Norway are returning to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998, with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland commanding much of the global attention surrounding the squad.
But acclaimed British photographer David Yarrow wanted to celebrate the entire group, not just its biggest star, when tasked with creating the squad’s official send-off photo.
Yarrow’s image, entitled ‘The Vikings are coming’, ditched the tired tradition of photographing players on airplane steps in favour of something far more dramatic.
The full squad of 26 players travelled to one of Norway’s famous fjords, where they were photographed head-to-toe in authentic Viking dress, complete with weapons and shields.
The concept grew from a solo shoot Yarrow completed during an international break in 2023, when he photographed Haaland alone in Viking dress, standing waist-deep in an Oslo fjord.
“If you had to choose one sportsperson in the world that doesn’t need much hair and make up to look like a Viking, it’s Erling Haaland,” Yarrow said, adding: “And so it was easy to shoot with him.”
Having built a trusting relationship through that earlier session, Haaland, described as “the unofficial voice of the team”, was keen to bring Yarrow into their World Cup preparations.
Norway captain Martin Odegaard posed a logistical challenge, as he was in Budapest with Arsenal for the Champions League final on the day of the squad shoot.
After the north London celebrations had concluded, Odegaard joined Yarrow for a solo session, with cloudy conditions conveniently matching those of the original shoot, allowing his image to be seamlessly added to the photograph.
Despite the star power of both Haaland and Odegaard, Yarrow was determined that neither should dominate the frame at the expense of their teammates.
“The one thing that was important about that picture is if, in the Norwegian squad, you’ve got someone that’s worth £200m and then you’ve got Watford’s goalkeeper [Egil Selvik] that’s worth £250,000, the third-in-line goalie – that they both occupy the same amount of the frame,” Yarrow told BBC Sport.
“That’s very important for me, that it was not seen to be Haaland and Odegaard and 24 others – it was important to foster a sense of team,” he added.
The photograph will be displayed next to a table tennis table at Norway’s Greensboro base in North Carolina throughout the tournament, and will also fundraise for Norwegian charities.
Yarrow has previous form for creating iconic team images with a historical twist, having photographed Team Europe’s Ryder Cup champions in prohibition-era suits in front of the Manhattan Bridge before their successful title defence at Bethpage Black in September.
Sales of that Ryder Cup image have since raised more than $1m for Irish charities, and Yarrow hopes the Norway photograph can have a similarly lasting impact.
Yarrow attended Norway’s 3-1 warm-up friendly victory over Sweden, in which Jorgen Strand Larsen and Antonio Nusa scored, and came away deeply impressed by the squad’s collective quality.
“People think it’s a team of two people and it’s so not,” said Yarrow, who was born in Glasgow, describing them as “a seriously good football team, from their wingers to their backs.”
The Glasgow-born photographer has a personal connection to World Cup history, having captured an iconic image of Diego Maradona holding the trophy at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City when he was just 20 years old.
Now recognised as the third best-selling sports photograph of all time, Yarrow says the picture “changed my life”, and the Estadio Azteca will host a World Cup match once more on Thursday as Mexico face South Africa.
Yarrow has been invited to a ceremony marking the occasion but admitted his loyalties lie elsewhere, saying: “I’m far too nervous about Scotland v Haiti. It’s masochism, really. We know we’re all in for a horrid 10 days. But we can’t help ourselves.”
