The people of Bryne, a small farming town in southern Norway, are celebrating the rise of local hero Erling Haaland as Norway prepares to face England in the World Cup quarter-final. The Manchester City striker, who grew up in Bryne, has brought immense pride to the community, with hundreds expected to gather in the central square for an outdoor broadcast of the match on Saturday.
Local Pride and Merchandise Sales
Olinda Haaland, who runs a fabric shop in Bryne and shares the famous surname, said the town has embraced the footballer with joy. “It’s been pure joy,” she said. “We all love him so much and he’s doing so much for Bryne.” Her shop, surrounded by red hats, No 9 shirts, and Haaland action toys, has seen a surge in demand for Haaland merchandise. Retro World Cup shirts from 1998, the last time Norway qualified, sold out in two days. Now anything red will do, she added.
Mayor and Former Teacher Reflects on Haaland's Impact
Andreas Vollusund, the mayor of Bryne and Haaland’s former schoolteacher, said the 25-year-old has had a huge impact on the town. “We are proud of the little boy who has grown into a huge Viking,” said Vollusund, who taught Haaland when he was 10. “Now Bryne is the capital of Norway, not Oslo. When he’s speaking about his home town, you can see in his eyes he loves his homeplace and that makes us really happy and proud of him.” Vollusund recalled that as a child, Haaland was “funny, he loved joking with others, lots of energy, loved sports, loved football. When he was 10-years-old he said he was going to be a footballer when he was an adult. He was very focused.”
Farming Culture and Family Influence
Vollusund attributed Haaland’s success to Bryne’s down-to-earth farming culture and the striker’s parents—his mother was a national heptathlon champion. “We have a culture to have fun with our kids, work hard,” he said. “We come from a place in Norway where our feet are on the ground. Farms, working hard … and he has good genes from his mum and dad.” The Norwegian focus on fun for younger children in sport has also helped nurture world-class athletes across various sports.
Community Events and Screenings
On Saturday, the mayor will serve hotdogs to 3,000 children and families at an alcohol-free screening of the match at Bryne’s football stadium. “We’re doing what we can to make this a big, big event,” he said. Haaland is an enormous influence on young people in the town, according to Vollusund. “Everyone looks up to him. He has shown you can come from a small town like Bryne and be the best player in the world. If you’re a young girl or boy, you can see you can become a footballer.”
Family and Former Coach's Perspectives
Gabriel Høyland, Haaland’s great uncle, said the game is “wide open” and added: “I can’t wait for the game to kick off and take it from there.” He described Norway and Haaland’s World Cup journey as “quite remarkable,” noting, “We have never experienced this kind of atmosphere any time.” At the Bryne FK stadium, Alf Ingve Berntsen, who started training Haaland when he was eight, said Haaland’s passion and ability were evident early on. “He was quite similar to how he is now. He was funny, he was smiling, he was scoring lots of goals. At that level you can see it is glowing. It’s a fire, it’s passion.” Berntsen added that the World Cup has brought togetherness across Norway, not just in Bryne.
Haaland's Continued Connection to Bryne
Haaland, who has scored 62 goals in 54 senior international matches for Norway, still visits Bryne regularly and donates football equipment to local children. He also organizes reading competitions. In the autumn, a rare 16th-century book of Viking sagas bought by Haaland will arrive in the local library. The town’s pride is evident, with fans like 10-year-old Emilian and his brother Leander, visiting from Oslo, planning to go to the stadium “to see where it all started,” as their mother Chantal Samsing said. Their father, Christopher Gundersen, noted, “It’s bigger than football. The whole country is coming together. It has had a huge impact.”
