Haaland’s 36 goals: the Premier League single-season record
Erling Haaland scored a record 36 Premier League goals in 2022/23. Compare the previous leaders and understand the 38- versus 42-match distinction.
Erling Haaland holds the record for most goals in a Premier League season: 36 for Manchester City in 2022/23. That is the highest total across both the 38-match and 42-match formats—not just a record for the shorter schedule. The Premier League’s Golden Boot winners list, covering completed seasons through 2025/26, confirms his total and shows that no subsequent season winner surpassed it.
The number counts one player’s goals in one Premier League campaign. It includes scored penalties, but excludes goals in domestic cups, European competitions and international matches. The record covers the Premier League era, beginning in 1992/93, rather than the entire history of England’s top division. It is a season total, not a scoring rate or a career record.
The record and the previous leaders
Before Haaland, Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer shared the overall record with 34 goals. Mohamed Salah held the 38-match-season record with 32. These are the four highest individual season totals:
| Player | Club | Season | Goals | Scheduled league matches per club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 2022/23 | 36 | 38 |
| Andrew Cole | Newcastle United | 1993/94 | 34 | 42 |
| Alan Shearer | Blackburn Rovers | 1994/95 | 34 | 42 |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 2017/18 | 32 | 38 |
Sources: the Premier League’s record-breaking match report for the previous leaders, and its completed-season winners list for Haaland’s final total. The last column describes each club’s schedule, not the player’s appearances.
Haaland moved beyond Cole and Shearer on 3 May 2023, scoring his 35th league goal in City’s 3–0 win over West Ham United. He had made only 31 league appearances at that point. That explains why contemporary reports describe a 35-goal record: the season was still running. His final total was 36, as confirmed by Manchester City’s season review.
Why 38 versus 42 matches matters
A longer schedule gives a player more possible opportunities to score. Cole and Shearer’s 34-goal campaigns came in 42-match seasons; Haaland exceeded both totals in a 38-match season.
A simple schedule-based comparison is:
- Haaland: 36 ÷ 38 = 0.95 goals per scheduled team match.
- Cole and Shearer: 34 ÷ 42 = 0.81 goals per scheduled team match each.
Those are calculations from the totals above, not goals per player appearance. They put the different season lengths in context but do not account for injuries, substitutions or minutes played. A goals-per-90 comparison would require each player’s actual playing time.
Nor does the highest total automatically identify the best finisher. Goals also depend on the chances a team creates and who takes its penalties. To examine finishing rather than volume alone, compare goals with chance quality using Premier League expected goals.
Why Haaland’s 52 goals are a different number
Haaland also scored 52 goals across all competitions for City in 2022/23. City’s milestone review lists that figure separately from his 36 Premier League goals. The two totals answer different questions; only 36 belongs in this league-season comparison.
Likewise, the Premier League’s all-time top scorers are ranked by goals accumulated across their careers, not by their best single campaign.