Your bag is empty.
Erling Haaland is the real winner of the 2026 World Cup. Sure, the Norwegian striker and his team lost to England in the quarter-finals, but the game marked Norway’s first time advancing that far into the tournament. In his five games, Haaland scored seven goals, the most of any player on the Norwegian team. This week, he returned home a hero, toting a taxidermied, drunken raccoon—and millions of new fans around the world.
Since he debuted with the Norwegian national team in 2019, Haaland has remained an anomaly in the global soccer scene. At 25 years old, he’s already Norway’s all-time top goalscorer. He’s one of only six Norwegians currently active in the prestigious English Premier League, after signing to Manchester City in 2022. With Man City, he’s earned three Golden Boots, an award given to the League’s top-scoring player each season. Performance aside, Haaland was born to stand out, a natural blond with a sharp jaw, full lips, and the stature of a modern-day Viking. And with his explosion onto the world stage, it was Haaland’s unusual look and sweetie personality that combined to steal your girl.
Haaland is the World Cup’s breakout star, particularly among women, who are going wild for a guy who called himself Shrek’s twin.
Haaland has gained more than 22 million Instagram followers since June. Some undoubtedly arrived after watching his breakout performance on the pitch. But for others, his appeal goes beyond his play to his personality, which is goofier and more vulnerable than one might expect from a world-class athlete. “Haaland is layered in a way that resonated with people,” journalist Sophia Vesely wrote in an article for Sports Illustrated.
This summer, World Cup viewers across the globe were introduced to Haaland not only on the field, but through his Snapchat Stories, which went viral after screenshots circulated on Instagram. The Stories show him poking fun at his own appearance,and referring to his gender as “mixed” because his dad is a boy and his mom is a girl. Where his online shenanigans make him relatable, his fashion choices reflect his $80 million net worth. His collection of designer bags includes several Hermès styles worth over $60,000 apiece. Some Internet trolls find the collection emasculating (see Instagram comment: “female trapped in male body”). But Haaland’s expensive bags have further endeared him to countless fans, particularly women. “i love that they’re chic and fun and that he USES them,” one TikTok user wrote.
Haaland’s gentler attributes are what turned him from a respected soccer player to the world’s communal crush. Search his name on TikTok, and you’ll be inundated with footage of him showing love to young fans, being extra polite to team staff, and matching his hair ties to his jerseys. As one commenter put it, “He’s 100% his goofy self and to me that is the most attractive thing in the world.”
Lucky for you, Haaland won’t actually steal your girl, even if he almost certainly could. He’s dated girlfriend Isabel Haugseng Johansen since 2021, and they have a son together. Still, there’s a lesson to be learned from all the Viking fever. We’re in the year of the masculine-yet-soft guy. Women are expressing fatigue over an increasingly red-pilled dating pool. Haaland offers the reprieve of a gentle giant, one who’s not afraid to make fun of himself or embrace his feminine side, Birkins and all. “I was single for quite a while myself,” he told Norwegian broadcaster NRK in 2025. “If I have any advice? It’s to get out and socialize. Meet people and get to know people. From my experience, you find your girlfriend when you least expect it. If you’re always looking for a girlfriend, you’ll never find one.”
Haaland’s first World Cup may be over, but he’s just happy to have made it. “After being in the quarter-finals with Norway and going straight to holiday, it’s quite nice,” he said in a post-game interview. His fans aren’t going anywhere. Manchester City might have just earned itself a whole new audience, one that can appreciate a slicked-back pony as much as a Golden Boot.