Erling Haaland Rookie Cards: Best Sets and Parallels
From RB Salzburg to BVB Dortmund and Manchester City in the Premier League, the 6-foot-4 Norwegian striker Erling Haaland has dominated competition everywhere he’s played in his young career, becoming one of the top footballers in the world already – and he’s only 22 years old.
As of this writing, in his first season with Man City, he has 28 goals and five assists in 26 matches, including a 5-goal game against RB Leipzig on March 14, becoming only the third player to ever score five goals in a Champions League match.
Not only is he projected to continue crushing competition in the top professional leagues for years to come, but there’s also word of an expanded World Cup format coming as early as 2026, which means Norway could have a presence that it lacked in 2022.
If Haaland enters the world stage the way his peer Kylian Mbappe did in 2018 and 2022, he could end up being in a class of his own from a soccer card investment perspective over the next five to 10 years.
Let’s dive into his top rookie cards.
VALUE ROOKIES:
The Value Tier includes cards with high print runs or lower-quality cardstock. A good fit for new collectors or those on a limited budget.
2019 Topps Living Champions League #154 Base: The Topps Living Series features an artist illustration of each player’s headshot. The close-up illustration of the young phenom is a super simple card, with a classic Topps design. Even though it’s a value rookie, it still sells well, having last sold for $175 on December 31 in a PSA 10 example, where there is a pop count of 416.
2019 Topps Chrome UCL #74 Base: This is the most liquid Haaland card, having sold 295 times in the last 365 days in PSA 10. It is also one of the more achievable of his rookie cards, selling for $290 on March 20 and for an average of $296 over the last year. It of course features him in his full Dortmund kit, focusing on attacking. The Topps Chrome brand is arguably the go-to for modern soccer card investors.
POPULAR ROOKIES:
This tier includes cards from the most popular sets across both retail and hobby formats. Typically easy to buy or sell when needed.
2019 Topps Finest UCL #91 Base: The data tells the story on this one: 236 sales in the last 365 days for an average sale of $362 per PSA 10. It’s likely more popular than the Topps Chrome UCL card because he’s in his FC Salzburg kit, which is where he was a true rookie. Despite being a “lesser” release (Topps Finest vs. Topps Chrome), this one is slightly more desirable and popular.
2019 Topps Chrome UCL Sapphire Edition #74 Base: The Sapphire Edition has an amazing “cracked ice” feel to it, with a blue sheer. Despite its much higher PSA 10 price ($822 average sale), it sold 210 times in the last 365 days, solidifying it as one of Haaland’s most popular rookie cards.
2019 Panini Fussball Bundesliga Stickers #32 Base: Soccer Card “purists” will claim that this is the one and only true Haaland rookie, and it’s hard to argue with them. The 2019 Panini Fussball Stickers #32 Base was the first Haaland card or sticker to hit the market, appearing in packs of stickers. It has an extremely-low PSA 10 pop count for its print run, at only 516. It sells for north of $1,000 consistently.
MORE UNIQUE ROOKIES:
This tier includes cards with lower print runs, unique designs, or cards from hobby-only products. Usually higher-quality cards than the Value or Popular tiers, though not necessarily more popular or easier to buy or sell.
2019 Topps Chrome Bundesliga #74 Refractors (Yellow /99, Green /99, Blue Wave /75, Gold /50, Orange Refractor /25): The serial numbered refractor series of his classic 2019 Topps Chrome Bundesliga rookie is super desirable and hard to find – especially in PSA 10.
2019 Topps Now UCL #11 Base (Print Run: 178): It’s not often that a Topps Now card reaches extreme value, but apparently there were only 178 of these printed, and far less in Gem Mint grades floating around. So not only is this “unique” but it definitely also qualifies as “rare and exclusive” including the cards below, as it sells for an average of $5,000 in PSA 10 over the last 365 days.
RAREST AND MOST EXCLUSIVE:
This category may be out of reach for most collectors due to price, but they have the highest upside as investments heading into future International and World Cup Competitions and are still fun to look at. Don’t worry if this tier is too pricey as there’s a host of options in other categories that could be perfect for your collection.
2019 Topps Chrome UEFA Rookie Auto: A pop 15 in PSA 10, this is listed on eBay for as high as $20,000, and rightfully so. Haaland hasn’t signed much, let alone on cards (or in this case, stickers) like this one. A top card brand, featuring a top player, in a top grade. This one is a recipe for success.
2019 Topps Museum Collection UCL Rookie Auto /49: A unique Merlin design with the logo mark “M” in the top left corner, the Dortmund logo in the top right corner, and serial number to /49 on the front, it features a Haaland sticker auto and solid action shot.
2019 Topps Chrome Orange Rookie Auto /25: The fact that there are only 25 of these Haaland sticker autos makes them possibly the next six figure soccer card. The one in this eBay listing happens to be #17, the jersey number in this photo (before he switched to #9). Many collectors will pay more for the jersey number in the serial number.
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Paul Hickey is a regular contributor to Sports Card Investor, the creator of the Sports Card Investment Report at NoOffseason.com, and the host of the Sports Card Strategy Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. He can be found on Instagram at @sportscardstrategy and on Twitter @nooffseasoncard.
