Erling Haaland

Erling Braut Haaland was born on 21 July 2000 in Leeds, England, while his father, Alf-Inge Håland, was playing for Leeds United. Raised in Bryne, Norway, he developed at Bryne FK before making his senior debut in Norway’s second tier in 2016. He later joined Molde, where coach Ole Gunnar Solskjær used him in the Norwegian top flight. In July 2018, Haaland scored four goals in Molde’s 4–0 win over Brann in the opening 21 minutes, a performance that drew international attention. Haaland moved to Red Bull Salzburg in January 2019. During the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage, he scored in each of his first five appearances, including a hat-trick on his competition debut against Genk. He also scored eight times in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, as Norway beat Honduras 12–0; those goals made him the tournament’s Golden Boot winner. Borussia Dortmund signed him in December 2019. On his Bundesliga debut in January 2020, he came on against Augsburg and scored a hat-trick in a 5–3 victory. He finished the 2020–21 Champions League as the competition’s leading scorer with ten goals and helped Dortmund win the 2021 DFB-Pokal, scoring twice in the final against RB Leipzig. Manchester City announced his signing in May 2022 after activating the release clause in his Dortmund contract. His first English season brought an extraordinary individual and team haul. Haaland scored 36 Premier League goals in 2022–23, setting the single-season record in the competition’s 38-match era and surpassing the previous mark of 34 shared by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer. City won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League, completing the club’s first continental treble. Haaland scored 12 Champions League goals that season and received the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award. For Norway, Haaland made his senior international debut in September 2019 against Malta. He scored his first senior international hat-trick against Romania in September 2020. His combination of acceleration, physical strength, left-footed finishing, and off-ball runs has made him especially dangerous in transition and inside the penalty area. In 2023, he was named the IFFHS World’s Best Player and finished second to Lionel Messi in the Ballon d’Or voting. He is the son of former Norway international Alf-Inge Håland and former heptathlete Gry Marita Braut. In 2024, he won a second consecutive Premier League Golden Boot after scoring 27 league goals for City that season.