Norway’s national soccer team came home from the 2026 World Cup on Monday to a royal welcome at the Royal Palace in Oslo, a public celebration that gave its run the kind of finish winners usually get. King Harald, Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus greeted the squad after its return, with the crown prince leading about 90,000 people in the Viking row chant.
For readers searching Haaland Raccoon now, the answer is in how quickly Norway’s tournament turned Haaland into the face of the moment. His Instagram following climbed from 40.7 million before the World Cup to 65.9 million by the time the team flew home, a jump that tracked the chant’s spread online and in public places. Google even built an Easter egg before the quarterfinal that made Nordic Vikings row across the screen when anyone typed his name.
The welcome also made clear why the reception mattered beyond football. Norway had not been back at the World Cup since 1998, so the journey home carried the feel of a national reset as much as a sports return. Crown Prince Haakon had already visited the dressing room after the loss in the quarterfinal match, and the invitation from the King had been extended before the players left American soil.
That is what made the scene in Oslo unusual. The team was cheered as if it had gone all the way, even though the tournament ended with a quarterfinal defeat. Haakon told the players they were allowed to be disappointed, but said the rest of the country was grateful, proud and convinced they had given an effort that could not be priced.
Fans had been building toward that moment for days. Thousands crowded the streets of Oslo late into Saturday night despite rainy weather, and after Norway’s upset over Brazil in the Round of 16 on July 5, Haakon had already joined celebrations in the city. Monday’s palace reception closed the loop on that run, even as the next welcome-back ceremony was set to be held elsewhere in Oslo.
Haaland’s own profile helped carry the story well beyond Norway. He told the Americans ahead of the quarterfinal that he liked them and found them funny, a line that fit the tournament’s strange mix of swagger and public affection. What remains now is not whether Norway was celebrated — it was — but how long this team can keep the country’s attention once the flags come down and the chant fades.
