The 10 fastest players to 100 goals in Europe’s five big leagues since 2000: Messi, Haaland, Ronaldo… | OneFootball

Erling Haaland has become the latest player to score 100 goals in one of Europe’s big five leagues, but how quickly did he reach that figure in comparison to others?

Over the past 25 years, we’ve been fortunate enough to witness some of the greatest and most prolific forwards of all time.

Since the year 2000, here are the 10 fastest players to reach 100 goals in any of Europe’s top five leagues.

10. Lionel Messi (La Liga) – 154 appearances

Messi needed 154 appearances to reach 100 goals in La Liga, which is impressive when you consider he started his career in Spain.

Taking his developmental years into consideration, 154 games to reach 100 goals is not too shabby whatsoever.

After scoring his first 100 goals, he continued to become even more prolific and left Barcelona in 2021 as the highest-scoring player in La Liga history with 474 goals.

9. Gonzalo Higuain (Serie A) – 153 appearances

After scoring 107 goals in 190 La Liga appearances for Real Madrid, Higuain upped his goalscoring rate considerably after moving to Italy.

The Argentine striker is consistently overlooked when discussing the best number nines of his generation, but the numbers speak for themselves.

After ripping things up for Napoli, he continued to showcase his goalscoring prowess with Juventus.

8. Sergio Aguero (Premier League) – 147 appearances

Since the year 2000, only two players have reached 100 Premier League goals in fewer matches than it took Aguero.

Injuries consistently plagued the diminutive South American striker during his time in England, but when fit, he was arguably the best striker on the planet.

7. Edinson Cavani (Ligue 1) – 144 appearances

Cavani arrived at PSG in 2013 after scoring 104 goals in 138 appearances in Napoli.

Unsurprisingly, he took to life in Ligue 1 with ease and only needed 144 appearances to rack up a century of goals.

His output is especially impressive given that he was rarely the main focal point of PSG’s front three during his seven-year spell with the club.

6. Kylian Mbappe (Ligue 1) – 142 appearances

Mbappe just snuck ahead of Cavani on this list as he needed two fewer games to reach 100 goals.

If he continues to score at his current pace in Spain, he’ll reach 100 La Liga goals in even fewer matches than it took him in France.

As of writing, he’s scored 45 goals in 48 league appearances for Real Madrid. Scary numbers.

5. Harry Kane (Premier League) – 141 appearances

Until recently, Kane held the Premier League record as the fastest player to score 100 goals since the year 2000.

It’s worth pointing out that Alan Shearer reached 100 goals in 124 Premier League games, although that came prior to 2000.

Kane is likely to move up this list even further when he reaches 100 Bundesliga goals as he’s currently on track to reach that figure in record time.

As of writing, he’s scored an impressive 76 league goals in 75 matches for the German champions.

4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ligue 1) – 115 appearances

Ibrahimovic made Ligue 1 look like light work, scoring his first 100 goals for PSG in just 115 outings.

He won four consecutive league titles during his time in France and averaged a goal every 91 minutes in the league.

3. Luis Suarez (La Liga) – 114 appearances

Considering Suarez was sharing goals with the likes of Messi and Neymar, it’s hugely impressive that it only took him 114 games to reach 100 La Liga goals.

The Uruguayan enjoyed his best scoring season during his second year with the club, when he scored a ridiculous 40 goals in 35 league matches.

It’s also worth highlighting that Suarez wasn’t Barcelona’s primary penalty taker, which makes his numbers look even more impressive on this list.

2. Erling Haaland (Premier League) – 111 appearances

Haaland has made Premier League history by becoming the fastest player to reach 100 goals, taking him just 111 matches.

The Norwegian forward broke all sorts of scoring records during his debut season in England and hasn’t slowed down since then.

While Haaland’s record of 100 goals in 111 games is hugely impressive, it’s not quite good enough to earn him the top spot on this list.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (La Liga) – 92 appearances

It was when Ronaldo made the move to Real Madrid that he transitioned from an entertaining winger into an all-out goal machine.

CR7 only needed 92 games to reach 100 goals in La Liga, meaning he’s the only player to reach that landmark figure in less than 100 games.

Capable of scoring all types of goals, we’ll never see another player like Ronaldo in our lifetime.