Erling Haaland’s iconic moments for Borussia Dortmund, Norway and more

Albert Pearson
12 July 2021

With the elite clubs circling, Planet Sport looks back at the stellar fledgling career of Erling Haaland and picks out some of the moments which have made him so highly sought after.

Erling Haaland has become one of the most talked about players in world soccer, with his goalscoring exploits leading him to be tipped as a future Ballon d'Or winner.

The explosive striker is renowned for his lightning pace and devastating finishing ability and it is now a case of not if but when he moves on from Borussia Dortmund.

From breaking records to being linked with Europe's top clubs, Planet Sport takes a look at what has been a terrific start to the young Norwegian's career.

Haaland gets off to a flyer

When Haaland joined Red Bull Salzburg in January 2019, not many would have predicted the impact he would make, yet he was soon regularly on the scoresheet.

Haaland notched an impressive 29 goals in 27 appearances for the club, with 28 of those goals coming in his final 22 games. Those stats include an impressive five hat-tricks.

During Haaland's brief spell in Salzburg, he won three titles - two Austrian Bundesligas and an Austrian Cup. Haaland was also voted Austrian Footballer of the Year in 2019.

It was these goalscoring exploits with the Austrian side that would see Haaland go on to bigger and better things.

Lighting up the FIFA U-20 World Cup

2019 was undoubtedly a breakthrough year for Haaland as he became one of Europe's most prolific goalscorers.

The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was no exception as Haaland's Norway broke numerous records with an incredible display in the group stage. They defeated Honduras 12-0, which saw Norway secure their biggest ever win at U-20 level. In the process, they condemned the Central American side to their greatest ever defeat.

The result was also the biggest margin of victory in the history of the competition. However the headlines were reserved for one man. Haaland scored nine of the 12 goals - a record for the most goals scored by a player in a single game in the competition. As a result, Haaland won the Golden Boot despite Norway failing to make it beyond the group stages.

Haaland steps up to the Champions League

Haaland in action against Liverpool in the Champions League

Following his goalscoring exploits with the Norwegian U-20 side, as well as in the Austrian Bundesliga with Salzburg, it was now time for Haaland to make his presence known in the UEFA Champions League.

Haaland made his Champions League debut with Salzburg in a group stage game against Belgian side Genk. A first half hat-trick in an eventual 6-2 win for Haaland was a sign of things to come.

The Norwegian followed up his debut hat-trick with a goal against Liverpool in his next game, followed by a brace against Napoli in his third. It saw Haaland become only the second teenager in the history of the competition to score in each of his first three appearances. Furthermore, his six Champions League goals meant he had scored more goals than anyone in history in their first three appearances in the tournament.

Haaland then went on to score two more goals in his next two appearances in the Champions League, making him the first ever teenager to score in all of his first five appearances in the competition.

Attracting attention from the top clubs, Haaland joined Borussia Dortmund in the January transfer window of 2020 and continued banging in goals in the Champions League, netting twice against Paris Saint-Germain in a round-of-16 tie.

Dortmund failed to reach the quarter-finals though, losing 3-2 on aggregate to the French outfit. However, Haaland finished with an impressive 10 goals in only eight appearances, finishing second to Robert Lewandowski in the top-scorer rankings.

Dortmund debut delight for Haaland

Haaland signed for Dortmund for a reported fee of around £17million, making his debut on January 18, 2020, as a second-half substitute against FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga.

With his team trailing 3-1 at, his introduction inspired a stirring comeback. Haaland got on the scoresheet with almost his first touch, just three minutes after coming on, with a clinical first-time finish.

Just moments later, Dortmund levelled through Jadon Sancho, and Haaland, in particular, was now sniffing blood. Following another breakaway, the Norwegian got his second goal of the match with a tap-in, giving Dortmund the lead for the first time in the game.

Less than 10 minutes later, Haaland's pace once again caused problems for the Augsburg defence as he burst into the box and slammed the ball home with a clinical finish, completing a debut hat-trick and cementing a stunning Dortmund turnaround.

This 20-minute hat-trick made Haaland only the second player in Dortmund's history to score three goals on their Bundesliga debut.

Becoming the best

Haaland celebrates after notching against Union Berlin

At only 19 years of age, Haaland was breaking records at every level, with his pace, athleticism and strength displaying all the makings of a world class striker.

Following on from his dream debut with Dortmund, Haaland went on to score a brace in his next Bundesliga game against 1. FC Koln, once again coming off the bench to see Dortmund to victory.

This saw Haaland become the first player in the Bundesliga to score five goals in his first two games, as well as being the fastest player to reach that tally, having only played 56 minutes of soccer. Despite his lack of playing time, Haaland was awarded the January Player of the Month award for his goalscoring exploits.

The Norwegian recorded yet another brace in his next game, making him the first player to score seven goals in his first three Bundesliga appearances. Haaland would go on to finish the 2019/20 season with an incredible 44 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions.

People were starting to realise Haaland was the real deal and he continued his scintillating form into the 2020/21 campaign. Haaland lit up the Bundesliga on a regular basis, including scoring four goals in 32 minutes in a clash against Hertha BSC. The four-goal blitz helped Haaland receive yet another Bundesliga Player of the Month award.

His strong form also persisted in the Champions League as he became both the fastest and youngest player to reach 20 goals in the competition, as well as the first person to score more than once in four consecutive appearances.

Haaland was now fast becoming one of the most sought after strikers in world soccer as top European clubs, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, began to circle.

Six in six for the Norway national team

After impressing with Salzburg and the Norwegian youth teams, Haaland received his first call-up to the senior side for their UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying matches, making his debut against Malta in September 2019.

However, it wasn't until the following year that Haaland scored his first goal for the national side in a 2-1 defeat to Austria in their UEFA Nations League group game.

Only three days after opening his account for Norway, Haaland scored a brace in a 5-1 victory over Northern Ireland. A month later, Haaland scored his first hat-trick at senior international level in Norway's 4-0 win over Romania. This gave him a record of six goals from six appearances.

The Golden Boy

Haaland's incredible campaign led to him being named 2020's Golden Boy, awarded by sports journalists to the year's most impressive young player.

The Golden Boy award is often perceived as an indicator as to who is likely to become one of the stars of the future, with Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney both having won the prize. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that so many are making comparisons between Haaland and the Argentina superstar.

Haaland was also voted the fourth-best forward in world soccer by FIFA in their FIFPro World 11 selection in 2020.

Having achieved so much at just 20 years of age, it is clear Haaland has an incredibly bright future ahead of him. The only question is, where will that be?