Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe’s All-Time Statistics Compared

Many regard Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe as the heirs to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, expecting the attacking pair to battle it out for the Ballon d’Or for years to come. They have crossed paths at the club level on several occasions, and it’s made for cinema each time as fans watch two of Europe’s footballing marvels take centre stage.

Haaland is one of European football’s most potent goalscorers; in fact, there’s an argument that he is the number-one finisher in the world. The Norweigan frontman has been shattering records at the Etihad since joining Manchester City in the summer of 2022, a proper target man for the Cityzens and his stats make for impressive reading, especially his tally of goals for club and country.

Yet, Mbappe is equally impressive in front of goal and has the more versatile profile of an attacker who excels off the left but can also lead the line with aplomb. He left Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid in the summer of 2024 and did so as the Ligue 1 giants’ all-time top scorer; he dominated French football with 256 goals in 38 club games and is now looking to make La Liga his own.

With that said, we dive into the statistics that make Haaland and Mbappe two of world football’s outstanding forwards and which of the pair is superior regarding goals, consistency in front of goal, assists, penalty reliability and trophies.

Club Statistics

From Youth To Present Day

Haaland is two years younger than Mbappe, so he has played fewer games at the senior level in his club career, reflected in comparing their goal-scoring numbers. The French forward burst onto the scene at AS Monaco, where he fired 27 goals and 15 assists in 60 games at Louis II Stadium, earning a £165.7 million move to PSG in 2018.

The 2017 Golden Boy award winner quickly grabbed the spotlight at the Parc des Princes with inspired performances, thriving alongside fellow superstar attacker Neymar Junior. He bagged 256 goals and 106 assists for the Parisians, an astounding record that puts him above club legends Edinson Cavani (200 goals) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (156).

Mbappe’s long-awaited move to Real Madrid caused a massive stir, not least because many pondered how he’d fit into a team already boasting Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham. It was a challenging start for the Frenchman, but he’s started coming to the fore at the Santiago Bernabeu, sitting on 24 goals and three assists in 36 games, one of which came in Los Blancos’ 3-2 comeback win over Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League in February 2025.

Haaland was also on target in that game, and while he trails Mbappe overall for goals and assists, he’s actually the superior of the two concerning minutes per goal contribution. The towering 6ft4in striker can score any goal, whether that be a header, a close-range finish or a sublime athletic effort.

The Norweigan started his career in his homeland with Molde, where he caught the eye with 20 goals and six assists in 50 games, earning a £7 million move to Austrian side RB Salzburg in January 2019. It was at the Red Bull Arena where Haaland took it up a notch, registering 29 goals and seven assists in 27 games.

Borussia Dortmund came calling and triggered the formidable frontman’s release clause just 11 months later. He headed to the Signal Iduna Park for £17.1 million and found the net an astonishing 86 times in 89 games while providing 23 assists.

Haaland and Mbappe rarely have issues from the penalty spot, and both have only missed three of their penalties during their careers. The City star has taken more and converted 23 to the Madrid man’s 18.

Major Leagues

Haaland (Premier League, Bundesliga) Mbappe (Ligue 1, La Liga)

Haaland has taken the Premier League by storm since arriving at City over two summers ago, bagging 82 goals and 14 assists in 90 games and winning the Golden Boot two seasons in a row — his first being a record-breaking tally of 36 goals in 35 games. He has relished spearheading Pep Guardiola’s attack, working in irrepressible tandem with Kevin De Bruyne.

This followed an impressive spell in the Bundesliga with Dortmund, where he hit 62 goals and 19 assists in 67 games while climbing the ranks as one of Europe’s ones to watch alongside Jude Bellingham. His heroics in Germany put the whole world on notice as City saw off reported competition from the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich to seal his £51.5 million capture.

Mbappe had cemented himself as a Ligue 1 legend in his early twenties thanks to stellar showings and goal contribution numbers in the French top flight. He started with 16 goals and 12 assists in 41 games with Monaco before hitting 175 goals and 62 assists in 205 games for PSG.

Quite remarkably, the France captain ranks 191 in Ligue 1’s all-time goalscoring charts, doing so within nine seasons compared to the likes of Argentine icon Delio Onnis, who sits first with 299 goals but took 14 seasons. One would imagine that Mbappe would have risen to the top of this ranking had he stayed put, but he is having fun in La Liga, with 16 goals and two assists in 21 games thus far.

UEFA Champions League

Haaland has been tormenting European defenders ever since kicking off his UEFA Champions League career, including stunning performances at Salzburg as well as Dortmund. He became the fastest and youngest player to reach 20 goals in the competition at the age of 20 years and 231 days.

In Austria, he started to shine in Europe’s top-tier tournament, managing eight goals and one assist in six games, including a hat-trick on his Champions League debut. He moved to Germany, and the goals kept coming in Europe, with 15 goals and two assists in 12 games. City was one of only two teams he didn’t net against while with Dortmund.

He has since been a crucial member of Guardiola’s side, finishing top scorer in the 2022-23 Champions League goalscoring charts with 12 goals in 11 matches. That adds to an overall record of 26 goals and two assists in 29 games for the Cityzens on European nights.

Mbappe also turns it on when that famous anthem plays, and one of his best performances came at Monaco during the 2016-17 campaign when he hit six goals in nine games. PSG made him the second most expensive player in world football after that season, and he lit up the Champions League at the Parc des Princes with 42 goals and 24 assists in 64 games.

Seeing how he fares at Madrid in Europe’s elite club competition will be interesting, especially from a goalscoring perspective. His peculiar effort against City was his fourth of the campaign, and he’s also got an assist to his name.

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International

There can be little argument that France are superior to Norway, giving Mbappe more opportunity at game time, especially as Haaland has yet to make a single appearance at a major international tournament.

That hasn’t stopped Haaland from being as deadly as ever in front of goal while donning the red, blue and white of his nation’s colours, scoring 38 goals and providing four assists in 39 caps since debuting in September 2019. He is the country’s all-time top scorer, and the Drillos are pinning their hopes on him firing them to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Meanwhile, Mbappe has been spotlighted as France’s poster boy in four major international competitions, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He has been a revelation for Les Bleus, managing 48 goals and 35 assists in 86 caps, making him his nation’s third all-time top scorer, just three shy of second-placed Thierry Henry (51) and nine away from record-holder Olivier Giroud (57).

Trophies

Major Club and International Honours

Haaland and Mbappe have already enjoyed monumental trophy success during their careers and are rivalling one another for individual honours season after season. The Norweigan can boast a Champions League trophy over his French counterpart, who came closest to winning the European title in 2020, but PSG suffered a 1-0 loss to Bayern in the final.

City had no problem winning their final in 2023, beating Inter Milan 1-0 to complete a memorable continental treble. Their Norweigan star played a huge role in firing them to the European trophy, the Premier League and the FA Cup that year. Last year, he added another league title and the UEFA Supercup to his collection. He also won the DFB-Pokal in 2021 while at Dortmund and enjoyed success in Austria with Salzburg beforehand, lifting two Austrian titles and as many Austrian Cups.

Mbappe dominated French football while at PSG but kickstarted his stranglehold of the Ligue 1 title at Monaco in 2017, the first of seven title wins. He also claimed the Coupe de France four times and the French League Cup twice before leaving for Madrid. His first competitive outing for Los Blancos saw him win the UEFA Supercup, and he helped the Spaniards become FIFA Intercontinental champions.

There was also the “small” achievement of winning the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018, which was done at the age of 19. He nearly achieved that feat again in 2022 but suffered a demoralising defeat to Argentina in the final.

Verdict

Mbappe Just Shades Haaland

It’s so tough to compare two masters of their craft, given they excel with differing profiles, but Mbappe stands tall based on how he blends goalscoring potency with assists, making him the more all-rounded forward. There’s no disputing that Haaland is the better target man and perhaps challenged himself earlier than the Frenchman by arriving in the Premier League two years before his rival headed to La Liga.

Yet, Mbappe isn’t just firing on all cylinders at club level but dominating international football as the figurehead of one of France’s best teams of the past decade. Haaland has plenty of time to catch up to the versatile attacker. It will be interesting to see which of the pair is the first to claim an inevitable Ballon d’Or, with a second-place podium finish the closest both have come.

All statistics courtesy of MbappevsHaaland.app and Transfermarkt – correct as of 14/02/2025.

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