--- title: "Haaland and Norway catch the wave, rowing into World Cup knockouts" description: "After a 3-2 win over Senegal sealed a place in the round of 32, Erling Haaland and his Norway teammates dropped to the turf and joined their fans in the 'Viking Row' — the latest crowd ritual to go viral at the 2026 World Cup." category: "Sports" category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/sports author: "Priya Sharma" published: 2026-06-23T14:07:00.000Z updated: 2026-06-23T14:07:00.000Z canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/haaland-and-norway-catch-the-wave-rowing-into-world-cup-knockouts tags: ["Erling Haaland", "Norway", "World Cup 2026", "Senegal", "football", "Martin Odegaard"] --- # Haaland and Norway catch the wave, rowing into World Cup knockouts After a 3-2 win over Senegal sealed a place in the round of 32, Erling Haaland and his Norway teammates dropped to the turf and joined their fans in the 'Viking Row' — the latest crowd ritual to go viral at the 2026 World Cup. When the final whistle blew on Monday, Erling Haaland did not sprint to the corner flag or slide across the grass. Instead, the Norway striker sat down on the turf, faced the travelling supporters, and started to row. Norway's [3-2 victory over Senegal](https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/erling-haaland-scores-2-more-goals-and-norway-beats-senegal-32-to-reach-world-cup-round-of-32) on June 22 booked a place in the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But the lasting image of the night was what came afterward: players and staff arranged in rows near the penalty area, swaying like oarsmen and chanting "Ro!" — Norwegian for "row" — while midfielder Martin Odegaard kept time on a drum. ## A goal machine, on cue Haaland did the heavy lifting on the scoreboard, striking twice in the second half to turn the match Norway's way and taking his tournament total to four goals. His self-assessment afterward was characteristically blunt. "It's my specialty to score goals," he told reporters, per [FOX Sports](https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/erling-haaland-scores-2-more-goals-and-norway-beats-senegal-32-to-reach-world-cup-round-of-32). "I'm just really good at scoring goals." Senegal's Ismaila Sarr twice dragged his side back into contention, but a late strike arrived too late to matter. ## What is the 'Viking Row'? The Viking Row is a supporters' ritual in which fans sit in the shape of a longboat and mime rowing in unison to a drumbeat — a seafaring cousin of the slow, building handclap that Iceland made famous. According to [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49149682/erling-haaland-norway-join-viking-row-win), Norway fans had performed it earlier in the tournament before the players decided to join in. The chant's lineage is more well-travelled than its name suggests. Iceland's celebrated "thunder clap" — the template for these displays — was not a relic of Norse warriors at all but a Scottish import, picked up by fans of the Reykjavik club Stjarnan on a 2014 visit to Motherwell and carried home for the [Euro 2016 campaign](https://theweek.com/74029/iceland-chant-seismic-euro-2016-war-cry-comes-from-scotland). After Iceland's run to the quarter-finals that summer, supporters across Europe adopted it. Norway's nautical twist is the newest branch on that family tree. ## A captain's drum and a player's sign-off Haaland said the decision to take part was made on the spot. "I saw it online; it's gone completely viral," he said, per ESPN, adding that Odegaard had floated the idea before kickoff: "Martin asked me before the game: 'Do you think we should join in?' I said, 'If we win, let's do it, why not?'" Not everyone in the Norway camp expects it to last. Coach Stale Solbakken called it "fun for the fans" but kept his ambitions modest. "We will not be rowing after the World Cup," he said, "but this can be a gimmick during the tournament." ## France next With qualification secured, Norway turn to France in a match that will decide the top of their group. Haaland, never short of a line, offered a frank prediction about the reigning heavyweights. "They're probably going to win against us," he said. "They're probably going to win the whole tournament." Whether or not he is right, Norway have already given the World Cup one of its early signature images — a team of internationals, oars in imaginary hands, pulling in time to a drum. ## Sources - [Erling Haaland, Norway join 'viral' Viking Row after win](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49149682/erling-haaland-norway-join-viking-row-win) - [Erling Haaland scores 2 more goals and Norway beats Senegal 3-2 to reach World Cup round of 32](https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/erling-haaland-scores-2-more-goals-and-norway-beats-senegal-32-to-reach-world-cup-round-of-32) - [Iceland chant: Seismic Euro 2016 war cry comes from Scotland](https://theweek.com/74029/iceland-chant-seismic-euro-2016-war-cry-comes-from-scotland)