Erling Haaland was the most positively received footballer in the United States during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to analysis by SAMY. The agency ranked him ahead of other leading players on positive sentiment in US social media discussion.
The findings were based on English-language online conversation across X, Bluesky, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and YouTube. The study covered discussion from early May to mid-July and used social listening data from Sprinklr.
According to the agency's figures, Haaland recorded 577,652 global mentions during his first World Cup appearance. That put the Norway striker behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who drew 2,274,665 and 2,251,770 global mentions respectively.
In the United States, Haaland attracted 36,622 mentions. Of those conversations, 43% were positive and 18% were negative, giving him the strongest positive sentiment among the best-known players tracked in the study.
His performances helped drive that attention. Haaland scored seven goals as Norway reached the quarter-finals, making him one of the leading players on the pitch as well as one of the most discussed figures online.
But the data also pointed to interest beyond match action. Social media users responded to his humour, his role in the Norwegian fans' "Viking Row" celebration, his interactions with supporters and his enthusiasm for American culture during the tournament.
Among the moments highlighted were a shopping trip in Texas in cowboy dress, an episode in which he pretended to be Norway's social media manager, and his return home with a taxidermied raccoon holding a bottle of whiskey. Haaland said the raccoon had "followed [him] home".
Audience growth
The surge in attention was reflected in Haaland's own social media accounts. His Instagram following rose from about 40 million at the start of the tournament to more than 70 million, while his TikTok audience increased from 1.1 million to 16.3 million within weeks.
His Instagram Reels had also generated more than 683 million views by the latter stages of the competition. The figures suggest the World Cup expanded his audience well beyond established club and national team followers.
The wider data underlined the continuing pull of football's biggest names. More than half of the conversation around Argentina centred on Messi, while Ronaldo accounted for 77% of discussion around Portugal, showing how strongly the two veterans still dominate attention around their national sides.
Yet Haaland's rise points to a shift in how major tournaments are consumed online. Rather than focusing only on results or teams, audiences are increasingly gathering around individual players and the personalities they display away from the game.
That trend is central to the agency's interpretation of the numbers. It argues that player-led fandom is becoming a bigger force in how global sporting moments unfold across social media, especially when athletes attract interest from people who are not regular football followers.
Jasmin Fischer, Senior Vice-President of Research and Insight at SAMY, addressed that shift in a statement accompanying the findings.
"Erling Haaland was already one of the best soccer players in the world, but this World Cup has turned him into something much bigger. His personality meant that even if you weren't following the soccer, you could not help but notice him.
"The raccoon perhaps sums it up best. It was strange, funny and entirely unexpected, but it also felt completely natural coming from Haaland. It wasn't a polished campaign or a carefully engineered brand moment. It was simply him visibly enjoying American culture and bringing his fans, both old and new, along for the ride.
"That authenticity has helped him reach people who may not previously have followed Manchester City, Norway or even soccer. It's a huge opportunity for brands. But it is not as simple as partnering with the athlete generating the most mentions. Social listening helps brands understand why people care, which communities are forming around a player and what those audiences are responding to.
"The temptation will be to manufacture more cowboy hats and raccoon moments. But Haaland's appeal comes from the fact that it feels completely natural. The brands that benefit will be those that understand his connection with audiences and find a credible role within it, without polishing away the personality that made people care in the first place," said Fischer.