There’s One Reason Why Erling Haaland Was the Heart of This World Cup
MIAMI — There was one song stuck on replay in everyone’s heads this summer, set to the soundtrack of a late 1970s German disco pop song. It goes something like this:
Haaland, Haaland,
Vikings in the U.S.A,
Norway’s going all the way,
Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaland, hey!
Haaland, Haaland,
Man-made Nordic Superman
Stop him scoring if you can,
Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaland, hey!
Haaland, Haaland,
Run so mad, it won’t go well,
No Champions League for Gabriel,
Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaland, hey!
Norwegian star striker Erling Haaland flooded minds, went viral on social media and enraptured hearts across North America at the 2026 World Cup.
When the 6'5", broad-shouldered Haaland came barreling into the opponent’s box, defenders physically quaked, as if he were actually wearing steel plate armor and preparing to lob a hand axe. Nevertheless, the 25-year-old’s quick ascent was only partially due to his stereotypical “Viking” image and the unfathomable amount of goals he scored in his debut on soccer’s grandest stage.
Despite Norway’s quarterfinal exit to England on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium, Haaland will remain the tournament’s most beloved player. For all of his obvious differences, there is actually a little bit of him in every one of us.
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The Irony of Erling Haaland
Haaland isn’t just so much a striker as he is a predator. He stalks the pitch, sticking his long neck out and puffing his broad chest, zeroing in and waiting to pounce as soon as the ball breaks free. It is quiet and utterly terrifying.
His long, luscious blonde locks stream behind him when he kicks into high gear, racing toward the net. Haaland had seven goals this summer across just six matches. He had scored in 14 consecutive competitive games for Norway before the quarterfinal. Although Haaland had an uncharacteristically anonymous outing against England, managing just one shot on target in the 2–1 extra-time loss, only Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappé still top him in the Golden Boot race.
Haaland may be a tough and hardened Viking, but he is equally soft and goofy. He packed a whole roll of hair ties in his World Cup suitcase to ensure that he always wore one that perfectly matched his uniforms. He is Gen Z’s Rapunzel. His luggage includes a luxury collection of oversized Hermes Birkin bags, of which he owns at least seven.
“He’s like a beast, but then he is also such a diva,” Norwegian fan Judith tells Sports Illustrated before the match. “He cares about his hair.”
His presence on Snapchat has left supporters in fits of laughter, engaging with fans’ probing questions and using the app’s various filters, such as the Shrek one.
Simply put, Haaland is layered in a way that resonated with people.
He is also incredibly blunt, to a degree that most people would only dream of. It was both comedic and deeply relatable.
“He’s very honest,” Nore and Viktoria, Norwegian sisters from Oslo, say. “He says what he really thinks, so that attracts people to him.”
In an interview with Time magazine last year, Haaland said Norway had just a 0.5% chance of winning the World Cup and continually insisted that his side’s chances remained “really low” in the lead-up to the England clash. He wrote his side off against France in the group stage, before admitting that his team had “very slim” odds of toppling five-time world champion Brazil in the round of 16. Haaland subsequently scored two goals in the span of 11 minutes to down the mighty Seleção.
Haaland’s bluntness should not be mistaken for pessimism, though. He just simply doesn’t care—he is not careless, but rather, care-free. Who cared if Norway had the slimmest odds of winning? He was having fun anyways. It was a sentiment that supporters all across North America found refreshing.
“One thing in life, don’t take yourself too seriously,” he said on hisYouTube channel, which he started back in October and has since used to share his goofy personality. “No matter what happens, just have a laugh. Don’t be so serious. Just enjoy it.”
It was an enviable attitude he brought into the World Cup. In Saturday’s match, he was even seen giggling in the first half while England star and long-time friend, Jude Bellingham, marked him in the box. Coupled with his continued humility, he melted the hearts of Americans quite like television character Ted Lasso did back in 2020 when the namesake soccer comedy series first released.
“We achieved something we hadn’t achieved in 28 years,” Haaland said ahead of the tournament, about Norway’s miraculous qualifying campaign. “Now, we can just go there and enjoy. Nervous, yeah, be nervous, but be excited.”
The entire Norwegian team adopted Haaland’s mentality. Without the weight of intense pressure, the unlikely contenders reached unprecedented heights in its grand return to the world stage.
Haaland Embraced America Too
In the 24 hours after the shock victory over Brazil, Haaland gained 3.3 million new followers on Instagram. He is now up another 10 million less than a week later, cracking over 60 million total, which is more followers than his club team Manchester City of the Premier League has (56.5 million). He also cracked three million subscribers to hisYouTube channel after Saturday’s loss.
Haaland’s camp has been told that social media algorithms are starting to gear towards content about the striker, given the sheer interest in him, The Athletic report.
North America has fallen head-over-heels in love with Haaland, a feeling that has only been further inflamed by Haaland’s reciprocal love affair.
“I like the Americans. I think they are kind of hilarious as well,” Haaland told reporters this week. “They are fun. I like the way they are. On every single thing with the World Cup here so far, it has been amazing. From the games to the stadiums to the training grounds, it’s been amazing.”
Just three hours after defeating Côte d’Ivoire in the round of 32 at AT&T Stadium, a match in which Haaland scored the dramatic game-winner in the 86th minute, Haaland two-stepped his way into Wild Bill’s Western Store in downtown Dallas to be transformed into a true American cowboy.
He left the shop with four cowboys hats—three for the winter and one for summer—a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots, a new Southern twang and a T-shirt that read, “Y’all can kiss my Dallas.” He was beaming, disappointed only to discover that a snake-skin cowboy hat is not something that exists.
Haaland has embodied both the expertise and pure enjoyment that is meant to be on full display at a tournament that only comes around once every four years, and he’s proved that those concepts don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
He’s a stone-cold Viking but also particular about his appearance and his luscious hair. He’s hardworking on the pitch but also carefree. He wants to win but not at the expense of being goofy. He’s like all of us, a little complicated.
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