Haaland issues World Cup verdict on Kane and Mbappe: ‘That’s the reality’

Erling Haaland has compared his numbers with fellow strikers Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe after making his World Cup debut in style with two goals in Norway’s opening 4-1 win against Iraq in Boston.

Hours after Mbappe scored twice in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal – including a sensational long-range strike – Haaland was asked if he is the world’s greatest scorer.

“I don’t think I scored the most goals this season,” Haaland replied, speaking shortly before Lionel Messi produced the finest individual performance of the 2026 finals so far with a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria.

“So statistically, no, I’m not. I think Harry Kane and Mbappe scored more goals than me, and that’s the reality. So no, I’m not.”

World Cup 2026: How Haaland, Mbappe and Kane compare

Haaland, who once made headlines for Manchester City by telling Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta to “stay humble”, said he is “up there” with the world’s leading marksman.

After winning the Premier League golden boot in his first two campaign in the division, with 36 goals in 2022/23 and 27 in 2023/24, Haaland finished top again last season, scoring 27 times to finish five ahead of next-nearest rival Igor Thiago, who plays for Brentford and missed a presentable opportunity for Brazil in their 1-1 draw with Morocco on Sunday.

Real Madrid’s Mbappe was the top scorer in last season’s Champions League with 15 goals in 11 appearances, followed by Bayern Munich’s Kane, who netted 14 times across 13 games. Haaland scored eight times across 10 matches in the competition.

Haaland was the runaway top scorer in European qualifying for the World Cup with an astonishing 16 goals, with Kane joint-second after scoring eight for England and Mbappe level with the likes of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, on five each.

Mbappe was the top scorer in La Liga with 25 goals, two ahead of Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi, who played six matches more in the division than the Paris Saint-Germain all-time top scorer.

European Golden Shoe: Kane, Haaland, Mbappe

Kane, who is set to lead England in their World Cup opener against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday (21:00 BST), won the Golden Shoe award for the leading scorer in European leagues by a distance ahead of Haaland and Mbappe last season.

The Three Lions captain scored an astounding 61 goals in 51 matches in all competitions to take the award, which is based upon goals scored by players from the top five leagues according to UEFA’s five-year co-efficient multiplied by a factor of two.

Goals scored by players in the leagues from sixth to 22nd position are multiplied by 1.5, and there is no bonus for players from any other league there’s no bonus. Here’s how the standings finished in 2025/26.

World Cup 2026: Norway vs Iraq ‘nerves’

Norway were not entirely convincing in their first match at the finals since 1998, leading 2-1 at half-time through Haaland goals either side of Aymen Hussein’s equaliser.

Leo Ostigard headed in with 14 minutes remaining to increase their lead before Aymen Hussein’s 96th-minute own goal.

“There were a lot of nerves, without a doubt,” said Haaland, who has 57 goals in 51 international appearances.

“I’d say there was some pressure on me to score goals. Fortunately, I did. You… can’t really escape pressure.

It’s fine. I like to be in the moment and enjoy it, so I’m happy, and I’m proud that we won. It’s special and it’s huge to finally manage to qualify for the World Cup and qualify for a major tournament.

“I’ve been working toward this for the last six or seven years, so it’s massive. Everyone knows it’s a massive moment for me and a major stage.”

The 25-year-old played down a suggestion that he produced a particularly memorable performance off the ball.

“I just try to help the team,” Haaland replied. “To be completely honest, I haven’t thought all that much about the defensive tracking runs right after a World Cup debut.

“It’s not the first thing on my mind but I try to help the team however I can. I feel like I did that today.”

Norway World Cup 2026 fixtures, schedule

Two-time titlists France and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal await Norway next. “There are things we need to improve a bit,” accepted Haaland.

“It’s not easy to come out, play and make your debut in a World Cup on the biggest stages like this, so that’s completely expected.

“There are some adjustments we have to make because the upcoming stages are going to be brutal and we are going to face massive pressure out there.

“We have to step it up and we have to improve. We need to get better at a lot of different things.”

Here’s how Norway’s schedule looks. Asterisk denotes match starting the previous day in that territory.