Norway star striker Erling Haaland shared a series of light-hearted posts on social media after his side booked a place in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast in the Round of 32.
After the win, Haaland took to X and posted two photographs of himself wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, along with the caption, “Howdy!”
Howdy!🤠 pic.twitter.com/8ve4jH7cVK
— Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) June 30, 2026
Haaland also marked Norway‘s progression to the Round of 16 with a Viking-themed post on X following the victory. He shared a picture of himself wearing a Viking horned helmet along with Norway’s national team jersey, captioning the image with the Norway flag emoji and a red heart emoji.
In another post on X, Haaland celebrated another international milestone after becoming the fastest player to score 60 goals for his national team.
Norway edged past Ivory Coast 2-1 in a tightly contested FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 clash, sealing their place in the Round of 16 thanks to Haaland’s dramatic 86th-minute winner on Tuesday (local time).
“I was dead tired, so I thought, ‘I can’t cope with extra time, so we have to score,'” Haaland told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 after the end of the match.
The goal added another chapter to Haaland’s growing international legacy, as he scored the decisive late strike to send Norway through to the last 16. Ivory Coast, meanwhile, bowed out of the tournament after a spirited display. The match was also a historic occasion for Ivory Coast, marking the nation’s first-ever World Cup knockout fixture.
Norway will now face Brazil in the Round of 16.
Haaland Hailed As ‘Greatest Goalscorer’
Stale Solbakken, Norway’s coach, said the 25-year-old Haaland is “the greatest goalscorer in the world.”
“There’s no doubt about that. Today he wasn’t that much involved. I think he had one big chance in the first half, and now he’s scored the winning goal again. It brings a calmness to the team when you have a player like him, who is in my way very underrated in terms of keeping the ball. Because you see he didn’t lose one ball today,” Solbakken said.
“To score five goals in the World Cup in three games, for a little country like Norway… I wouldn’t swap him for anyone,” he added.
With Agency Inputs
