Norwegian football star Erling Haaland left the football field behind and joined his teammates on the ice rink, as he and the rest of the Norway players went to watch a Stanley Cup game, Yankee Scores reports.
Haaland and the Norwegian team were spotted at the fifth game of the NHL playoff series between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
Erling Haaland at the Stanley Cup Final in Raleigh, NC 😂
This is the World Cup 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/fYBTLDHlYq
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 12, 2026
As part of the Norway delegation, which will take part in their maiden World Cup finals against Iraq on 16 June (23:00 BST), Haaland looked like a man of leisure wearing a Hurricanes rally towel on his head and greeting fans on the huge board showing him with other members of the team.
He was captured on camera smiling in his own Carolina Hurricanes shirt bearing the number nine at one point during the game that took place at the Lenono Center in Raleigh.
The team is aiming for its first Stanley Cup championship since 2002 and won the fifth game against the Golden Knights 4-2.
The Norwegian side is taking part in its first World Cup finals since 1998 and its first international tournament since Euro 2000. However, even without making their debut at the tournament that starts next week, Norway has already caused a stir.
The players were captured on camera dressed as authentic Vikings for the famous send-off picture shot by renowned British photographer David Yarrow, called “The Vikings Are Coming”. They also honored the first club teams of their players with a team picture featuring their first club jerseys.
Norway World Cup Schedule
Norway are based in Greensboro, North Carolina, a city some 80 miles from Raleigh, where the Hurricanes play their games, for the entire duration of the tournament. The players will get the chance to witness the premier event of the NHL season less than two weeks after their national ice hockey team shocked Canada and earned the bronze medal at the World Championship with an extra-time victory.
Norway will begin their World Cup campaign against Iraq in Boston on Saturday night and face Senegal in New Jersey on 23 June (01:00 BST) and France in Boston on 26 June (20:00 BST).
