Erling Haaland is busy knocking Brazil out of the World Cup, and somehow he's also going viral for someone else's face. That's the kind of tournament Norway is having.
Instagram creator Emma Kate Willman posted a French braiding tutorial that had nothing to do with football. Then 27 million views happened. The comments section turned into a Haaland lookalike tribunal — blonde hair, facial structure, expressions — and the comparison took on a life of its own. Haaland himself found it, dropped a single "Hi" and a thumbs-up, and walked away like a man who had penalties to take.
She's not exactly flattered
Willman addressed the chaos in a follow-up video, and her reaction is the best part of this story. "First of all, the best doppelganger you give me is a male soccer player. Really?" she said. "Can't we just go back to when you guys were calling me Zara Larsson, please?"
She also picked up three to four thousand new Instagram followers off the back of it, which softens the blow somewhat. "I am very much just a little girl from Charleston," she added — which is the kind of line that writes itself.
The internet, predictably, leaned in. "She looks like Haaland had a daughter with Haaland" was the comment that broke the thread. "Haaland's long-lost sister" trended alongside it. These things have their own momentum now.
Back to the actual football
While the lookalike debate raged, Haaland scored twice in Norway's win over Brazil — sending his country to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history. Norway, who have never previously made it this far, are genuinely one of the tournament's stories. Haaland is the engine of it.
At 25, he's playing the biggest matches of his international career. His odds to top the Golden Boot are going to look very different now than they did before this tournament started. Norway reaching the quarters only adds games — and opportunities — to that conversation.
The doppelganger can have the Instagram followers. Haaland's keeping the goals.
