Analysis: Is Haaland the best striker in the world?

Football writer Alex Keble analyses Erling Haaland's incredible numbers this season and discusses whether we are witnessing the best striker and player in the world.

Erling Haaland is on course for the greatest goalscoring season in world football history and yet whether or not he is the best striker in the world is apparently up for debate.

Haaland's numbers keep going up. A brace for Norway against Italy on Sunday took the Manchester City forward to 32 goals in 20 matches for club and country in 2025/26.

There is a danger that Haaland's goalscoring feats are normalised; that the repeated suggestion he is a "machine" undervalues a very human brilliance.

Haaland is not a robot, not a cheat code. That his preternatural goalscoring ability makes us think of him as such began as a testament to what feel like unhuman attributes, but now risks undermining the hard work, the intelligence and the psychological steel behind the Norwegian's numbers.

Some are left cold by his ruthlessness and efficiency, meaning the Man City striker is punished for his own astonishing ability.

So it’s worth reminding ourselves of the warmth – the genius, the flourish – that can be found in his performances.

This season, Haaland has provided some special moments, such as the cheeky dink against Manchester United, the outrageous, delicate header that looped over the Napoli goalkeeper, or the punishing quickfire double against AFC Bournemouth.

We have also seen clever through-balls, smart link-up play, and mazy runs through rows of opposition players, although thus far none that have led directly to goals.

It points to a player still improving, still adding new facets to his game – although the headline remains those outrageous goalscoring numbers.

That is what has put Haaland in the conversation for best in the world.

Haaland is on course to break all kinds of goalscoring records

Haaland's current tally of 32 goals in 20 games so far this season equates to an average of almost one-and-a-half goals in every single match.

The breakdown reads: 14 in 11 matches in the Premier League, five in four in the UEFA Champions League and 13 in five for Norway.

In the European qualifying matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, his 16 goals are double the tally of the next-highest scorers.

 Top scorers in European qualifiers for 2026 World Cup

And it’s his record for Norway that really should take centre stage, not just because he’s averaging close to a hat-trick per match, but because in theory it ought to be harder to score goals for his country.

Norway, who have qualified for their first World Cup since 1998 thanks to Haaland's goals, rank 29th in the world.

Haaland's exploits here are the equivalent of scoring at a rate of 2.6 goals per game at a midtable Premier League side.

It is these international goals that put Haaland on the trajectory for a world-record season.

Watch all of Haaland's 16 goals in 2026 World Cup qualifiers

At the current rate, Haaland will score 95 goals if he plays in 60 matches, which would eclipse the single-season record of 76 goals scored by Josef Bican for Slavia Prague in 1943/44 or, looking at Europe's "big five" leagues, Lionel Messi’s 73 for Barcelona in 2011/12.

Looking just at the Premier League, Haaland's tally of 14 goals in 11 matches puts him on track to score 48 goals if he plays every match, or 42 goals if he plays in 33 matches, his current average number of league appearances per season for Man City.

Either way, that would smash the Premier League record of 36 – set by Haaland himself in 2022/23.

It would not, however, be the most league goals ever scored in Europe's big five leagues.

Messi holds that record, with 50 goals in 2011/12, meaning Haaland is set to fall just short.

Most goals in single season in Europe's top five leagues

Thinking more long-term, Haaland might one day be in the Messi/Ronaldo conversation.

He has scored 333 goals for club and country so far, more than both players had at the same age.

How Haaland compares with Messi and Ronaldo at 25y 120d

Indeed, if Haaland was to play for another 10 years (until the age of 35), averaging the same number of games and goals-per-game ratio as he has since his debut for Molde in 2017, he would end on 749 goals, which would put him in the global top five.

All-time top scorers in football history

If he goes closer to 40 years old - if he accelerates with age as Ronaldo did - who knows how high he can climb.

Haaland is scoring at a better rate than anyone else in Europe

When it comes to 2025/26 and assessing who is the best striker in the world right now, Haaland's goalscoring numbers are undeniable.

Haaland's 32 goals for club and country are more than anyone else in Europe’s big five leagues, with Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe being the only two players who even come close to his numbers.

Mbappe appears to be slowing down, failing to score in three of his last six matches in all competitions, but Kane is likely to challenge Haaland throughout the campaign.

Kane’s advantages over Haaland are his creativity and his work outside the box, as the numbers indicate.

How Haaland and Kane compare in their leagues (per 90 mins)

Scroll across on mobile to see the full table

However, to suggest that raw numbers alone dictate debates about the best player in the world risks falling into the same pitfall that has Haaland described as a robot, a machine, a monster.

It is the human attributes behind the goals that really define Haaland, and here, too, we can put forward a case for the Norwegian as the world’s best.

Man City’s style change has unleashed Haaland's best qualities

Pep Guardiola’s tactical shift this season has helped to unleash new heights from Haaland and, again, this is about aesthetics as much as it is the goalscoring numbers.

Man City are becoming more vertical and direct, with the likes of Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki delivering through-balls to get Haaland in behind.

The slow possession football remains, but it is complemented by a new tendency to hit a longer forward pass to find Haaland’s runs.

Man City’s through-balls per 90 minutes have risen from 2.26 in 2024/25 to 3.00 in 2025/26, while their "fast breaks" have substantially increased in number.

Guardiola’s side ranked 16th for fast breaks in the Premier League last season, with 30, whereas this campaign they are already more than halfway to that total, with 18 – more than any other team in the league in 2025/26.

Haaland, of course, is the beneficiary of this. It has translated to fewer poacher’s goals – messier, instinctive six-yard-box finishes – and an increase in elegant, clean-cut moments.

The sight of Haaland stretching his legs and stroking the ball into the bottom corner or chipping the goalkeeper has increased in frequency.

It has helped remind us that Haaland is a beautiful footballer to watch; a special athlete and an entertaining striker, not simply a goalscoring machine.

There might not be quite so much warmth towards Haaland as Kane, for example, but that perception is slowly changing as the Man City striker is freed to play the surging, sweeping football that defined his ascent at RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund.

If the goals continue to flow at anything like this rate, that should settle the debate. Haaland is the best striker in the world and, quite possibly, the best player overall.