UK, Norway embassies get cheeky in social media post over Haaland, Kane World Cup rivalry

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The British and Norwegian embassies in Washington shared some light-hearted banter on social media ahead of the match between England and Norway on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup.

The post centered on the friendly rivalry between Norwegian star Erling Haaland and English player Harry Kane. Haaland is also a striker for England’s Premier League club Manchester City when he’s not representing his home country in international play.

“Things are getting weird ahead of the big England-Norway match in Miami,” the British Embassy said in its Friday post on social media, with the Norwegian Embassy in Washington also participating in the video

The video was filmed inside the British and Norwegian embassies with the caption, “Defenders are not the only ones haunted by Kane and Haaland,” with photos of Haaland hidden in miscellaneous items, including coffee mugs and a phone booth, in the British Embassy. A person also printed a photo of Haaland’s face and wore it as a mask, jokingly chasing people around the building.

The video then shows Kane similarly haunting the Norwegian Embassy, which is just down the street from the British Embassy. Later in the video, a person wears a Kane mask to scare workers at the Norwegian Embassy before finally being chased away by a cardboard cutout of Haaland.

British Ambassador Christian Turner and Norwegian Ambassador Anniken Huitfeldt also met up ahead of the big match over tea Thursday.

The Saturday match-up pits the two national team captains and record goal-scorers against each other, with both having outstanding performances so far in the tournament.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joked with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at the NATO summit in Turkey, asking to borrow Haaland for Canada’s next World Cup team.

“Interoperability also means sharing crews. And in the next World ‌Cup, ⁠if you could share Erling Haaland with us, that would be greatly, greatly appreciated,” Carney said.

While Kane, 32, has enjoyed one of the best seasons of his lengthy career, helping his team Bayern Munich win a German Bundesliga championship, Halaand, 25, has had an outstanding record for both Manchester City and Norway.

In this year’s World Cup, the Norwegian striker has already scored seven goals in four appearances, while Kane has scored six goals.

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British Embassy

england

Erling Haaland

Harry Kane

Jonas Gahr Støre

Kane

Mark Carney

Norway

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