why the internet is suddenly obsessed with Erling Haaland
since the World Cup began in full bloom, one of the world’s best footballer has most people obsessed — and it’s in a good way.
Erling Haaland has the internet in a frenzy. Not just because he is scoring goals (that part isn’t new), but because people are only just discovering the oddly charming personality behind one of football’s most intimidating players.
They are seeing him for the first time and asking, “Who is this guy?” Others have gone on to gush over him and wonder what he actually is.
As a footballer and as a person, Haaland isn’t the typical superstar you would expect. He posts quirky, funny things on Instagram and Snapchat. He will upload the most random, unimaginable picture and simply go on with it. His captions are unserious and sometimes unhinged, almost like he is posting for his friends instead of his over 40 million followers. This casualness is what people find entertaining.
The thing is: Haaland looks like a Viking. He is huge, physically intimidating, and scores goals as if it were the easiest thing in the world. He is every defender’s nightmare. Everything about his appearance and ability suggests that he should be serious, intimidating, and media-trained. Instead, he is the complete opposite.
Recently, after Norway’s second World Cup group-stage match against Senegal, journalists asked him about his performance. His response was basically along the lines of, “I just score goals. I don’t really know what I’m doing.” Then they asked him about Norway’s upcoming game against France, and he casually joked that France would probably win the match and the whole tournament. It was such an unserious answer. He was smiling the entire time, completely relaxed.
That’s another example of the trait people can’t get enough of. They love the contrast between the monster they see on the pitch and the person they see off it.
Meanwhile, Haaland has always been like this. It’s non-football fans and people who really didn’t know him that are catching up, mostly due to the World Cup. Especially amongst the Americans. They see this giant Viking scoring goals, they become curious, search his name, discover his social media, and suddenly realise this intimidating striker is actually behaving like a completely normal twenty-five-year-old. That’s where they get hooked. Others stumble on posts about him before they’ve even watched any of his matches.
He has also gotten a few new nicknames as people have started calling him “Giant Baby,” “Barbie,” “Princess,” and all sorts of affectionate nicknames in comment sections because they’ve fallen in love with his personality.
We all know how most celebrities become aware of their image. They think carefully about fame, branding, and public opinion. Haaland doesn’t come across that way, at least publicly. He just seems to be enjoying his twenties. On top of that, people often point out how kind he is.
He will give a defender a tough time during a match, then post the picture afterwards with a caption like, “Another day at the office.” His jersey has also been ripped by the same defenders. Sometimes, he celebrates goals with strange expressions or stares into the crowd in the funniest way possible. There are countless examples.
But overall, I think that’s Erling Haaland for you. People are so drawn to him because culture and society have trained us to expect celebrities to be strategic and constantly aware of their image. Haaland definitely threw most of that memo away.
And that’s what people are falling in love with: Erling Haaland the person, not Erling Haaland the striker.
