99 goals per game), and Konishige Kamamoto, who scored 75 goals in 76 games for Japan (0.99).
They are followed by Ali Mabkhout (0.74), Ali Dai (0.73), Romelu Lukaku (0.71), Harry Kane (0.71).
The teams’ all-time top scorers Cristiano Ronaldo (0.63) and Lionel Messi (0.61) with 146 and 124 goals respectively have a much lower rate than Holland (1.14).
At the club level, the same picture is repeated. Among the top goalscorers, Holland remains the closest to scoring a goal per game after scoring 359 goals in 418 career matches for an average of 0.85 goals per game.
At Red Bull Salzburg he surpassed this mark after scoring 29 goals in 27 games, and with Borussia Dortmund he was very close after scoring 86 goals in 87 games, while for Manchester City he scored 162 goals in 198 games.
Holland is outclassed by the most prolific goalscorers of the modern era
Despite this, Erling Haaland still surpasses the most famous goalscorers of the modern era. Lionel Messi scored 918 goals in 1,160 games for club and national team at an average of 0.79 goals per game, while Kylian Mbappe scored 432 goals in 574 games at an average of 0.75.
Football’s all-time leading scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, scored 971 goals in 1,323 games at a rate of 0.73, while Robert Lewandowski scored 718 goals in 1,036 games at a rate of 0.69.
As for Harry Kane, he scored 527 goals in 766 matches with an average of 0.68 goals per game.
Holland also equaled Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s record as the Nordics’ all-time top scorer with 62 goals, but needed just 54 appearances to achieve the feat, compared to the Swedish star’s 122.
“I don’t know how to do it, but if I get one or two chances, the ball usually ends up in the net,” Holland said after scoring twice against Brazil. “I’m starting to think that getting the ball perfectly on the side of the goal post is a gift from God. It’s crazy.”
To borrow what Spain’s Fernando Hierron once said about Raul, Holland looks like the new Ferrari threatening to overtake everyone, with England in the quarter-finals the next victim.
The Norwegian star concluded by saying: “We continue to progress. I hope that all children, when they are a little older, will consider representing the Norwegian national team the greatest pride of their lives. This is one of the greatest days in the history of Norwegian football.”
