Erling Haaland could overtake Kylian Mbappe’s international goalscoring record NEXT WEEK | OneFootball

Erling Haaland could overtake Kylian Mbappe‘s international goals tally as early as NEXT WEEK, despite having played more than 50 games fewer for Norway than his rival has for France.

The two players are already the top goalscorers in the history of their national teams and could one day surpass Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the all-time international football top goalscorers.

Mbappe boasts an absolutely outrageous goalscoring record for France, having surpassed the likes of Thierry Henry and Olivier Giroud at the age of just 27. He’s also already the top goalscorer in the history of the World Cup and could easily play in at least two more tournaments.

With the context of Mbappe, representing one of Europe’s traditional powerhouses, puts Erling Haaland’s goalscoring record into perspective – and makes it all the more mindblowing.

Haaland didn’t make his senior international debut until September 2019, by which point Mbappe was already a guaranteed starter for France and a World Cup winner. Norway hadn’t qualified for a major tournament since before he was born, having last made it to a World Cup at France ’98 and only ever made it to one European Championships in their history (Euro 2000).

While Haaland was prolific for Norway from day one, they were an ailing side that continued to struggle to qualify for tournaments in his early years. It wasn’t until 2026 and the World Cup that the Manchester City superstar finally tasted major tournament football – and he announced himself in North America in style.

The striker scored seven goals to inspire Norway’s historic run to the quarter-finals, including two in a knockout victory over Brazil – the greatest result in the history of the national team. Only 10 players in the entire history of the World Cup have scored more goals at a single tournament.

Haaland’s record at the 2026 was simply a continuation of what he’s been doing for years, just on a grander stage. He scored 16 goals in qualifying for the tournament, smashing the record for a UEFA qualifying campaign, and notching double the amount of his next-closest challengers. He’s also the all-time top goalscorer in the relatively new Nations League tournament – his tally of 21 goals is six more than closest challenger Cristiano Ronaldo, and over twice as many as Mbappe has managed.

Mbappe scored in France’s latest Nations League outing, a 1-0 victory away to Turkey, but in the process of doing so he overextended his knee and has left the Les Bleus camp as a result.

“It’s not looking good and we will not take any risks,” new France manager Zinedine Zidane told reporters.

The Real Madrid star will miss their upcoming matches against Italy and Belgium (twice) as a result.

Meanwhile, Norway play Portugal home and away as well as Wales over this extended international break, giving Haaland a big opportunity to overtake Mbappe in the all-time international goalscoring charts. Four goals will do it.

Here’s how Mbappe and Haaland’s international records stack up against one another:

Kylian Mbappe for France