Norway's Viking photo for 2026 World Cup sparks Scandinavian controversy

Norway’s national team found itself at the center of a cultural controversy after posing in Viking costumes for its official team photo following qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The image, which features Erling Haaland and his teammates in medieval attire, was picked up by numerous media outlets worldwide.

The harshest criticism came from journalist Markus Slettholm of Norwegian newspaper Morgenbladet, who called the photos “chauvinist and exclusionary” in an editorial. He went further in a statement to public broadcaster NRK, claiming the staging “recalls what preoccupied neo-Nazis ten years ago” and denouncing “a caricatural vision of Norwegian culture” with “something reactionary about going back a thousand years.”

In the same vein, religion specialist Jan Haug Skjoldli published an opinion piece in media outlet Klassekampen lamenting a “hyper-masculine idealization” conveyed by the outfits chosen for the players.

Faced with these criticisms, the Norwegian Football Federation fully stood behind the initiative. Head coach Stale Solbakken chose to close the debate at a press conference with a terse response: “There are things far more important and complex than that. I don’t have time to waste commenting on this.”

Norway is in France’s group for the 2026 World Cup. The two nations will meet on June 26 at 9 p.m. for their third group match.