Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland is a striker for Manchester City and Norway, born in Leeds while his father Alf-Inge was playing in England, and raised in Bryne on the Norwegian west coast. He moved through Molde, Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund before joining City in 2022, and signed a contract in January 2025 that runs to 2034, one of the longest deals in modern football.

He is a specialist rather than an all-rounder: a penalty-box striker with unusual speed for his size, built to finish first-time from cutbacks and to run in behind a high line. Managers build the final third around that.

His first season in England ended with the 2023 treble, City's league, FA Cup and first European Cup. Norway's long absence from major tournaments kept him off the international stage through his early career, which makes their qualifying campaigns a story in their own right rather than a footnote to his club football.

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