Erling Haaland stands at 6 feet, 5 inches, an intimidating force who can make fellow soccer players look tiny in stature and talent. Scoring seven goals across four World Cup matches entering Saturday, the Norwegian player has been described as a machine. But if you ask some loyal new fans, he\u2019s also a babygirl and princess.<\/p>\n
Haaland has become a social media phenomenon, with his own posts and memes from others turning even soccer novices into diehard fans.<\/p>\n
His domineering physical appearance coupled with his goofy online persona have contributed to the craze. Fans remark on his flowing blond mane, color-coordinated hair ties and playful posts like a Snapchat-filtered selfie in which he proclaimed Shrek his “twin.” The contrast between his strength and skill on the field and his softer, looser online presence has also subjected him to the “babygirl” treatment online. That term is used frequently by fans of endearing male celebrities or characters who come across as sensitive, caring or vulnerable.<\/p>\n
Haaland is emblematic of a broader embrace of soccer players as pop culture figures, driven in large part by how they present themselves off the pitch.<\/p>\n
Sarah Wilson, a baseball content creator in New York, is new to following soccer, but has become a big enough fan in the past month that she embarked on a lengthy hunt to buy the jersey of her new favorite player.<\/p>\n
“I love Erling Haaland more than life itself,” Wilson, 31, said in a now viral video. “I cannot fathom being such a pretty Norwegian princess and also being one of the best strikers in all of football.”<\/p>\n
Haaland is being catapulted into a fame even more intense than he had already known as the Premier League’s top scorer. This moment boils down to the pairing of elite skills with quirky personality, Wilson said.<\/p>\n
“Him being really, really talented \u2014 that\u2019s the first pillar of it all. And then you find out that he\u2019s 25 years old and he\u2019s probably the most Gen Z athlete in the World Cup,” Wilson told The Associated Press, noting his use of Snapchat and goofy filters in photos online. Many are thinking, “\u2018Wow, I love that guy, he\u2019s hilarious. Now he\u2019s my new favorite player,\u2019 which is exactly what happened with me,” she added.<\/p>\n
Haaland\u2019s expressive reactions on the pitch and his unique appearance have spawned hundreds of memes. He\u2019s leaned into this virality, posting cheeky selfies on Instagram, uploading long-form vlogs on YouTube and interacting with fans on his public Snapchat stories, often poking fun at himself.<\/p>\n
After scoring two goals to knock out Brazil, he posted a smug selfie from the locker room with the caption, “Well well well.” When an Instagram video with nearly 100 million views likened his appearance to a green onion \u2014 its wiry roots standing in as his hair \u2014 Haaland responded in the comments with a side-eyeing dog GIF. When Google added a Viking row animation to his search results, Haaland wrote on X, “One thing to do today\u2026 search my name on Google,” with a winking emoji.<\/p>\n
Haaland said in a team news conference on Thursday that he’s enjoyed being embraced in the U.S.<\/p>\n
“I think it\u2019s a good thing because I like the Americans. I think they are kind of hilarious as well. They are funny. I like the way they are,” he said. “I think it’s just good and honestly, on every single thing, the World Cup so far here has been amazing.”<\/p>\n
Sports are a “cultural force,” one on par with politics or religion, said Jeffrey Kassing, an Arizona State University professor who has studied fans’ and athletes’ social media use. It\u2019s natural that Haaland has “crossed over” into non-soccer audiences, he said. A song from his youth has gone viral. A lookalike contest is in the offing. Even dogs are sporting blond wigs.<\/p>\n
“There used to be a whole lot of gatekeeping that would happen with athletes; you would only ever hear from athletes maybe in an interview or in a press conference,” Kassing said. Haaland is evidence of how players have much more control in shaping their image now, he added.<\/p>\n
Fans’ access to athletes contributes to what is called a parasocial relationship, defined by one-way knowing, said Gayle Stever, a professor at Empire State University who has studied the dynamics between celebrities and fans for decades. Haaland\u2019s fans feel like they know him on a personal level, but he doesn\u2019t know the nearly 60 million people who follow him on Instagram alone.<\/p>\n
The majority of parasocial relationships are “positive, healthy and normal,” Stever said. Only a small percentage of people take it to the extreme, she said.<\/p>\n
Skyla Clarke, a 19-year-old sports management student in Brisbane, Australia \u2014 and lifelong soccer fan \u2014 says she’s seen that uglier side rear its head; attacks on players after poor performances, and even unprovoked hate toward athletes\u2019 wives and partners are not uncommon. Haaland himself called AI-generated content of players a “bit scary.” But he noted in Norwegian that the attention on the team and its traditions \u2014 the rowing cheer, for example \u2014 is a sign of praise.<\/p>\n
“Usually if it\u2019s like that, it means that you\u2019re doing something right, and that your country is doing something right,” Haaland said.<\/p>\n
Even healthy parasocial dynamics can seem unusual to those uninitiated in internet culture. Haaland is not the only player whose persona has blown up on social media, nor is he the only one fans have anointed a babygirl.<\/p>\n
Fans have described feeling “maternal” toward Luka Modric \u2014 especially after Croatia\u2019s elimination in the 40-year-old’s final international game. Modri\u0107 is a “special case” whose difficult upbringing amid Yugoslavia’s dissolution plays into how fans characterize him online, Clarke said. Some will incorporate childhood photos of him into their content, creating “a deeper appreciation for him as a player,” she added. Clarke’s TikTok video about Modri\u0107\u2019s potential retirement reached hundreds of thousands of viewers in a matter of days.<\/p>\n
Modri\u0107 himself has a rather tame social media presence, especially compared with Haaland, but Kassing noted fans “take it upon themselves to try to shape the perception” of those with whom they develop a parasocial attachment. In Modri\u0107 and Haaland\u2019s cases, some do this by overlaying bows and hearts on their images.<\/p>\n
Ahead of Norway\u2019s match against England in the quarterfinals on Saturday, fans have also focused intensely on Haaland\u2019s friendship with English player Jude Bellingham, his former teammate. Some have “shipped” the two footballers, making edits of them hugging or celebrating together and drawing comparisons to the television sensation “Heated Rivalry,” in which two pro hockey opponents develop a romance off the ice.<\/p>\n
The Viking Stuns A Giant: 4 Takeaways From Norway’s Historic World Cup Win Over Brazil<\/p>\n
Erling Haaland Still Isn’t Convinced Norway Can Win The World Cup<\/p>\n
England Reveals Plan For Quarterfinals Matchup With Norway: Stop Erling Haaland<\/p>\n
“People have been saying \u2018heated Haalandry,\u2019” said Nulara Ratwatt\u00e9, a 19-year-old art student at the University of Melbourne. She’s one of many fans whose videos about their newfound love of Haaland have gone viral.<\/p>\n
Ratwatt\u00e9 said she\u2019s “not supposed to talk about football” because of her lack of knowledge, but she’s not looking back after catching Haaland fever. She describes him as a “big, friendly giant,” and despite her lack of soccer savvy, she’s now tuning in to cheer Norway on.<\/p>\n
“Truly, from the bottom of my heart,” she said, “I love him.”<\/p>\n
Reporting by The Associated Press.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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