From Hair Braid to Haaland Lookalike Contest in Miami
What started as a simple hairstyle has turned into one of football’s strangest and most entertaining side stories.
Content creator Willman says she is still trying to process how braiding her hair led to millions of people comparing her to Erling Haaland. Speaking to People, she described the sudden surge of attention as “so surreal” and admitted she “never expected braiding my hair to turn into millions of people comparing me to Erling Haaland.”
The internet did the rest. Side‑by‑side clips, memes, and comments flooded social media, pushing the resemblance into full-blown phenomenon. Then came the moment that pushed it into another stratosphere: Haaland himself weighed in.
“It’s been amazing to watch the internet have so much fun with it, and seeing Erling comment on my video made the whole thing feel even more unreal,” she said. “As a creator, you never know what’s going to resonate, so I’m just grateful people have embraced it and had fun along the way.”
Haaland, for his part, has taken the whole thing in good humour. Speaking to the same publication, he said: “It would be pretty funny if our paths crossed in real life after all of this.”
Haaland “Twin” Heads to World Cup Quarter-Final
Willman revealed she will be in Miami, Florida on Saturday (local time) to watch Haaland’s Norway face England in the World Cup quarter-final. She’s not just going as a fan. She’s hoping to meet her “twin.”
The viral lookalike is turning the occasion into a full event. On the day of the match, she is hosting an Erling Haaland lookalike contest in Miami, with a prize that will draw out every would‑be No. 9 in town: tickets to the quarter-final.
On Instagram, she laid down the challenge.
“If you have ever been told you look like Haaland and are a Norway fan, you’re in for a surprise!” she wrote. Tagging @kalshi, she explained they are helping her host “an Erling Haaland lookalike contest right before the game on Saturday for 2 FREE TICKETS TO THE GAME!”
The rules are simple: show up, lean into the resemblance, and channel the Manchester City star.
“Meet us at the location [in Miami], and bring your best Haaland moves! See you there and good luck!” she added.
From a braided hairstyle in a video to a full-scale Haaland lookalike contest outside a World Cup quarter-final, the story has sprinted along at something close to the striker’s pace. Now the only question left is whether the real Haaland and his viral double finally share the same frame in Miami.
