City will be relieved that Erling Haaland’s early withdrawal for Norway on Sunday appears to have been down to fatigue rather than injury, but the international break has provided another reminder of just how extraordinary his record has become.
Haaland returned from Norway duty with three more international goals to his name. He scored twice in the 3-2 victory over Denmark before adding another against Portugal in Oslo, taking his senior international tally to 65 goals in just 59 appearances.
Haaland continues extraordinary Norway scoring record
Norway’s official records put Haaland comfortably clear as the country’s record goalscorer, having long since overtaken Jørgen Juve’s previous benchmark of 33.
Opta also credits the City striker with seven assists at senior international level, giving Haaland 72 direct goal contributions across only 59 appearances.
His scoring rate is perhaps the most striking number. Haaland has averaged 1.10 goals per appearance for Norway since making his senior international debut against Malta in September 2019.
Still only 26, he has already scored 32 more international goals than Juve, whose national record stood for more than 80 years before Haaland broke it in October 2024.
The latest window has added another three goals to that total while also underlining the workload being placed on City’s leading striker.
Haaland played 67 minutes of Norway’s 2-1 defeat against Portugal in Porto on Sunday before asking to come off. Stale Solbakken subsequently explained that tiredness, rather than an injury, was behind the decision, with Norway having planned for Haaland to play around an hour.
That clarification should ease the immediate concern for Enzo Maresca, although City will still want their leading striker back in Manchester and fully recovered after four international appearances.
Haaland’s record for Norway continues to grow at an extraordinary rate. City’s attention now turns to having him ready for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Liverpool, with Paris Saint-Germain visiting the Etihad Stadium three days later.
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