The Norwegian “Viking row” celebration has been the ubiquitous sensation of the 2026 World Cup. Norway fans have rowed in Times Square, rowed on escalators and rowed at NFL stadiums around the U.S. in unison with their national soccer team, led by the quintessential Viking himself, superstar striker Erling Haaland.
The demonstration is inclusive and iconic. And according to news reports in Scandinavia—it’s also Swedish.
A recent report in Aftenposten, the largest newspaper in Oslo, Norway, noted that crowds rowing Viking-style have been a popular feature at concerts for the Swedish metal band Amon Amarth since at least 2009. Indeed, the band’s official TikTok has a 2023 video of an arena full of fans in Glasgow performing the distinctive seated “row!”
“Long before rowing found its way to the football stands,” the Aftenposten report wrote on June 25, “it was already a fixture in the metal scene. And it is especially famous through … the Swedes.”
Morten Ramm, a Norwegian comedian, posted an Instagram video of Amon Amarth fans rowing at another metal concert. “The least you could do now is give [the band] a listen to help boost his royalties,” Ramm wrote in the caption.
