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Norway star Erling Haaland is certainly feeling the love on his 26th birthday.
Haaland, who scored seven goals in five matches for Norway, validated all the hype surrounding him at the 2026 World Cup. What made his production even more impressive was that he was legitimately carrying his country's hopes and dreams on his back.
“It was a lot of pressure. It is a lot of pressure now still, but yeah, I could feel it ever since I started with the national team, the pressure [to get to a World Cup]. The more time I’ve been there, the more pressure, of course, on my shoulders. But again, even better that we managed to do it, and it’s an amazing feeling,” Haaland said, via ESPN. “To qualify for the World Cup is a really special thing. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be amazing. Finally.”
Although the Manchester City striker fell short of winning the World Cup, he earned the respect of millions of sports fans this summer.
In fact, Haaland is so beloved right now that a simple birthday post on Instagram received over 2.8 million likes in just four hours.
Haaland is a global superstar.
According to Sportico, Haaland gained 32.1 million Instagram followers during the World Cup.
Sam Lee of The Athletic, meanwhile, said Haaland's popularity spiked just like Travis Kelce's did when he first started dating Taylor Swift.
"Haaland’s camp has been told that social-media algorithms are being geared towards Haaland content, because that is where the demand is," Lee wrote. "His boom in popularity in the US has been likened to when Travis Kelce began dating Taylor Swift and then his Kansas City Chiefs team won that season’s Super Bowl."
If Haaland ever signs a deal with an MLS team, he'll immediately vault to the top of the list for most popular athlete in America.
