Erling Haaland was born in Leeds, England, on 21 July 2000 while his father, Alf-Inge Haaland, was playing in the Premier League. He grew up in Bryne in Norway and entered the academy of his local club, Bryne FK, at the age of five. Progressing rapidly through the age groups, Haaland made his senior league debut for Bryne in 2016 at 15. He played 16 league matches for the first team before moving to Molde.
Erling Haaland joined Molde ahead of the 2017 season and worked under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He scored on his competitive debut in the Norwegian Cup and later opened his top-flight account against Sarpsborg. His development accelerated during 2018, most notably when he scored four goals in the opening 21 minutes of a league victory over Brann. He finished his second season at Molde with 12 league goals and attracted interest from clubs outside Norway.
Red Bull Salzburg signed Haaland in January 2019. His breakthrough on the wider European stage came during the 2019/20 season. He scored a hat-trick against Genk on his Champions League debut and registered eight goals in six group-stage appearances. His scoring record in Austria and Europe led Borussia Dortmund to sign him during the winter transfer window.
Erling Haaland made an immediate impact in Germany. Coming off the bench for his Bundesliga debut against Augsburg in January 2020, he scored a hat-trick as Dortmund recovered to win 5-3. His combination of speed, strength and left-footed finishing produced goals at a rapid rate in both domestic and European competition. In 2020/21, he finished as the Champions League’s leading scorer with ten goals despite Dortmund being eliminated in the quarter-finals. He also scored twice as Dortmund defeated RB Leipzig 4-1 in the DFB-Pokal final.
By the time Haaland left Dortmund in 2022, he had scored 86 goals in 89 appearances across all competitions. Manchester City signed him ahead of the 2022/23 season, bringing him to the country of his birth and to a club his father had represented.
His first season in England produced a series of scoring records. Erling Haaland registered 36 Premier League goals, setting a new record for a player in a single season under the 38-match format. He won the Premier League Golden Boot and became the first footballer to receive both the Premier League Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards in the same campaign.
Manchester City’s season ended with a historic treble. Haaland won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, scoring 12 times in the European competition as City lifted the trophy for the first time. Further international club honours followed in 2023 with the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. City then retained the Premier League in 2023/24, making Haaland an English champion in each of his first two seasons. He again won the Golden Boot, this time with 27 league goals.
Erling Haaland added the FA Community Shield in August 2024, starting against Manchester United and converting his penalty during City’s successful shoot-out. In January 2025, he signed a new long-term Manchester City contract running until 2034.
His international career has developed alongside his club achievements. Erling Haaland represented Norway at several youth levels and scored nine goals against Honduras at the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. He made his senior Norway debut later that year and subsequently became the country’s record goalscorer. He was central to Norway qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, their first appearance at the tournament since 1998.
At the 2026 World Cup, Erling Haaland scored the winning goal against Ivory Coast in the Round of 32 to reach 60 senior international goals in only 53 appearances. By September 2026, he had also reached 59 Champions League goals in 59 appearances across Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City, having become the fastest player in competition history to reach 50.
