Haaland’s World Cup surge turns him into a social media favorite

Erling Haaland has become one of the World Cup’s most visible figures, with his scoring run and online humor pulling in fans who did not closely follow soccer before the tournament. The Associated Press reported that the Norway striker had seven goals in four matches entering Saturday, while memes and influencer videos have widened his audience beyond regular soccer fans.

Haaland, who is 6 feet, 5 inches, has long been known for his power and finishing. AP reported that his online persona has helped create a different image: playful, self-aware and easy for younger fans to remix.

Fans have focused on his long blond hair, matching hair ties and lighthearted posts, including a filtered selfie in which he called Shrek his “twin,” according to AP. Some have applied the internet label “babygirl” to him, a term fans use for male celebrities or fictional characters they see as sweet, vulnerable or endearing.

New fans follow the memes

Sarah Wilson, a 31-year-old baseball content creator in New York, told AP she recently became invested enough in soccer to search for a Haaland jersey. In a video that spread widely online, Wilson called him a “pretty Norwegian princess” while also noting his standing among the sport’s top strikers.

Wilson told AP that Haaland’s appeal starts with his talent, then grows through his distinctly Gen Z use of platforms such as Snapchat. She said fans discover the jokes and photos, decide they like him, and then begin following him as a player.

AP reported that Haaland has answered the attention with more posts of his own. After Norway eliminated Brazil, he shared a locker-room selfie with the caption, “Well well well.” When a widely viewed Instagram video compared his hair to a green onion, he replied with a dog GIF. After Google added a Viking rowing animation to searches for his name, he encouraged followers on X to look him up.

Haaland said at a Norway news conference Thursday that he has enjoyed the response in the United States. He told reporters he likes Americans, called them funny, and said the World Cup experience had been “amazing,” according to AP.

Athletes as pop culture figures

Jeffrey Kassing, an Arizona State University professor who studies sports fans and athletes’ use of social media, told AP that sports function as a “cultural force” comparable to politics or religion. He said Haaland’s rise among non-soccer audiences reflects how athletes now have more power to shape their public image outside formal interviews and news conferences.

Gayle Stever, an Empire State University professor who studies celebrity-fan dynamics, told AP that this kind of attachment is known as a parasocial relationship, where fans feel they know a public figure who does not know them individually. Haaland has nearly 60 million followers on Instagram, according to AP.

Stever said most parasocial relationships are positive and normal, though a small share can become extreme. Skyla Clarke, a 19-year-old sports management student in Brisbane, told AP she has seen harsher behavior online, including attacks on players after poor performances and abuse aimed at athletes’ partners.

AP reported that Haaland also raised concern about AI-generated images of players, calling them “a bit scary.” Speaking in Norwegian, he said attention on Norway’s team traditions, including its rowing cheer, can signal that the team and country are doing well.

Other players have received similar treatment from fans, AP reported. Clarke said supporters have shown a protective attitude toward Croatia’s Luka Modrić, especially around his final international match, with some using childhood images to frame his career story.

Ahead of Norway’s quarterfinal against England on Saturday, AP reported that fans also made edits centered on Haaland’s friendship with England midfielder Jude Bellingham, his former teammate. Nulara Ratwatté, a 19-year-old art student at the University of Melbourne, told AP that the jokes have included the phrase “heated Haalandry,” a play on a romance series about rival hockey players.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.