Norway’s World Cup machine, web’s ‘babygirl’

Erling Haaland stands at 6 feet, 5 inches, an intimidating force who could make fellow soccer players look tiny in stature and talent. Scoring seven goals across 4 World Cup matches entering Saturday, the Norwegian player has been described as a machine. But should you ask some loyal recent fans, he’s also a babygirl and princess.

Haaland has turn into a social media phenomenon, together with his own posts and memes from others turning even football novices into diehard fans.

His domineering physical appearance coupled together 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 by which he proclaimed Shrek his “twin.” The contrast between his strength and skill on the sector and his softer, looser online presence has also subjected him to the “babygirl” treatment online. That term is used incessantly by fans of endearing male celebrities or characters who come across as sensitive, caring or vulnerable.

READ: World Cup: All eyes on Erling Haaland as Norway faces England

Haaland is emblematic of a broader embrace of soccer players as popular culture figures, driven largely by how they present themselves off the pitch.

Haaland as a ‘pretty Norwegian princess’

Sarah Wilson, a baseball content creator in Recent York, is recent to following soccer, but has turn into a sufficiently big fan prior to now month that she launched into a lengthy hunt to purchase the jersey of her recent favorite player.

“I like Erling Haaland greater than life itself,” Wilson, 31, said in a now viral video. “I cannot fathom being such a fairly Norwegian princess and likewise being the most effective strikers in all of football.”

Haaland is being catapulted right into a fame much more intense than he had already referred to as the Premier League’s top scorer. This moment boils all the way down to the pairing of elite skills with quirky personality, Wilson said.

“Him being really, really talented — that’s the primary pillar of all of it. And then you definitely discover that he’s 25 years old and he’s probably essentially the most Gen Z athlete within the World Cup,” Wilson told The Associated Press, noting his use of Snapchat and goofy filters in photos online. Many are pondering, “‘Wow, I like that guy, he’s hilarious. Now he’s my recent favorite player,’ which is strictly what happened with me,” she added.

Haaland’s expressive reactions on the pitch and his unique appearance have spawned a whole bunch of memes. He’s 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.

READ: Erling Haaland-led World Cup run stirring up pride for Norway fans

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 — its wiry roots standing in as his hair — Haaland responded within 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… search my name on Google,” with a winking emoji.

Haaland said in a team news conference on Thursday that he’s enjoyed being embraced within the U.S.

“I feel it’s a great thing because I just like the Americans. I feel they’re type of hilarious as well. They’re funny. I like the best way they’re,” he said. “I feel it’s just good and truthfully, on each thing, the World Cup thus far here has been amazing.”

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’s natural that Haaland has “crossed over” into non-soccer audiences, he said. A song from his youth has gone viral. A lookalike contest is within the offing. Even dogs are sporting blond wigs.

“There was once a complete lot of gatekeeping that might occur with athletes; you’d only ever hear from athletes perhaps in an interview or in a press conference,” Kassing said. Haaland is evidence of how players have far more control in shaping their image now, he added.

Fans also attempt to ‘shape the perception’ of their favorite players

Fans’ access to athletes contributes to what is known as 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 a long time. Haaland’s fans feel like they know him on a private level, but he doesn’t know the nearly 60 million individuals who follow him on Instagram alone.

READ: World Cup: Erling Haaland sends Norway to quarters, eliminates Brazil

Nearly all of parasocial relationships are “positive, healthy and normal,” Stever said. Only a small percentage of individuals take it to the acute, she said.

Skyla Clarke, a 19-year-old sports management student in Brisbane, Australia — and lifelong soccer fan — says she’s seen that uglier side rear its head; attacks on players after poor performances, and even unprovoked hate toward athletes’ wives and partners are usually not unusual. Haaland himself called AI-generated content of players a “bit scary.” But he noted in Norwegian that the eye on the team and its traditions — the rowing cheer, for instance — is an indication of praise.

“Often if it’s like that, it signifies that you’re doing something right, and that your country is doing something right,” Haaland said.

Even healthy parasocial dynamics can seem unusual to those uninitiated in web culture. Haaland just isn’t the one player whose persona has blown up on social media, neither is he the just one fans have anointed a babygirl.

Fans have described feeling “maternal” toward Luka Modrić — especially after Croatia’s elimination within the 40-year-old’s final international game. Modrić 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 Modrić’s potential retirement reached a whole bunch of hundreds of viewers in a matter of days.

READ: World Cup: Erling Haaland hits late winner, Norway wins first KO game

Modrić himself has a somewhat tame social media presence, especially compared with Haaland, but Kassing noted fans “take it upon themselves to attempt to shape the perception” of those with whom they develop a parasocial attachment. In Modrić and Haaland’s cases, some do that by overlaying bows and hearts on their images.

Ahead of Norway’s match against England within the quarterfinals on Saturday, fans have also focused intensely on Haaland’s friendship with English player Jude Bellingham, his former teammate. Some have “shipped” the 2 footballers, making edits of them hugging or celebrating together and drawing comparisons to the tv sensation “Heated Rivalry,” by which two pro hockey opponents develop a romance off the ice.

“People have been saying ‘heated Haalandry,’” said Nulara Ratwatté, a 19-year-old art student on the University of Melbourne. She’s one among many fans whose videos about their newfound love of Haaland have gone viral.

Ratwatté said she’s “not imagined to discuss football” due to her lack of information, 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.

“Truly, from the underside of my heart,” she said, “I like him.”