Erling Haaland didn’t bring home the World Cup. He brought home a raccoon.
Specifically, a taxidermied raccoon clutching a bottle of whiskey. The thing cost $750. And footage from the airport in Oslo shows the Manchester City star walking off the plane with it tucked under his arm like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
The 25-year-old made his World Cup debut this summer and scored seven goals across Norway’s run. The team went further than any Norwegian men’s side ever has, which is why thousands of people lined the streets of Oslo for an open-top bus parade. That part was expected. The raccoon was not.
It’s called the “Whiskey Raccoon H-MT-F” and it comes from Wild Bill’s Western Store, which is exactly the kind of place you’d expect to sell a $750 stuffed raccoon drinking whiskey. Haaland apparently picked it up while he was in the U.S. for the tournament. Nobody’s sure if he bought it as a joke, a souvenir, or something else. He hasn’t said.
Norway’s best World Cup run ends with a strange souvenir
Norway didn’t win the whole thing. But they made it further than anyone back home expected. Haaland carried the offense, and the team played with a kind of freedom you don’t always see from smaller nations on the big stage. The fans showed up. The bus parade was real. But the image that’s going to stick is Haaland walking through the airport with that raccoon.
Social media has had a field day with it. Some people are calling it the most Haaland thing he’s ever done. Others are trying to figure out if the raccoon is supposed to be a good luck charm or if he just saw it and thought, yeah, that’s mine. Either way, it’s now in Norway. It has a whiskey bottle. It exists.
The team has not confirmed whether the raccoon made it onto the bus during the parade. But given that Haaland carried it off the plane, it’s probably somewhere in his house right now, staring at him.
Norway’s World Cup run is over. The raccoon’s journey is just beginning.
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