Erling Haaland scored the 300th goal of his career at the FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday, reaching the mark faster than many of his legendary contemporaries.
Haaland achieved the milestone in the 52nd minute of Manchester City’s 5-2 thumping over Juventus at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, with his team’s third goal of the match.
It wasn’t the most convincing of finishes from the Norwegian, bundling the ball home from close range after a cross from Matheus Nunes left him with an open goal. The ball came off his left leg before ricocheting off his trailing right leg and into an empty net.
It nevertheless brought up Haaland’s 33rd goal of the season for City. Per ESPN, the 24-year-old reached 300 goals in 370 games, faster than Kylian Mbappé (409 games), Lionel Messi (418 games) and Cristiano Ronaldo (554 games) in their illustrious careers.
“All I can say is congratulations, scoring 300 goals at 24 years old, this is quite good, right?” City manager Pep Guardiola said after the game.
“I’m so happy for Erling, for his goal again and being involved in the short spaces. It was really good.”
Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden, Savinho and an own goal from Juve defender Pierre Kalulu helped City to the 5-2 victory on Thursday.
The game was also a momentous occasion for midfielder Rodri, who made his first start after suffering a torn ACL last September and missing most of the season. The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner played 65 minutes before being substituted.
“He’s the best player in the world,” Guardiola said, per the Guardian. “He was missed, that was clear. I’m happy hopefully he can help us a lot.”
The emphatic victory over Juventus means City topped its Club World Cup group with three wins from three games and will face Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the last 16 on Tuesday in Orlando.
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