Erling Haaland: famously Norwegian. Even more so, after his exploits at this summer’s World Cup.
The Manchester City striker needed no introduction to football fans around the world this summer
But his maiden turn on the international game’s biggest stage has brought him to the attention of a new raft of the football-oblivious who are tuning in to see just what the fuss is about the beautiful game.
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Erling Haaland: Yorkshire’s finest
You didn’t need to be the world’s greatest vexillologist to pick up the clue as to Haaland’s nationality, given his shirt for most of the tournament has been a blue and white cross on a red background. And also that it says ‘Norway’ on the screen.
But Haaland was not actually born in Norway, as thousands of Leeds United fans can boringly attest at tedious length.
That’s because little baby Erling was in fact born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, thanks to his father’s own football career.
Norway international Alf-Inge Haaland moved to Nottingham Forest in 1993 before moving on to Leeds United in summer 1997.
The elder Haaland would leave for Manchester City in June 2000, just over month before Erling was born on July 21.
However, Alf-Inge retired in 2003 after suffering a serious knee injury, which led to legal action being initiated against Roy Keane before being dropped.
And so, the Haaland family returned to Norway when Erling was just three years old, and he spent the rest of his childhood there before moving to Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg aged 18.
By then, Erling had made his name as one of Europe’s most promising strikers for his teenage exploits with Norwegian sides Bryne and Molde.
A move from Salzburg to German giants Borussia Dortmund followed in 2020, with Manchester City swooping for his signature two years later.
Haaland would technically have been eligible to play for England as a result, as he would have been considered a UK citizen; but he has never held a UK passport, without which he would be unlikely to have been able to prove his eligibility to FIFA.
He was never really interested in playing for England, in any case.