Ronaldo, Haaland lead as 2023 top goal scorers as Mbappe trails behind

As an eventful football year comes to an end, Cristiano Ronaldo has once again proved his dominance and prowess on the field emerging as the leading goal scorer of 2023 and is joined by Manchester City's Erling Haaland who has equalled his 50-goal tally in the year so far, reported mirror.co.uk.

The feat reflects Ronaldo's continued dominance and effectiveness on the football pitch even at the age of 38 when most critics believed that the Portuguese star had lost his flare and prowess.

The Al Nassr striker's goal tally is equalled by Manchester City's Haaland who has had a remarkable year with the English club winning Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup titles along with Golden Boot and European Golden Shoe awards.

The 23-year-old scored 14 goals in the Premier League alone, with 30 others in all other competitions for Man City along with six for his national side.

Haaland and Ronaldo are trailed by England's Harry Kane and France's Kylian Mbappe, both of whom have scored 49 goals in the outgoing year so far.

With 230 club goals to his name at the age of 24, Mbappe has featured in two World Cup finals in his career — winning the 2018 tournament and ending up as runner-up in 2022 — and is on the path to joining Real Madrid next.

Meanwhile, Kane has also been on a goal-scoring streak since his move to Bayern Munich.