Manchester City striker and Norwegian star Erling Haaland set a new record by scoring a hat-trick in his country’s 5-0 victory over Israel on Saturday, during the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Despite missing a penalty early in the match (which he took twice), Haaland compensated by scoring three goals in the 27th, 63rd, and 72nd minutes, confirming his dominance leading the Norwegian attack.

According to statistics from the “Opta” network, Haaland became the fastest player in football history to reach 50 goals for his national team, needing only 46 matches to achieve this historic feat.

He was followed by English striker Harry Kane in second place (71 matches), then Brazilian Neymar da Silva (74 matches), followed by French Kylian Mbappé and Polish Robert Lewandowski (each with 90 matches), then Argentine Lionel Messi (107 matches), and finally Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (114 matches).