Haaland, Ronaldo and Messi’s Stats at 24 Compared

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are almost undoubtedly the greatest players world football has ever seen. Of course, there are valid arguments for icons of eras gone by such as Pele and Diego Maradona, but the consensus is that the modern-day duo are unmatched.

Any future players will have the daunting and near-impossible task of living up to the standards set by both Messi and Ronaldo in the past two decades, which have seen them amass 13 Ballon d’Or awards and a multitude of team honours between them. One man who is currently doing his utmost to be seen as equal to the two greats is Manchester City’s Norwegian goalscorer Erling Haaland.

While it may not be realistic to aim for the legendary God-like status his more experienced peers have achieved, the 24-year-old could still keep up with the pair in terms of numbers. His short career to date has some parallels to Ronaldo in particular, but how has he performed in comparison to both men when they were his age? Well, below is a much closer look at that, and the results are eye-opening.

Goals

Haaland has found the net more times than the icons

Ronaldo may be the greatest goalscorer of all time, but he hadn’t quite reached his clinical best at the age of 24. Haaland has found the net over 100 more times than the iconic Portuguese marksman at the same age. Messi had even scored more than his long-term foe. Both legendary figures played on the wing in their earlier days, while Haaland has always been a centre-forward tasked with finding a route to goal.

Even with the fact neither Messi nor Ronaldo played as a striker consistently in their early 20s, the goalscoring record of football’s current deadliest finisher is staggering. To have netted 256 times in only 313 appearances at the time of writing is truly mind-blowing. Haaland’s overall game is sometimes crisitcised, but no one can dispute his efficiency in front of goal.

Incredibly, the Man City talisman has hit 20 career hat-tricks to date. This is twice as many as Messi had achieved for Barcelona by the age of 24, while Ronaldo had only hit a treble on one occasion at the same stage of his career. That certainly changed in the years that followed, but the Portugal international is left in the dust in this respect.

Haaland vs Ronaldo vs Messi – Goals

Statistic
Erling Haaland
Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi

Appearances
313
362
326

Goals
256
132
197

Minutes per goal
87.5
199.9
125.4

Hat-tricks
20
1
10

Penalties
45/50
16/20
19/24

 

Assists

Lionel Messi is the better playmaker

It was always likely Argentina’s little magician, Messi, would come out on top when it came to assists. Usually deployed from the right flank in his early days at Camp Nou, the left-footed genius would regularly torment defences as he could either drift inside and play a precise through ball or go down the line and cut the ball back to a teammate.

His tally of 84 assists is significantly better than that of both Ronaldo (66) and Haaland (54). This is where the differences in style come in to play, as Messi spent the majority of his time trying to make things happen for those around him, while Haaland is a single-minded machine with the simple goal of putting the ball in the net by himself. Ronaldo, in his younger years at least, lands somewhere in the middle of the two.

Haaland vs Ronaldo vs Messi – Assists

Statistic
Erling Haaland
Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi

Appearances
313
362
326

Assists
54
66
84

Minutes per goal/assist
72.2
133.3
87.9

Individual Honours

Haaland blows the duo out of the water individually

It should be taken into account that Haaland started his career in the Norwegian and Austrian leagues, which aren’t quite of the same standard as the Premier League and La Liga. This means his superior tally of individual honours should be taken with a pinch of salt. Both Messi and Ronaldo had won the prestigious Ballon d’Or by the time they were 24. The Man City star will be hoping to be in contention for the same prize in 2024.

All three men had wrapped up a single European Golden Shoe and various Player of the Year and top goalscorer awards in their domestic leagues by their 24th birthdays. Ronaldo had the fewest individual honours to his name (7) but had spent the longest period in the hardest division in world football. Haaland (11) and Messi (8) both emerged with more awards for their own performances.

Haaland vs Ronaldo vs Messi – Individual Honours

Player
Individual Honours
Number

Erling Haaland
European Golden Shoe x 1, Austrian Bundesliga Player of the Season x 1, Bundesliga Player of the Season x 1, FWA Footballer of the Year x 1, Premier League Player of the Season x 1, Premier League Golden Boot x 1, Golden Boy x 1, PFA Players’ Player of the Year x 1, UEFA Men’s Player of the Year x 1, Champions League top scorer x 2
11

Cristiano Ronaldo
Ballon d’Or x 1, European Golden Shoe x 1, Premier League Player of the Season x 2, PFA Players Player of the Year x 2, Premier League Golden Boot x 1
7

Lionel Messi
Ballon d’Or x 2, European Golden Shoe x 1, La Liga Best Player x 3, Pichichi (La Liga top scorer) x 1, Golden Boy x 1
8

Team Awards

Messi was part of a far more successful side

While the other categories have been rather close between the trio, the margins are much greater when it comes to team honours. Messi was part of Pep Guardiola’s dominant era at Barcelona, and he reaped the rewards of this. Playing a huge role in the Catalonians’ reign of terror in Spain and Europe, the Argentine scooped 15 team trophies by the time he turned 24, including multiple league titles and Champions League crowns.

Ronaldo and Haaland had also both won Europe’s biggest club competition and the English top flight twice at 24. However, neither man comes close to Messi’s staggering collection of silverware. He didn’t slow down in the years that followed, either, as the Barca icon is the most decorated footballer in the history of the sport.

Haaland vs Ronaldo vs Messi – Team Awards

Player
Team Awards
Number

Erling Haaland
Austrian Bundesliga x 1, Austrian Cup x 1, DFB Pokal x 1, Premier League x 2, FA Cup x 1, Champions League x 1, UEFA Super Cup x 1
8

Cristiano Ronaldo
Portuguese Super Cup x 1, Premier League x 2, FA Cup x 1, League Cup x 1, Champions League x 1
6

Lionel Messi
La Liga x 5, Champions League x 3, Copa del Rey x 1, Supercopa de Espana x 3, UEFA Super Cup x 1, FIFA Under-20 World Champions x 1, Summer Olympics x 1
15