Do we like Erling Haaland?
Our score: 6 out of 10. No harmful words or acts turned up, one or two prickly moments and a thin record on causes keep him in the middle.
Haaland was born in Leeds while his dad was playing there, then grew up in Bryne, a Norwegian town of about 12,000 people. He debuted for his hometown club at 15 and left a year later for Molde. From there it was Red Bull Salzburg, Dortmund and, since 2022, Manchester City, where he keeps breaking scoring records.
The mascot stoush is the messiest thing on his file. In 2025 The Sun reported that a woman working as City's mascot accused him of hitting her on the back of the head after a match. City denied it, said its review of video found nothing to back the claim and called it a “gentle tap”. Police were notified but the matter did not proceed for lack of evidence, and Haaland himself hasn't commented publicly.
On the pitch he can be spiky. After a late equaliser against Arsenal in 2024 he threw the ball at an opponent, and later said “I don't regret much in life.” He also has form for short, grumpy press moments, and he was reported to have said he'd stop answering persistent questions at the 2026 World Cup, though that's a charm issue, not a harm one.
On the harm test, the honest result is that there's not much to find. We found no statement from him on trans rights, LGBTQ+ people, women, climate or vaccines, good or bad, and no run of dodgy associations. He did back a Norway squad protest in 2021, wearing shirts reading 'Human rights, on and off the pitch' for migrant workers in Qatar. His critics might point to a Budweiser World Cup ad that a Norwegian prevention group called problematic, since Norway bans alcohol advertising. The football federation said he had a personal deal and was entitled to it.
The recent drama is mostly legal and sporting. Norway lost 2-1 to England in extra time in the World Cup quarter-final, and his father Alfie vented at the referee on social media. Erling himself gave no direct comment in that report. Now he's in Oslo District Court over the plane ad, which his lawyer says used his distinctive signs without permission.
The good stuff is real but modest on the record. The Norway Football Federation, not Haaland, gave the ticket money from the Israel qualifier to Doctors Without Borders. We didn't see him say anything on it, so we don't credit it to him. He is on record as saying he's “still just the same guy” from his hometown, and nothing found suggests he's turned on anyone.