Who's better: Erling Haaland or Harry Kane?

As two of the greatest strikers in Premier League history Harry Kane and Erling Haaland share a lot in common, namely their goal records and defining influence in their respective eras.

But as No 9s the two are stylistic opposites.

Haaland is a ruthless machine in front of goal, a hoarder of individual and team accolades. He is cutthroat-sharp, streetwise, cold; a lurking presence who comes to life inside the penalty area.

Kane is a creator, an orchestrator, and a scorer of a wide range of goals. He wore the number 10 shirt at Tottenham Hotspur to reflect how he sees himself: the beating heart of the team, not just its razor edge.

Both have achieved incredible things in the Premier League, and although it has so far been a rivalry in parallel - Kane and Haaland shared just a single year in England, 2022/23 – there are chapters still to be written.

Haaland hopes to catch up to Kane’s Premier League tally and Kane – who knows? – still has time to return to England in search of the all-time goalscoring record with only Alan Shearer and his 260 goals ahead of him.

But before all that, Kane and Haaland go head-to-head on Saturday when England take on Norway in the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-final.

Ahead of their showdown, we dive into the numbers to decide who is the better player. Using our player comparison tool, you can also compare Kane and Haaland's exceptional Premier League records across a broad range of stats, including goal involvements, penalties and xG.

Haaland’s goalscoring rate is unique, but Kane is ahead overall… for now

The headline numbers show both are among the most impressive players the Premier League has ever seen.

Haaland v Kane: Premier League goal records compared

Goals (all-time rank) Goals per 90 (all-time rank) Haaland* 112 (25th) 0.91 (1st) Kane 213 (2nd) 0.71 (4th)

*Haaland's PL stats correct as of July 2026

Kane is only 47 goals behind Shearer's all-time record – meaning he would likely only need another 18 months in the Premier League, at his 25-goal a season rate, to reach number one – and he has scored almost double the number of Premier League goals as Haaland.

However, Kane had nine Premier League seasons as a first-team regular at Spurs, whereas Haaland has only had four.

At Haaland’s rate of 0.91 goals per 90 – the best in Premier League history – he needs 113 more games (four campaigns, at his current rate of 33 matches per season) to get the 102 goals needed to usurp Kane into second in the all-time list.

Watch: How Haaland’s ‘Viking’ mindset made him a star

Haaland has eight years remaining on his current contract. He needs only half of those to overtake Kane – and then another 52 matches to score the remaining 47 needed to climb above Shearer.

In other words, give it time and Haaland will emerge as the greatest goalscorer in the competition’s history.

Watch: Haaland and Kane scoring EVERY type of goal

Evenly split on records and awards – but Haaland’s teams have won more

Kane’s entry to the Premier League was a slow burn - he was 21 during his explosive breakthrough season under Mauricio Pochettino in 2014/15 - whereas Haaland burst onto the scene, smashing the single-season goals record with 36 in his debut year in English football.

Watch: The unstoppable rise of Haaland

That season, 2022/23, was Kane’s last at Spurs and the England captain scored an impressive 30 goals, the second time he reached that figure in the Premier League.

Indeed, with Haaland topping out at 27 in any single year since that remarkable 36-goal haul, Kane has more entries in the single-season top five between the two.

Haaland v Kane: Top five Premier League scoring seasons

Top five seasons Player Goals (season) 1 Haaland 36 (22/23) 2 Kane 30 (22/23) 3 Kane 30 (17/18) 4 Kane 29 (16/17) 5 Haaland 27 (25/26)

Of course, it’s important to once again caveat any Kane "victory" in this comparison by pointing out that Haaland just hasn’t had the same amount of time in the division.

Despite that fact, Haaland and Kane are pretty similar on awards and records won.

Haaland holds the record for fastest player to 100 goals, most goals in a single season, and best per-90 ratio ever. Kane has the most goals for a single club (213) and the most goals in London derbies (51).

Watch: Kane's best Premier League moments

In terms of personal awards, not much separates the players, which, again, is a mark in favour of Haaland given that he is seven years younger and therefore likely to accelerate away:

Individual accolades Haaland Kane Golden Boots 5 (3x PL, 2x UCL) 9 (3x PL, 3x Bundesliga, 1x UCL, 1x World Cup, 1x Euros) Player of the Year 3 (1x PL, 1x Bundesliga, 1x UEFA) 1 (Bundesliga) European Golden Shoe 1 2

Of course, football is a team sport, therefore arguably what matters most are the trophies won, with Halaand out in front:

Team honours Haaland Kane League titles 3 (2x PL, 1x Austrian Bundesliga) 2 (Bundesliga) European titles 1 (UCL) 0 Domestic cup wins 5 (2x FA Cup, 1x EFL Cup, 1x DFB-Pokal, 1x Austrian Cup) 1 (DFB-Pokal)

Others, however, would argue that Kane’s extended time spent outside the title-winning level makes his goals record all the more impressive.

Bundesliga record – and a remarkable 2025/26 – give Kane the edge

Indeed, the extraordinary figures Kane is hitting at Bayern Munich suggest he could be streets ahead of Shearer if his Premier League career had been at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Kane has scored an absurd 98 goals in 94 Bundesliga matches. Those are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo numbers.

Haaland fights back, though, when it comes to international football, where he can make a similar argument about hitting elite numbers in a non-elite setting: 62 goals from 54 caps and scoring in each of his last 14 internationals is astonishing, especially playing for Norway, and a far better ratio than Kane’s (also brilliant, also record-breaking) 85 in 119 for England.

Haaland v Kane, international goal scoring record

Caps Goals Goals per 90 Haaland 54 62 1.26 Kane 119 85 0.83

Where does that leave us? Relatively even, with Kane leading on many metrics only because he has been in the game longer and Haaland winning more trophies only because he has had a greater opportunity to do so.

But as of July 2026, Kane comes out on top for one simple reason: in the year just gone Kane scored the most goals in Europe in all competitions – and considerably more than Haaland:

2025/26 European goal scoring leaders

Rank in 2025/26 Player Goals in all club comps 1 Kane 61 2 Mbappe 42 3 Haaland 38

Right now, Kane is the best striker in the world. Haaland has a chance to prove otherwise on Saturday.

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