Erling Haaland's Popularity Amid Norway's World Cup Run Draws Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift Comparison

Norway's Erling Haaland has been one of the best players at this year's World Cup, unsurprisingly, firing his country to a berth in the quarterfinals behind his seven goals.

And that has apparently led to an increase in popularity on American social media, per Sam Lee of The Athletic:

Part of that may be down to Haaland vlogging his time spent in the United States during the World Cup:

But much of it is undoubtedly due to his dominance on the pitch.

Haaland's seven goals are tied for the second most at this year's World Cup with France's Kylian Mbappé, trailing only the GOAT, Lionel Messi.

Fans of the Premier League or European football in general are familiar with Haaland's exploits at this point. In four seasons with Manchester City he's scored 112 goals and added 24 assists in 132 matches, a blistering pace. He's now scored 20 or more league goals in six straight seasons dating back to his time with Dortmund in the German Bundesliga.

And he doesn't need many touches to do it. Even if he doesn't see the ball much in a match, he's absolutely clinical with the chances he gets:

As pure finishers go, there aren't many better. He is the world's most dominant pure No. 9 at the moment, and Norway will go as far as he can carry them.