Sports

Erling Haaland came to England with a reputation for goals and grumpiness. This is how he has changed

Published

2 months ago

July 8, 2026

Erling Haaland is the hottest ticket in town. Whether it is because he sits just behind Lionel Messi in the World Cup goalscoring charts with seven goals, or for his human side when joking around with the mascots in the tunnel before matches, the Norway striker is emerging as the biggest draw of the summer.

He has been invited on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, a sure sign of his popularity in the United States, but the logistics of trying to help his country win the World Cup will probably rule that out.

Could Norway actually win it? When Haaland appeared on the cover of Time magazine last year, he said his country had a 0.5 per cent chance, and that felt about right. They are far from favourites now, but you could not fully rule them out, either.

The fact Haaland was featured on Time magazine’s cover, one of a handful of footballers to reach that crossover, shows his rising stock. People beyond football have been captivated by one of sport’s most engaging characters.

It has not always been like this, though — far from it.

Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app

When Haaland signed for Manchester City in 2022, he carried a reputation for being a serious guy with not a lot to say. He was even known for being rude, thanks largely to a section of an interview when he gave a string of one-word answers.

At the end of that year, he watched Messi and Kylian Mbappe slug it out for the World Cup in Qatar from beneath the glass ceiling that Norway never looked likely to smash through. They had not been at a World Cup since France ‘98, four years after Haaland’s dad, Alf-Inge, played in their midfield at the U.S tournament.

Erling scored 16 goals to help his side qualify for the finals this summer and that run has not stopped — he has scored in each of his past 14 competitive games for Norway, netting 27 goals in those 14 matches. His double against Brazil on Sunday, sealing an unexpected passage into the quarter-finals, has catapulted him to another level of fame.

Where does Haaland rank among the great strikers?

Reuben Pinder, Joe Crisalli and more

He was already regarded as a superstar when he signed for City from Borussia Dortmund — Real Madrid also wanted him, and probably always will — and he was already highly marketable. But in hindsight, he felt off-limits.

He has always scored goals, always looked like a Viking, and, since a growth spurt at 15, been tall, broad and fast. But there was not the depth to his image that there is now.

On the City beat, he generally did one big media appearance per season. He first spoke to journalists at the very end of his first season, before the Champions League final that he helped them reach. He was part of the club’s media day, and it was treated as if Elvis were coming along to give seven minutes of his time.

The first couple of times he gave press conferences before Champions League games, it was considered so rare and interesting that The Athletic published special articles on the experience of hearing him talk.

To some extent, the change in Haaland is simply down to growing up. He was 19 and 20 when he was thrust in front of microphones and asked to offer his thoughts, but if he had any, he did not really want to share them. Now, he is a 25-year-old man who has won everything worth winning at club level, three out of a possible four Premier League Golden Boot awards, and in January 2025, signed a nine-and-a-half-year contract.

He has captained City and was trusted by former club manager Pep Guardiola. With Norway, he is among friends, as many of the team came through the youth ranks together. In December, he became a father, adding a different perspective on life.

But for a while, Haaland and the people around him have wanted to change the perception that he is a robot who scores goals and has little personality.

Those close to him knew he was a ‘goofball’, to borrow American parlance, and City fans were already familiar with him from the club’s own content, but that did not travel much further.

There can be no greater proof of those goofy credentials than the rap video he and two of his Norway youth team-mates put on YouTube in 2016 — they called themselves the Flow Kingz and the video shows them messing around at a kids’ playground. He is not hugely different now, it was just a question of showing it.

Haaland, according to sources close to him who wished to remain anonymous to protect relationships, recognised that, and wanted to offer fans more than can be achieved through routine pre- or post-match football interviews. When he was growing up and watching Premier League football as a young boy, he would have loved the opportunity to see inside a player’s house, to learn about their routine, to see what they are really like, and that is what he wants to offer people through his own YouTube channel.

That launched in October last year with a behind-the-scenes look at his home life, showing him buying steaks and cooking them on a barbecue, and going through his recovery process with massages and ice baths. Since then, he has surprised fans by turning up at their houses in Halloween fancy dress and shared videos of his golf game. He developed a keen interest in the sport over the past 18 months, often duffing the first tee shot before hitting the second one 300 yards.

The channel was already big enough to attract a partnership with a blockbuster film, The Odyssey, before the World Cup. Haaland’s people wanted to source a sponsor to fund the process of following Haaland around the U.S., and the agreement was made by his agent, Rafaela Pimenta.

The movie, directed by Christopher Nolan, sponsored the first two episodes of his World Cup diaries and would have enjoyed massive exposure — there have been more than nine million views across three episodes. This summer, total views on his channel passed 100 million.

Haaland and his team’s desire to give people the full experience explains their approach to shooting pre-World Cup content with English comedian James Corden for TV network Fox. The striker gave two hours of his time to get fully involved, which included playing table tennis, shuffleboard and decorating a cake.

That said, the closest thing you can get to the full Haaland experience is to follow him on Snapchat, where he, basically, ‘s***posts’ (intentionally, and perhaps ironically, sharing low-quality content) and appears to have less of a filter than he does elsewhere.

As the Time magazine interview suggests, his stock was already high Stateside. Last summer, at the Club World Cup, fans in Philadelphia rushed to the front of the stands to see him warming up for City.

Over the past few days, his camp has been told that social media algorithms are being geared towards Haaland content, because that is where the demand is among users. They have been told his boom in popularity has been likened to when Travis Kelce began dating Taylor Swift and then won the Super Bowl.

Pimenta has already said she believes Haaland could one day be worth £1billion ($1.3bn) and, having cracked America, they have started to branch into the Chinese market. Just before the World Cup, he appeared in a commercial for herbal drink brand Walovi, and set up accounts on the Douyin and Weibo social media platforms.

His marketability is nothing new — he became the ‘Barbarian King’ in popular mobile game Clash of Clans in 2024 — but he could be entering a new chapter of his career given how well his summer has gone to date.

In many ways, he is still the same as he always was. He believes in the marginal gains he was taught by his coaches while playing for his hometown club in Norway — he wears glasses that filter the light, he only looks at his phone at certain times of day, he buys tomahawk steaks from a local farm and drinks raw milk.

Funnily enough, he was probably more approachable in his early days in Manchester. Then, he was photographed in a Sainsbury’s supermarket buying stuff to fill his new city-centre flat, and there was a video of him walking to one of his favourite Italian restaurants in neighbouring Salford. Now, he is too big — physically and figuratively — to go into town, and he has moved out to Cheshire, like many footballers, to set up a home for his young family.

His playing style, too, is something everybody in Manchester is familiar with, but is perhaps captivating to new audiences. It was subtly nodded to in Nike’s big commercial for the tournament, in which Haaland stars despite an endless list of appearances and cameos, including Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Travis Scott and Kim Kardashian.

Haaland is still the main figure and he sits, unmoved, next to a body double — Channing Tatum — for the most part, as the chaos develops elsewhere. It is only in the final scene, when all of the main football stars of the advert, and a small child, chase down the ball and try to score, that he suddenly springs into life. Even Vinicius Junior and Ronaldo himself step aside, providing shocked expressions to add drama, as Haaland, in slow motion, appears from nowhere to tower above the child and volley into the net.

There is a video shot from the stands of MetLife Stadium on Sunday that is not much different: he is strolling around the pitch as usual, head down, showing no inclination to touch the ball, until it is about to be played into the box. Then, he takes a few steps to build up his speed, jumps and powers above Gabriel to crash in one of the best headers of his career.

“People maybe talk that I don’t touch the ball enough and this and that but I don’t care about this. I know what I have to do and it is exactly what I will keep doing,” he said in September 2022, in the spiky way that he had back then. “My dream is to touch the ball five times and score five goals. That’s my biggest dream.”

There is still a searing honesty about him sometimes, as he highlighted during the group stage when he said he did not care about Norway’s game with France, because the French would probably win the match, and the whole tournament.

Erling Haaland carries his team-mates aloft after the win against Brazil (Al Bello/Getty Images)

He is doing his best to change that. The fact he is shining alongside Messi and Mbappe, who are playing for two of the world’s strongest teams, should not be taken for granted, even if he seems to be taking it all in his stride. When he slammed home his second against Brazil, he strutted around with two team-mates on his back.

It is not that Haaland is carrying his country — they are a good team in their own right — but he is certainly the star man, and the figurehead. That is nothing new, but neither he nor Norway have ever experienced anything like this.

Sports

Linz ASK 5 – 1 Celtic

Published

4 minutes ago

August 26, 2026

qasimgillani

Celtic suffered a stunning Champions League play-off collapse as LASK overturned a 3-0 first-leg deficit to win 5-4 after extra-time and sent the Scottish champions crashing into the Europa League.

In one of the worst nights in Celtic’s European history, the Hoops were up 4-0 on aggregate after Callum McGregor extended their 3-0 first-leg advantage early on in Austria.

Asked if it was the worst he’s felt on the touchline, Celtic boss Martin O’Neill said: “Without a doubt. Naturally it took me a long time to get over the UEFA Cup final in 2003, but this was majorly disappointing.”

Despite wobbling after goals from Moses Usor, Robert Ljubicic and a Samuel Adeniran stunner, Celtic were minutes from booking a place in Thursday’s League phase draw before second-half substitute Florian Flecker headed home a 90th-minute equaliser to force extra-time.

Full of all the energy and desire that Celtic whimpered at the sight of, the momentum belonged to the Austrian champions. Adeniran struck from range again in the 109th minute to put LASK in front on aggregate for the first time.

He very nearly added salt to Celtic’s wounds when he stepped up for a penalty moments later, after Reo Hatate fouled Krystof Danek deep, but Viljami Sinisalo kept the spot-kick out to give his side a lifeline.

It was a lifeline that went begging as the full-time whistle confirmed Celtic would miss out on the Champions League for the second consecutive season. Last season they were eliminated on on penalties at this stage to Kairat Almaty.

This year’s failure, given the context of a four-goal aggregate lead, will be an even harder blow.

Once again the Hoops will be involved in the Europa League league-phase draw on Friday.

The key moments from Raiffeisen Arena

6: BIG CHANCE! Celtic move it quickly up the field. Yang plays a ball into the area that Baur latches onto, poking wide of the mark with Hogh running in.
20: LASK CHANCES! The first falls to Mbuyamba in the area, who can’t quite match the flight of the ball to send it goalwards. Any touch on that and Lask would have had a goal. The second has Sinisalo worried, as it strikes the post.
21: GOAL! It’s a smart, smart low strike from McGregor but it takes a nick off Andrade and flies past Jungwirth in the LASK goal.
32: GOAL! IT’S A GIFT! Celtic punished for complacent play at the back. Nygren passes a ball back into no man’s land, putting it on a plate for Usor to stroke past Sinisalo.
48: GOAL! LASK LEAD! Lask are beginning to believe. Ljubicic beats Sinisalo from range with a superb low strike from the edge of the area.
58: GOAL! WHAT A FINISH!!! That is simply superb technique. No chance Sinisalo was getting anywhere near that. The LASK striker is teed up outside the box and curls home.
90: GOAL! LASK MAKE IT FOUR TO SEND IT TO EXTRA TIME! Sinisalo does brilliantly to deny Joao Victor Tornich initially, but he can do nothing about the rebound as Florian Flecker heads home to make it 4-4 on aggregate!
108: GOAL! Nightmare stuff for Celtic as Adeniran strikes from range again. LASK now lead on aggregate.
114: FROM BAD TO WORSE! Hatate brings down Danek in the box gives away a penalty!

O’Neill: We should’ve been out of sight

Celtic boss Martin O’Neill speaking with Amazon Prime:

“We should’ve been out of sight by half-time. We missed two great opportunities and then we gave them a lifeline right before half-time and then another one just after it. They came roaring back. That’s my team, that’s my responsibility.

“At half-time I thought we were still well in command of the game. Just after they score and then momentum goes in their direction. It’s hard to stem it when they’re chasing the game and we can’t get out for 10 minutes.

“These are tough games. This might have been a qualification game but it felt like a Champions League game. That doesn’t matter. Talking about the squad is for another day.

“It’s a massive disappointment. We’re playing in the Europa League but that’s no consolation this evening. There was a feel good factor and that’s a massive disappointment tonight.”

McGregor issues apology to Celtic fans

Celtic‘s Callum McGregor speaking with Amazon Prime:

“We got what we deserved. I thought we were passive all night. We actually looked scared to go and win the game.

“To be honest, I don’t think we were that good in the first leg either and we kind of got away with it. But then you’re up 3-0 and think you have a chance. When you play like that, you can’t have any excuse whatsoever.

“We have to suck it up. We apologise to the supporters and to the club because there’s no way we should lose that game. Now we have to see what character we have.

“You can’t lose the game by such a big margin and look for excuses elsewhere. This is where we see what people are made of in terms of what we achieve this season.”

Your views: ‘Celtic were hapless, hopeless and humiliated’

LJJ: “Absolutely embarrassing for Celtic, maybe Europa League is the level for them since they get into the CL with ease every year but don’t make an impact when actually in it. Maybe that’s their level, but I don’t think they deserve Europe at all after what I’ve just witnessed!”

Jonny: “Celtic got what they deserved. They didn’t exactly play well last week and were lucky to come away with three goals and decided to park the bus, just not good enough.”

Reinaldo7: “Don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Worse than last year against Kairat. Strange choices for subs tonight. Hang your heads in shame boys, they weren’t that special but made us look ordinary. More work needed if we are to succeed in Europe.”

Stevo: “I think this was worse than Kairat. Yes, it’s not ideal losing on penalties to them, but to be 4-0 up and throw that all away, that’s impressively shocking!”

jcluk: “No more LASK chances for Celtic. They were hapless, hopeless and humiliated. Can see them struggling domestically too this season.”

What next for Celtic…

Celtic will play in the Europa League this season. The Europa League league phase draw – involving Bournemouth, Sunderland and Crystal Palace – takes place at 12pm UK time on Friday

Sports

Mayer vs Cameron: Mikaela Mayer feels ‘unbeatable’ ahead of title unification fight against Chantelle Cameron | Boxing News

Published

11 minutes ago

August 26, 2026

qasimgillani

Mikaela Mayer says she feels “unbeatable” and that her blockbuster unification fight against Chantelle Cameron for the world super welterweight titles won’t be close.

British WBO title holder Cameron (22-1, 8 KOs) faces American Mayer (22-2, 5 KOs) at the bp pulse LIVE arena on Saturday – live on Sky Sports – with every bout on the MVPW-06 main card pitting a UK fighter against a US opponent.

WBA and WBC champion Mayer has no shortage of respect for Cameron – who has won her last four fights since a rematch defeat to Katie Taylor in 2023 – but has backed her own ability to unify the titles in front of what is set to be a hostile Birmingham crowd.

“I feel better than ever,” Mayer told Sky Sports. “I just know I just feel unbeatable right now. I feel in a great position and I can’t wait to get out to the UK and do my thing.

“[Cameron] is good at what she does. She’s an aggressive fighter. She lets her hands go.

“She fights at a fast pace and so do I. So that’s going to make for a very exciting fight for the fans.

“But I just don’t think it’s going to be as close and as much of a war as everyone thinks.

“There’s probably a handful of people who think I’m stupid for coming to the UK and going onto Chantelle’s turf, but I’m just confident in myself right now.

“I’m fighting better than I’ve ever fought, smarter than I’ve ever been. And I just believe in myself.

“I feel like no matter where I go, I’m still going to kick butt. So it could be here. It could be there. I’m taking the win.”

Mayer pointed to her “versatility” as a defining factor come Saturday, insisting nothing can prepare Cameron for the new and improved version of the 36-year-old that awaits.

“I’m really hard to train for because I’ve developed so much these last 10 months of being in the gym,” Mayer told Sky Sports.

“I know I haven’t fought since last October but the things I’m doing now, it’s really impossible for Chantelle to have trained for me at this point.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make it a very obvious win, maybe a stoppage, we’ll see, but I know I’m coming out with my hand raised.

“I’ve worked on making sure that my inside game and when I do press forward that my defence is tighter and I’m the one landing my shots. I’ll definitely be using a little bit of everything I’ve got, but knowing mine and Chantelle’s styles there will definitely be moments where it will be a dog fight.”

Mayer vs Cameron – fighter records

‘A win would be one of the best moments of my career’

The 35-year-old Cameron won the WBO super welterweight title – a belt Mayer had vacated just months after beating Mary Spencer for it – with a dominant victory over Michaela Kotaskova in April.

The significance of the chance to become unified world champion by reclaiming the WBO crown is not lost on Mayer, with the American describing the prospect of victory as a career-defining moment.

“[A win would be] definitely up there with one of the best [moments].

“I’ve had a pretty awesome career. Even though I’ve gone through some ups and downs, I think that’s what makes my career even more special and what makes these big fights that are ahead of me extra special.

“I’ve had to go through trials and tribulations – I’ve had to adjust, I’ve had to make changes in my team and keep continuing to get better – and I’ve done that.

“Going in there and having a dominating performance against someone like Chantelle Cameron, who is very highly respected – the only person to beat Katie Taylor – that’s going to definitely be one of the best moments of my career thus far.”

The upcoming bout may not be the last between the two, with Mayer revealing that a rematch clause has been included in the contract of both fighters:

“Well, Chantelle and I do have a rematch clause on both of our ends, which is unique, but if it’s the type of fight that everyone expects, then why not do a rematch?

“Why not give it to the world again? I have no problem giving a rematch when it’s, when it’s justified.

“Do I want to kick her butt so bad that she doesn’t even want to activate that rematch clause? Of course. But if she does, we can go again.”

Watch MVPW-06 in Birmingham, headlined by Mikaela Mayer vs Chantelle Cameron and with Caroline Dubois also in action, live on August 29 on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream boxing with no contract.

Sports

College Football Classic: Bill Belichick’s ‘wisdom’ guiding UNC on Dublin trip to face TCU

Published

18 minutes ago

August 26, 2026

qasimgillani

Belichick arrived at Chapel Hill amid much fanfare, signing a five-year $50m (£36m) deal to join a university which, thanks to the likes of Michael Jordan and legendary head coach Dean Smith, has a far greater legacy in basketball than American football.

His first year in college after almost 50 years in the NFL was markedly below expectations with North Carolina slumping to a 4-8 record.

While some have questioned how last season’s struggles, and his final years with the Patriots, will impact his reputation, linebacker Derek McDonald said it is “pretty special” to be working under the head coach.

“We’re just trying to soak up as much knowledge as we can,” said the transfer from Syracuse.

“He knows so much about football, but not even just about football, about life. He has so much more wisdom than us. He really just preaches the process and doing things the right way.

“He’s in here all day long and he loves football, loves doing everything he can to get us prepared. For us, it’s to understand that if we can work as hard as him and soak up some of that knowledge he has, then we’ll definitely find success.”