Roma striker Romelu Lukaku has been named the best international goalscorer of 2023 by the IFFHS, as his statistics were better than Manchester City star Erling Haaland.
The International Federation of Football History and Statistics calculated that nobody scored more international goals at club and national team level throughout the calendar year 2023 than Lukaku.
Although he is owned by Chelsea, the seven goals were scored during his loan spells first at Inter and then Roma in the Champions League and Europa League.
Haaland netted 12 in the same period for Manchester City, but it is the national team where Lukaku surges ahead.
The Belgian scored 15 goals in 2023 for his country, whereas Norwegian Haaland contributed only six goals.
That ultimately puts Lukaku out on top with 22 goals, compared to 18 for Haaland.
Next in the list is Mehdi Taremi, who got two for FC Porto and 12 for Iran.
It is the second time Lukaku has won this IFFHS award, after 16 international goals for club and country in 2020.
Lukaku miglior marcatore internazionale del 2023: la classifica dell'IFFHS#SkySport #Lukaku https://t.co/bh3EyNb87D
— skysport (@SkySport) January 3, 2024