Erling Haaland’s 2016 rap song resurfaces and turns into viral World Cup hit

Published on 09/07/2026 - 15:10 GMT+2•Updated

15:32

Norway’s Erling Haaland has become the World Cup’s most memorable star, not just as his team’s MVP and one the competition’s top scorers alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, but for his wholesome antics and entertaining social media posts.

Now, Manchester City's scoring sensation is going viral once more thanks to the reappearance of a rap track he dropped with his friends ten years ago.

Titled ‘Kygo jo’, the song was recorded in 2016 with Haaland’s fellow under-17 national teammates Erik Botheim and Erik Tobias Sandberg – collectively known as Flow Kingz.

Performing under the rap name Lyng, a 15-year-old Haaland can be seen in the group's homemade music video, rapping while pretending to be tending to a barbecue, jumping on a trampoline, and even posing on a tiny car.

The video has exploded online, and currently has 21 million views on YouTube.

Check it out below:

For those of you whose Norwegian is either non-existent or rusty, here’s a translation of the opening bar:

“Haven't seen you lately, have you gotten lost? / I've been making tracks and made a thousand mill / By the way, I also bought myself a gas grill / In case you were wondering, I've also been to the store / Did some shopping 'cause I've got plenty of cash to spend / Of course I'll share some with you, my friend / 'Cause I know you don't have that much money left.”

Delightful. Quite simply delightful.

Later on, we are treated to:

“The other day I was out having a Caesar salad / A big guy like me needs proper food / Then I went to the Bahamas on a shopping trip / But I didn't tell my wife, so she got a bit mad / But I had a great time, there was no limit / I'd love to go back there right now / But I've got a lot to do at the office during the day / So let's head out and get some food in our stomachs.”

He likes Caesar salads too? As if we needed another reason to love Haaland more.

But wait, there is more.

The track is gaining additional traction on social media and on Spotify as Norwegian DJ Kygo has released a new house remix of the song...

Fans are loving it, with comments under the videos ranging from “We lost a musician to football” to “Becoming a professional footballer is probably the biggest publicity stunt a rapper has ever done for their song” and “Haaland wins World Cup and sells platinum on music. Truly GOAT status.”

“This should be played at the stadium if Norway wins against England,” wrote another, while one fan added: “Lets make it the new official FIFA song, it’s better than Dai Dai.”

Norway has reached its first-ever World Cup quarterfinal by beating Brazil 2-1 last Sunday... during which Haaland scored both goals.

The race for the Golden Boot continues, and Norway will face England in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Not long to find out whether ‘Kygo jo’ gets played at the end of the game.