Erling Haaland is everywhere at the World Cup. Most of them are AI

Last week, somewhere in World Cup frenzy, the now-viral video that is spreading in Norway of striker Erling Haaland in the middle of a restaurant, looking to the left and shaking at his thoughts. One note on X the video’s share reached over 31 million people in just a few days. But here’s the thing: It’s not him.

The reality check traced the footage to a slapstick comedy by Chinese comedian Jin Long, was posted on TikTok in mid-June. The changes were well known, but the clip continued. By the fourth week of 2026 World CupThe internet has already decided who Erling Haaland is. AI or not, in this video, Haaland was human.

If the old type of stardom was a white touch on your image, the new one, as seen in the recent Internet popularity of Haaland, is a very good-looking person, able to remember, so that AI can do good things for you. Therefore, the celebrity becomes a person without a source, loosely tied to a person with a face.

And the Haaland rumors didn’t start out of nowhere. It originated in China, where the shooter has long been a meme sensation. He has been there for the past few months lead sales drinking a Chinese herbal drink, trying Mandarin playfully, turned into music and rebaptized Habao (literally, “Ha Baby”) are fans who enjoy the difference between a wrecker on the tarmac and a gold digger. As his popularity in China grew, Haaland established a government Douyin and Weibo account, and quickly gathered millions of followers. The poster for the show was one of the company’s AI Haaland memes and updates, all running the same joke.

So, what happens when a deepfake becomes fan art?

This is increasingly the way fandom works online. Athletes are no longer fed through highlights or post-game interviews but as evolving characters with well-known challenges and stories.

Now they’re getting the full fandom support that used to be reserved for fantasy characters, in mythology, canon, arcs, adaptations. A recent report from the AI ​​game company WSC Sports found that Gen Z in particular feels more connected to individual players than they do to teams, and research Expert writer Oliver Wyman found that media coverage of athletes is the biggest driver of Gen Z sports.

So when a player becomes famous, fans stop being mere spectators and instead have a say. “Fanon,” which refers to things fans create to fill in the gaps left by canon pages, is now a major threat to AI. You don’t need a runner to create a lore; Audiences can engage on demand, and the format seamlessly adapts to them. So it’s no surprise that Haaland’s depth was easily received online. The content doesn’t have to be original, it just needs to be in line with what the fans have created.

However, perhaps what Haaland’s achievement represents is a strange shift away from false fears. Although many people fooled by video AI, a significant portion of the audience is joining in and sharing.

And fans have been doing this for years. When a @deeptomcruise the account started sending Tom Cruise perfect deepfakes on TikTok in 2021, the response was pleasing millions. Similarly, an An AI-produced song imitating Drake and The Weeknd that appeared in 2023 it also made its appeal, eagerly aired before the letters were drawn.

That same year, a Balenciaga Papa he fooled half the internet in a day, which resulted in more praise for Balenciaga’s shirt than AI worries. Which just goes to show that if you love someone or something enough, you suspend your disbelief and roll with it.