Norway are out. England beat them 2-1 on Saturday, and with that, the most unexpectedly joyful subplot of the 2026 World Cup came to a quiet end outside a stadium where Erling Haaland stayed late to take photos with fans — the last Norway player to leave the building.
That image says everything about why this happened. Haaland didn't just score goals at this tournament. He became a genuine cultural event.
How a 25-year-old Norwegian became America's World Cup obsession
It started with casual viewers in the US stumbling across clips: Haaland startled by his own reflection, Haaland with a Birkin bag, Haaland drawn into comparison with a fictional character from a niche rivalry brand. None of it should work as football content. All of it went viral.
"I like the Americans. I think they are kind of hilarious as well," Haaland said, which is exactly the kind of unfiltered, self-aware response that made people fall for him in the first place.
By the time Norway's run ended, TikTok was flooded with fans grieving a player they'd discovered roughly ten days earlier. "I wonder what Erling Haaland is doing right now. I miss him (I've been a lifelong fan since last week)," one user posted. The joke landed because it was also completely sincere.
"Haaland was the only reason I was larping the WC and now he is gone," admitted another. For casual viewers with no pre-existing allegiances, Norway's elimination genuinely took the fun out of the rest of the tournament. That's a rare kind of pull.
What comes next — and why Premier League odds just got more interesting
The good news for new converts: Haaland plays every week. Manchester City's Premier League season kicks off in mid-August, available on Peacock with select matches on NBC and NBC Sports. Champions League follows on Paramount+. The audience he built at this World Cup is enormous, and City's commercial reach just expanded significantly into the casual American market.
From a betting perspective, City's attacking output with Haaland fit and motivated has always been their most reliable variable. He arrived back in Oslo from Dallas carrying a taxidermied raccoon clutching an empty gin bottle — purchased at Wild Bill's Western Store, where he'd also acquired snakeskin cowboy boots and a cowboy hat monogrammed with his initials and jersey number. The man is clearly not burdened by the elimination.
He'll also be front row at fashion weeks. His recent appearances at Dolce & Gabbana's Alta Moda and Alta Sartoria shows in Sicily confirmed the off-pitch profile is only growing.
Norway didn't win the World Cup. Haaland still managed to become its defining personality — and he's already moved on to the next thing, raccoon in hand.
