Erling Haaland has been K-popified: From Jisoo-NCT moments to custom Birkins, 5 reasons why fans think Norway striker has entered his K-pop idol era

Norway striker Erling Haaland has completely taken over our FYPs, and we're enjoying every bit of it. His on-field heroics hardly need an introduction. The Manchester City star has already scored four goals in his first two FIFA World Cup 2026 matches, netting back-to-back braces against Iraq and Senegal to fire Norway into the knockout rounds and put himself in the Golden Boot race alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé.


Long hailed as a modern-day Viking thanks to his towering 6-foot-5 frame and Usain Bolt-like pace, Haaland has become one of football's most intimidating forces. But lately, it's his off-field antics that have the internet in a chokehold.

The Norwegian superstar has become so popular across fandoms, from football and pop culture to anime circles, that fans are joking he has been "K-popified." In internet terms, that means he's become a hit-tweet-generating machine whose every interaction is monitored by fans. Whether he's cracking jokes, posting on Snapchat (his latest hobby), or simply existing, the reactions are instant. It's as endearing as it is hilarious, and somehow Haaland keeps giving the internet exactly what it wants.

So, as the buzz surrounding World Cup and Haaland continues to grow, we are sharing some of our favourite Haaland viral moments that prove he's the new internet darling.


Perhaps the most iconic example of Haaland's accidental K-popification is the resurfaced 2023 interview when he met BLACKPINK's Jisoo during Manchester City's pre-season tour in South Korea. During their conversation, Jisoo, who is five years older than the Norwegian striker, playfully asked him to call her "Jisoo noona", which means the Korean term younger men use for an older sister. Haaland shyly obliged with a perfectly pronounced "Hi, Jisoo noona," instantly sending both football fans and BLINKs into meltdown mode. The crossover only got bigger when Haaland attempted Jisoo's viral Flower challenge and gifted her a personalised Manchester City jersey.

These clips have become a fandom classic, with both football fans and K-pop stans repeatedly bringing it back into circulation. If there was ever proof that the striker had been unofficially adopted by internet fandom culture, "Jisoo noona" was it.

Then there's Haaland's hair-tie obsession. Fans have noticed that the striker often matches his hair ties with his training kits and match-day outfits, a level of coordination usually associated with K-pop idols rather than footballers. He's also notoriously protective of his famous blond locks, regularly fixing them mid-game and making it clear that nobody else gets to play with them. Naturally, fans have dubbed it his "diva era."



When the internet starts tracking your hair accessories with the same enthusiasm as your goals, you've officially been K-popified.

And then there are the handbags. Somewhere along the way, fans realised he was collecting Hermès Birkins, a collection that could give K-pop idols a run for their money. The striker has been spotted carrying ultra-luxury bags worth tens of thousands of dollars, while reports about his growing Hermès collection have become a recurring topic online. At one point, fans even calculated that the bags linked to him were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.


The result? Football fans now discuss Haaland's accessories the same way K-pop stans discuss airport fashion.

If the Jisoo noona saga wasn't enough, fans have now resurrected another piece of Haaland lore: his 2023 photos with NCT's Doyoung. The images were taken at Dolce & Gabbana's Alta Moda event in Italy, where the football superstar and K-pop idol posed together for photos. Haaland even shared one of the pictures on Instagram and later recorded a message for NCT member Jungwoo, who happens to be a huge fan of the striker.

Nearly three years later, the photos are making the rounds again thanks to World Cup fever, with fans joking that Haaland "almost joined NCT."


Whoever convinced the Norwegian striker to download Snapchat deserves a medal, because his stories have become appointment viewing for fans. Whether he's posting chaotic selfies, firing off unexpectedly savage captions, or casually trolling himself, screenshots of his snaps regularly escape the app and rack up hundreds of thousands of views across X, TikTok, and Instagram.

At this point, Haaland's Snapchat posts generate almost as much discussion as his performances on the pitch. When your social media stories become part of your fandom lore, you've officially crossed into idol territory.