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FILE \u2013 A Norway fan cheers during a Group I, World Cup qualifier soccer match between Moldova and Norway on the Zimbru stadium in Chisinau, Moldova, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo\/Aurel Obreja, File)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts \u2014 First it was their fans performing a synchronized \u201cViking row\u201d within the stands at matches.<\/p>\n
Then it was their players donning authentic Viking attire, complete with weapons, shields and long boats, to the backdrop of a fjord for a moody, dramatic photo shoot.<\/p>\n
\u201cA dream 28 years within the making\u2026 let\u2019s do that!\u201d Norway star Erling Haaland wrote on the X platform Monday, reposting the photo of the team together with one among his father, Alfie Haaland, competing for the national team within the 1994 World Cup.<\/p>\n
Norway is leaning into the country\u2019s centuries-old history as its star-studded men\u2019s team, containing Haaland and Martin Odegaard, heads right into a first World Cup in 28 years.<\/p>\n
It has created plenty of pleasure and debate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an ask or an issue from the (photographers),\u201d Norway manager Stale Solbakken said Monday prematurely of his team\u2019s World Cup opener against Iraq. \u201cThe players wanted me to do it. They were positive. The federation was positive. And I used to be average positive. After which we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Norway fan routine sees lines of supporters, wearing Viking helmets and the team\u2019s red-and-blue jerseys, rowing in unison, forward and backward, to the regular beat of a drum.<\/p>\n
Expect it to catch the attention on the World Cup in Norway\u2019s group games at Foxborough, Massachusetts (against Iraq and France) and in Latest Jersey (against Senegal).<\/p>\n
It could potentially have an analogous impact to the \u201cthunder clap\u201d performed by Iceland\u2019s fans on the European Championship in 2016 that resonated around the globe and has since been utilized by many other sports teams.<\/p>\n
The Norwegian soccer federation commissioned British photographer David Yarrow to take the Viking snap, and he said in an interview with The Athletic he knew \u201cit’d get some criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yarrow was right.<\/p>\n
In addition to sparking wonder for its breathtaking backdrop and creativity, it is also regarded by some as controversial for reminiscent of a time \u2014 within the 800s and 900s \u2014 when Norwegian Vikings conducted raids featuring looting and pillaging.<\/p>\n
One commentator, Markus Slettholm from every day paper Morgenbladet, said the photo was chauvinistic and \u201ca bit paying homage to what neo-Nazis were concerned with 10 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solbakken doesn\u2019t see the fuss.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are numerous larger and harder topics,\u201d he said before the World Cup. \u201cI can\u2019t afford to waste time on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yarrow previously worked with Haaland in a solo photo shoot.<\/p>\n