Norway striker Erling Haaland will face the country of his birth when the two nations meet in Miami on Saturday in the World Cup quarter-finals.
The 25-year-old has scored seven goals in four appearances at the tournament, adding to his 16 goals across eight qualifying matches before the competition began.
Norway’s last World Cup appearance came in 1998, meaning Haaland was not yet born the previous time his nation competed at the tournament.
His decision to represent Norway rather than England was never seriously in doubt, despite his birth in Leeds while his father Alf-Inge was still playing for Leeds United before moving to Manchester City.
When former England manager Gareth Southgate was asked in 2020 about the possibility of Haaland representing the Three Lions, he was unequivocal in his response.
“With players like him, they’re quite clear where they want to play,” Southgate said. “He feels that allegiance to the country that he’s playing for now and you’re always very respectful of that.”
The Haaland family relocated to Bryne in Norway in 2003 following his father’s retirement through injury, and it was there that the young striker’s talent was first identified and developed.
He progressed through the youth ranks at Bryne before signing for Molde in 2017, where he was managed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and later made his name at Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund before joining Manchester City in 2022.
Norwegian football journalist Andreas Korssund told BBC Sport that Haaland’s global fame has not changed who he is at heart.
“Despite Haaland’s global superstar status, he remains the exact same guy,” Korssund said. “He knows exactly where he comes from and regularly visits his small hometown in Rogaland. He is incredibly proud of his roots and always makes himself available to the Norwegian press when representing his country.”
Haaland wears the name Braut Haaland on the back of his Norway shirt, combining his mother’s maiden name with his father’s surname in keeping with Norwegian tradition.
He has fully embraced the country’s Viking heritage, most visibly when he led his team-mates in the Viking Row celebration after Norway knocked five-time winners Brazil out in the last 16.
Korssund is unequivocal about what Haaland represents to an entire nation of just over 5.5 million people.
“Haaland means everything to Norway,” Korssund said. “He has become an unprecedented superstar in the world’s biggest sport. For a nation of just over 5.5 million people to produce one of the absolute greatest footballers on the planet is immense.”
Norway are not simply a one-man team, however, with captain Martin Odegaard arriving in the United States fresh from winning the Premier League with Arsenal and contributing three assists in the tournament.
Alexander Sorloth, Jorgen Strand Larsen, Oscar Bobb, Patrick Berg, Sander Berge and Antonio Nusa have all played significant roles in what many are calling Norway’s golden generation.
“We look at this similarly to what happened with Belgium’s golden generation a few years ago — a relatively small nation that simply bleeds football,” Korssund said.
Haaland currently sits on seven goals in the race for the Golden Boot, sandwiched between Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane on eight and six respectively, with Lionel Messi also in contention.
Norwegian journalist Lars Sivertsen believes Haaland’s personality sets him apart from the typical image of a Scandinavian sporting hero.
“I think Erling is in some ways not a completely typical Norwegian,” Sivertsen said. “He’s confident and can be a little bit brash. He knows his value and he knows his quality and he backs himself.”
“Scandinavia has a culture that’s more about humility. Erling would complain if he was on the bench. So I think he is a little bit untypical of Norwegians.”
Sivertsen added that despite any cultural differences, the pride felt across Norway in what Haaland has achieved is extraordinary and unlike anything the country has experienced before.
“He is now just in a different strata of star than what we are used to from our sporting heroes,” Sivertsen said. “But I think if you look across the country, there is just an extraordinary sense of pride that a player doing the things he does is from our country.”
