Erling Haaland nets five for Norway: How does he compare to Messi and Ronaldo on the international stage?
Erling Haaland once again showcased his remarkable scoring ability, this time netting five goals for Norway in an 11-1 rout of Moldova in the UEFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers. His astonishing performance has reignited comparisons with the greatest goalscorers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Norway entered Matchday 5 of Group I needing a win to maintain their spot at the top, facing a Moldova side still searching for its first point. The dominance was evident from the start, as Norway scored five goals in the first half. Haaland registered a hat trick with strikes in the 11th, 36th, and 43rd minutes.
The onslaught didn’t stop after the break. Norway added six more goals, with the Manchester City star scoring twice more in the 52nd and 83rd minutes. It was Haaland’s first-ever five-goal haul at senior international level, lifting his tally to 48 goals in just 45 caps. He also sits atop the UEFA qualifiers scoring chart with nine goals.
How does Haaland compare to Messi and Ronaldo?
In Lionel Messi’s case, the former Barcelona star has managed to score five goals in a single match for his national team. This occurred in June 2022, when Argentina faced Estonia in a friendly, with Messi netting all five goals in the 5-0 victory.
That marked only the second time in his career that Messi recorded a five-goal haul. His first came in 2012 while playing for Barcelona in the Champions League, scoring five in a 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen at Camp Nou.
Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, has cemented his place as one of the greatest goalscorers in soccer history and is the all-time leading scorer in World Cup qualifiers after his recent goal for Portugal. However, at 25 years old, Haaland has achieved something Ronaldo has yet to accomplish at the international level.
Since his debut for Portugal in 2003, Ronaldo has scored 141 goals for the national team and 943 across his career. Despite this, he has never scored five goals in a single match for Portugal. His record stands at four goals in a game on two occasions: first in a 5-0 win over Lithuania in 2014 and then again in a 5-1 win over Lithuania during the 2019 European Championship qualifiers.