How Erling Haaland becomes World Cup's happiest story

If you keep refreshing your feed, you will find something new about Erling Haaland. And most of it has nothing to do with football. In the past few weeks during all the drama and angst that football tends to incur, if there's been one spot of unadulterated entertainment and beaming joy, it has come from Haaland, report agencies.

He is in the running for the Golden Boot, the trophy awarded to the World Cup's top goalscorer. But Haaland has already earned one prize: the most viral player of the competition.

The striker went into the tournament with legions of fans in Norway and in Manchester - or at least in the blue half of the British city.

And although he plays for Manchester City, Haaland is also beloved by Leeds United supporters; he was born in Leeds when his father, Alf-Inge Haaland, played for the team, and he grew up supporting the West Yorkshire club.

A common tweet, reel thread and Instagram post that is everywhere: "Two weeks ago, I didn't know about him and now he's the joy of my life."

BTS, ARMY and pop culture joy

The Norwegian star lives by the internet's favourite rule: Never let them know your next move. And one of those moves could be clutching a racoon, after a World Cup exit.

Haaland refuses to stay inside football's algorithm. One day he's a striker. The next he's somehow part of BTS (South Korean K-pop (Korean pop music) band) fandom jokes. Real ones would be a little too well aware about the hopes and dreams of the blonde-haired player standing next to Jimin, who is currently growing out his locks too. The inside jokes compounded to the point that a football fan and ARMY attended a concert, with Haaland and Jimin's poster. Jimin was so amused by it, that he giggled, did a hair flip, and imitated Haaland's famous walk on the pitch.

And that's just one aspect of pop culture. Haaland's everywhere, now.

When old interviews keep resurfacing

So, even if you knew nothing about football and were trying to live a quiet and peaceful life without someone throwing a scoreboard at you or dissecting Messi's tactics, you wouldn't have missed hearing about Haaland. Everyday, you learn new things about a man that you didn't know two weeks ago. For instance, if you didn't know that he watched Hannah Montana…well, now you know.

In 2023, speaking to The Sun, his old roommate Magnus Lundal had some fun facts to share about him. "Having lived close to one of the world's best footballers is something fun to lo ok back on and a cool experience. He was very relaxed and strong in his head and didn't seem to be very nervous, even though it was his first internationals ever."

He added, "I remember the first thing that greeted me was that Erling had been to the cinema and bought some sweets. He ran into the hotel and wanted us to hit the elevator as quickly as possible so no coaches could see him. I remember that well. He also watched Hannah Montana without thinking it was embarrassing at all, and had a good laugh about it."

To quote someone who re-shared the interview, "Only five more original sentences in the world left."

Those old stories are resurfacing now for a reason. Norway's World Cup journey may have ended in the quarter-finals, but Haaland is still winning.

The friendship that won football

And there's the burst of sportsmanship that football needs, but doesn't witness.

The defeat to England sparked plenty of debate over missed passes, substitutions and what might have been. During the rather intense match between Norway and England, while enough and more has been said about Haaland not getting a pass and being subbed, fans also noticed his cheery sportsmanship with Jude Bellingham. It is not often that you see, a little gentle goofing around on the field, driving home a point that most fans, players forget: Football can be a beautiful, joyous sport. It brings the storm and the drama, but it can also bring forth the friendships hidden in deep rivalries.