How Erling Haaland became footballs first algorithm-made superstar

New DelhiJul 18, 2026 03:27 PM IST Haaland, the 25-year-old Norwegian striker, has been so much on the internet in the past few weeks that writing anything more about him can seem superfluous. (Image created with Canva)Names of football stars, it seems, rise and fall just as swiftly as the spherical ball they kick around, especially about the time of the quadrennial World Cup. If before, it had everything to do with the game they played on the turf, now, in the age of reels and memes, it has also to do with their virality. The World Cup still creates stars, but social media now turns them into internet personalities — drawing in even those who don’t watch football. It will be difficult not to follow that line without the mention of Erling Haaland. Haaland, the 25-year-old Norwegian striker, has been so much on the internet in the past few weeks that writing anything more about him can seem superfluous. He was already a celebrated player before the World Cup but grew into a mini legend this season with a historic seven goals in five games that put Norway in the quarter finals for the first time.But his huge fan following is not made of only football fans, and this is what we are talking about. In the past few weeks, social media was suddenly flooded with videos about the antics of Haaland, a man with long golden hair, towering high across the football ground, casually kicking or heading the ball when he has to. There was the funny Haaland walk and the faces he made. Someone dug out an old banned German song called Moskau from 1979 and wrote a Haaland anthem to its tune: Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaland, Haaland. But best of all were videos of him talking about joking around and “needing to enjoy the moment… because nothing lasts forever, and we have to just enjoy it while we are here.” He was admirably modest when Norway beat Brazil 2-1 and Haaland said that Brazil deserved to be in the finals, it was a football country that he grew up watching. Finally, even Google gave him a token, with a ‘Viking Row’ tribute – Vikings marching on the screen when someone searched his name. It is perhaps this mix of brilliance and relatability that has made Haaland’s appeal spill far beyond football fans. It is perhaps this mix of brilliance and relatability that has made Haaland’s appeal spill far beyond football fans.More than football, it’s the personality Haaland’s is only one story of this phenomenon of growing popularity of celebrities – in sports or movies or television – not just for the work they do but also the off-screen, off-pitch persona they exhibit. There is Lamine Yamal from Spain, only 19, who literally grew up in the time Argentina’s Lionel Messi was making his way to becoming one of the greatest football players.Story continues below this ad A 2007 photo of the two of them has been going viral – in which Lamine as a baby in a tub is given a bath by a 20-year-old Messi, long-haired and at the doorstep of his famous career. It was taken as part of a charity photo-shoot and nearly two decades later, the two are about to face each other in the World Cup finals! Lamine, the youngest to have represented Spain three years ago, is already a favourite of football fans. But then he has got a following even among the non-fans, for the adorable reels with his toddler brother Keyne Yamal. The three-and-a-half-year-old is often spotted among the audience, cheering for his brother with a number 19 jersey (worn by Lamine), or else in videos with his brother, goofing around and dancing together and just being a little child. Lamine’s on-field aggression is in direct contrast with his off-pitch playfulness when he is with the toddler. It is these glimpses, rather than goals alone, that travel furthest on social media, making footballers feel familiar even to those who have never watched a full match. Story continues below this ad When the algorithm creates fans Both Haaland and Lamine are exceptionally good players, their massive fan following n