When they began smashing in goals as teenagers at a good rate, many felt Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe were the natural heirs to the shared throne of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
While the pair have not had quite the straight rivalry for the title of the best in the world that the aforementioned legends did for years, both men are up there as SOME of the world’s best.
As pure goalscorers, they are now showing just how close to Ronaldo and Messi’s levels they can get.
Both Haaland and Mbappe have scored in 11 straight games in all competitions, and neither of the legends managed a higher tally than that between club and international football, with Messi’s already being beaten by one.
Here, we have looked into the best goalscoring streaks of the four superstars.
Lionel Messi – 10 (twice)
Messi’s first run of scoring in 10 consecutive games came in 2010-11. He bagged 16 goals – 15 for Barcelona and one for Argentina.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner scored a hat-trick against Almeria and two goals in games against Copenhagen, Real Zaragoza, Sevilla and Villarreal.
He then scored in 10 consecutive games again in 2012-13, with all those games and their 16 goals coming for Barcelona.
Messi bagged four against Osasuna, and two against each of Atletico Madrid, Cordoba and Real Betis. His best scoring streak in La Liga games alone was 21 (an all-time record in Europe’s top leagues), but this list comprises games played in all competitions.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 11
Ronaldo scored 11 goals for club and country between February and April of 2014.
During that run, the Portuguese scored 15 goals – 13 of those came for Real Madrid, and two in one game for Portugal against Cameroon.
Ronaldo scored three goals in two games against Atletico Madrid during that run, as well as four in two against Schalke.
Erling Haaland – 11*
Haaland has scored in each of his last 11 games for club and country, last failing to bag a goal against Tottenham at the end of August.
Since then, the Norwegian has 21 goals in all competitions. Of that stunning return, 12 have come for Manchester City and nine for Norway. The nine goals in international football have remarkably come in just three games.
City’s devastating No.9 will next play in the Champions League on Tuesday, against Villarreal, with a chance to break Ronaldo’s record for consecutive games scored in.
Kylian Mbappe – 11*
Mbappe has also scored in his last 11 games in all competitions. The Frenchman has notched three goals in as many games for France, and 12 in eight for Real, for a total of 15 goals during that run.
While that’s a way shy of Haaland, the streak is the same, and Mbappe has the chance to extend it when Real face Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League.
In four games against Juventus in his career so far, Mbappe has scored four goals, so it feels a good chance he’ll extend the streak to 12.
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