Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah are two of the greatest forwards of the modern generation, but their records in cup finals are surprisingly poor.
Both players boast elite scoring numbers in the regular season, but they’ve each struggled to make much of an impact when silverware is on the line.
Between them, they’ve played in 23 cup finals and have only managed to score five goals. That’s not the sort of record that you’d expect for a pair of elite finishers.
In the case of Haaland, he’s failed to score in any of the eight cup finals that he’s played in with Manchester City, most recently firing a blank against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final.
Surprisingly, Haaland passed up the chance of taking a penalty in that FA Cup final and handed the responsibility to Omar Marmoush, who had his spot-kick saved by Dean Henderson.
“I didn’t speak with them. They take the decision,” is what Pep Guardiola told reporters after Haaland gave Marmoush the penalty.
“It’s always [like that] around the penalties. I like the guys who take the initiative. And yeah, they decide.”
Haaland’s record in cup finals is somewhat salvaged thanks to the three goals that he scored in cup finals while playing for Borussia Dortmund.
The Norwegian forward scored twice in the 2021 DFB-Pokal final against RB Leipzig and he also scored against Bayern Munich in the 2020 DFL-Supercup, albeit he did lose that match.
While playing for Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City, Haaland has competed in 11 cup finals in which he’s scored three goals and has provided one assist.
Internationally, he’s never reached a final with Norway, so any international stats aren’t applicable in his case.
In regard to Salah, he boasts a similarly poor record when it comes to cup finals.
The 32-year-old has lost seven of the 12 finals that he’s contested with Liverpool and Egypt. He’s also failed to score a non-penalty goal in any of those 12 matches.
His two goals in cup finals both came from the penalty spot, against Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League final and against Manchester City in the 2022 Community Shield.
The Liverpool forward recently competed in the League Cup final against Newcastle, but struggled to make much of an impact as Liverpool lost 2-1.
During that game, the 32-year-old only touched the ball 23 times and he failed to register a single shot or key pass.
Salah also has two assists to his name in cup finals, one in the Community Shield and one against Cameroon in the 2017 AFCON final.
With that being said, here’s the full breakdown of how Haaland’s record in cup finals compares with Salah’s:
Erling Haaland in finals
Finals: 11
Goals: 3 ⭐
Assists: 1
Penalties scored: 0
Minutes per goal: 313.3 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 313.1 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 235 ⭐
Finals won: 5
Finals lost: 6
Mohamed Salah in finals
Finals: 12
Goals: 2
Assists: 2 ⭐
Penalties scored: 2 ⭐
Minutes per goal: 542
Minutes per non-penalty goal: N/A (1084 minutes played)
Minutes per goal or assist: 271
Finals won: 5
Finals lost: 7
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