bundesliga

Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and the Bundesliga's deadliest strikers after 50 appearances

29.01.2025

Harry Kane is set to make his 50th Bundesliga appearance on Matchday 20, as Bayern Munich welcome Holstein Kiel to the Allianz Arena. The Englishman arrived in Germany to huge fanfare in the summer of 2023, but has arguably surpassed all expectations, scoring 53 goals in his first 49 Bundesliga appearances.

But how does his goal-scoring record compare with some of the Bundesliga’s other greats in their first 50 league games? From Erling Haaland and Grafite to Uwe Seeler and Timo Konietzka, we compare the deadliest newcomers in Bundesliga history.

Watch: All of Harry Kane's goals in his first Bundesliga season

Harry Kane
Bayern Munich: 49 games, 53 goals

There was huge pressure on Kane to deliver at Bayern, given his price tag and the fact he was brought in to replace the legendary Robert Lewandowski. Yet the Englishman responded magnificently. He scored eight in his first six Bundesliga appearances, including a hat-trick against Bochum. He has seven trios in his Bundesliga career already, helping him on the way to 53 goals in his first 49 matches. Last season’s top scorer passed the 50-goal mark on Matchday 11 this season – in just his 43rd league appearance for the club. No player has reached that scoring milestone so quickly. Kane scored 213 Premier League goals prior to his switch to the Allianz Arena, but claims to be “in the best form of [his] career at Bayern.” It’s hard to argue with a record like that.

Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick on his Bundesliga debut and became the youngest player to score 50 goals in the league. - Bongarts/Getty Images

Erling Haaland
Borussia Dortmund: 50 games, 50 goals

The Norwegian made a thrilling start to his Bundesliga career, scoring a 20 minute hat-trick against Augsburg on his debut after coming on as a substitute for Borussia Dortmund in January 2020. He didn’t look back, racing to 50 goals in his first 50 appearances for the Black and Yellows. He reached those milestones on the same day in November 2021, when scoring against Wolfsburg in a 3-1 win. In doing so, he also became the youngest player to hit 50 Bundesliga goals, at the age of just 21 years and 129 days – a record previously held by former Schalke striker Klaus Fischer.

Uwe Seeler is Hamburg's all-time leading goalscorer - imago sportfotodienst/imago/WEREK

Uwe Seeler
Hamburg: 50 games, 44 goals

You don’t get a giant statue of your right foot outside of the Volksparkstadion for nothing. Seeler scored a ridiculous 404 goals in 476 league appearances for Hamburg between 1953 and 1972. While many of those goals came before the Bundesliga’s inception in 1963, he still managed 137 strikes in the fledgling competition. Forty-four of those came in his first 50 Bundesliga matches.

Borussia Dortmund's Timo Konietzka has the honour of scoring the Bundesliga's first ever goal - imago sportfotodienst

Timo Konietzka
Borussia Dortmund: 50 games, 41 goals

Another player who dazzled in German football long before the foundation of the Bundesliga in 1963. Konietzka scored the very first Bundesliga goal, in August 1963 against Werder Bremen, before adding another 19 in 25 showings for Borussia Dortmund that season. He played his 50th Bundesliga game in his second season, which which stage he had scored 41 Bundesliga goals for the club, en route to helping deliver the Meisterschale in 1964/65. He then switched to 1860 Munich, where he stayed for two seasons.

Grafite scored a legendary goal against Bayern Munich in a 5-1 win on Wolfsburg's route to the title in 2008/09 - 2009 Getty Images

Grafite
Wolfsburg: 50 games, 40 goals

When Wolfsburg signed the Grafite from French side Le Mans in the summer of 2007, few could have foreseen the impact the Brazilian would go on to have in Germany. The striker scored 11 in his first 24 appearances, before firing the Wolves to the 2008/09 Bundesliga title in his second season, with 28 strikes in 25 games. That run saw him took him beyond his 50th appearance, by which point he’d scored a remarkable 40 goals. He’d go on to score 59 in 107 Wolfsburg outings, cementing his place in the club’s folklore.