Did Norway Just Take the Greatest World Cup Team Photo Ever?
David Yarrow used longships, Viking clothing and a digitally inserted Martin Ødegaard to frame Norway’s World Cup trip as a team-bonding exercise.
- The Norway national football team, including superstar striker Erling Haaland, has gone viral for a Viking-themed photograph by photographer David Yarrow. The squad, dressed in Norse warrior gear with swords and shields, prepares for their upcoming FIFA World Cup appearance.
- Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness said the team chose to "take ownership" of the Viking narrative, aiming to foster team spirit. The squad returns to the FIFA World Cup after a 28-year absence from the tournament.
- Yarrow digitally inserted Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, who was playing in the Champions League final, into the group shot. The photographer ensured players worth £200m and those worth £250,000 occupy equal space in the frame.
- The image has received more than 15,000 reposts on X, though critics in Norway labeled the Viking aesthetic "chauvinistic and exclusionary." Some journalists expressed concern regarding the imagery promoting colonization, pillaging, and raiding during the Viking era.
- Yarrow noted the squad is "a seriously good football team" as they prepare for their opening game against Iraq on June 16 in Foxborough. Norway hopes to carry this unified momentum into their first match of the tournament.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Norway Lays Down the World Cup Gauntlet with a Viking-Themed Team Photo
Imagine you’re the Iraqi World Cup squad preparing for your first match against Norway just 11 days from now, trying to figure out how you’re going to contain the monster that is Man City forward and Norway icon Erling Haaland, and you see this: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Herrelandslaget (@herrelandslaget) I mean, themed national soccer photos have a history of being super cringe, but…
The Norwegian team decided to present their World Cup in an original as well as spectacular way. A few days after the start of the 2026 World Cup, the Scandinavian combination launched a large-scale photographic production in which their footballers appear characterized as Viking warriors, in a staging that combines history, national identity and visual spectacle.
Erling Haaland in 'Viking' mode; Norway team's stunning warrior-styled photoshoot ahead of FIFA WC
Haaland also posted a picture of himself with a sword and shield in his hand, ready to take the World Cup by storm, just like he has been doing in English and European Football as a part of the trophy-winning juggernaut of Manchester City.
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