Prateek Tanmay
3 min readNew DelhiJul 8, 2026 01:53 PM IST
While Erling Haaland continues to grab attention for his performances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Norway striker has unexpectedly found himself at the centre of a viral social media moment.
It all started when Instagram creator Emma Kate Willman uploaded what was meant to be a straightforward hair tutorial, showing viewers how to French braid their hair. But instead of discussing the hairstyle, viewers became fixated on something else entirely—many believed she looked remarkably similar to Haaland.
The comments quickly snowballed, with users pointing to her blonde hair, facial features, and expressions as reasons for the uncanny resemblance. The reel exploded online, crossing 33 million views as thousands joined the conversation.
Watch the video:
Erling Haaland reacts
The internet chatter eventually reached Haaland himself, and the footballer decided to lean into the joke.
Dropping by the comments section, he simply wrote, “Hi” along with a thumbs-up emoji, a response that only fuelled the viral moment.
In a follow-up video, Willman admitted she never expected her braid tutorial to become a discussion about one of football’s biggest stars.
“In light of the World Cup, I swear if I get one more comment saying that I look like Erling Haaland,” she said, revealing that the attention had dramatically boosted her social media following.
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She added that she had gained “probably close to three or four thousand followers on Instagram today”.
Taking the comparisons in good humour, she joked, “First of all, the best doppelganger you give me is a male soccer player. Really? Can’t we just go back to when you guys were calling me Zara Larsson, please? No offence to Haaland at all, but I am very much just a little girl from Charleston.”
Internet can’t stop making Haaland jokes
The resemblance quickly became an online talking point, with users flooding the comments section with jokes and memes. Some claimed she looked like Haaland’s sister, while others said they couldn’t unsee the similarity once it had been pointed out.
An Instagram user wrote, “Haaland’s long lost sister.”
Another commented, “I thought i will be the first one to call her Haaland but even Haaland wrote her before me.”
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A different user dubbed her the “Haaland female version,” while another joked, “Yo nice brace vs Brazil congrats on getting to the quarter finals.”
One more quipped, “Can’t believe this gurl eliminated Brazil.”
Away from social media, Haaland continues to shine on the pitch. The striker has been instrumental in Norway’s impressive run at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, helping the nation book a place in the quarter-finals for the first time in its history.
