Erling Haaland was having quite the week, breaking records and breaking baby news all at once! The Manchester City striker announced that he and his partner, Isabel Haugseng Johansen, were expecting a little Haaland after he smashed another record for Norway.
In typical Haaland fashion, he didn’t just score goals, he made history while doing it. The 24-year-old netted a brace as Norway cruised to a 3-0 win over Slovenia in the Nations League. His first goal tied him with Jorgen Juve, the Norwegian legend who had scored 33 international goals back when footballs were probably made out of rocks. Then, Haaland’s second goal pushed him past Juve, officially making him Norway’s all-time leading goalscorer with 34 goals in just 36 games.
And how did the big man celebrate? By casually dropping the bombshell that he and Isabel were expecting a baby. Naturally, Haaland went for the classic “dad reveal,” posting a photo of himself with a football stuffed under his shirt and sucking his thumb. He captioned it with a baby emoji and a “soon” arrow emoji, just in case anyone was confused.
Sander Berge, Haaland’s teammate, was apparently in on the secret the whole time. “I’ve known this forever,” he spilled to Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. “I’m really happy for him. It’s great to know he’s going to be a dad with Isabel. Can’t wait to see them on the parenting rollercoaster.”
Berge wasn’t the only one excited; Norwegian manager Stale Solbakken got in on the fun, joking that with all the new dads on the team, “the national team manager in 25 years’ time has a bright future!”
As for Haaland, he wasn’t just basking in baby joy, he was still soaking up his record-breaking moment. “Of course, it’s big and historic,” he said with his usual humility. “I’m happy, and it’s a fantastic record to achieve… and I’ve still got many years left. It was a well-executed match. I’m proud.”
Always keeping things in perspective, Haaland warned against getting too carried away with Norway’s success: “We won, but we shouldn’t hype ourselves up too much. Let’s keep it cool.”
Norway was set to face Austria on Sunday, with Captain Haaland leading the charge in the absence of the injured Martin Odegaard. Between leading his country and preparing for fatherhood, Haaland was clearly scoring on and off the pitch!
