MIAMI — Norway is on a historic run at the World Cup.
Back at the tournament for the first time in 28 years, the Scandinavian country will face England in its first ever World Cup quarterfinal Saturday in Miami. Fans have traveled to the U.S. in droves, bringing their iconic Viking row chant with them.
The team is led by a modern-day Viking in Erling Haaland. The 6-foot-4 Manchester City striker has scored seven of Norway’s 12 goals at the tournament this summer, only one behind Golden Boot leaders Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi. He’s also become a sensation with American fans charmed by his blunt social media presence and striking profile on the field.
Haaland was born in Leeds, England, in 2000 to elite Norwegian heptathlete Gry Marita Braut while his father, Alf-Inge Haaland, played for Leeds United in the Premier League. When Haaland was three, the family moved back to his parents’ roughly 13,000-person hometown of Bryne in the southwest Norway municipality of Time. The farming community located about six miles inland from the coast has, locals say, a culture of toughness and hard work, and wind, rain, and cows are plentiful.
The future superstar came up through the youth system at his hometown club Bryne Fotballklubb before he moved to another Norwegian club, Molde, in 2017 at age 16.
