Haaland becomes China’s unexpected soccer hero ahead of World Cup

Erling Haaland has turned into China’s latest soccer obsession, with fans on Weibo and RedNote nicknaming the 1.95-meter Manchester City striker “Ha Bao,” loosely meaning “Ha baby.” The affection has spread far beyond his goals, as Chinese users remake him into oversized figurines, robots and giant-faced cartoons, then share edits that play up his braids, his expressions and the force of his kicks.

The reaction says as much about China’s digital culture as it does about Haaland himself. Chinese fans have latched onto a player who looks imposing on the pitch but comes across online as cheerful and unfussy, whether he is chatting with supporters, handing his shirt to a Manchester City kitman or answering questions about food, robots and whether he runs on a “cheat code.” That mix of dominance and approachability has helped make him a rare foreign athlete embraced not just as a star, but as a character.

Haaland leaned into that attention on June 6, 2026, when he opened a Weibo account and said he wanted to “clear up a few things.” The account drew more than 789,500 followers soon after launch. A follow-up 45-second video drew more than 1.6 million views as Haaland answered Chinese fans’ questions and said he liked the “Ha Bao” nickname.

The frenzy intensified four days later when Haaland was unveiled as global brand ambassador for Walovi, the international brand of Chinese herbal beverage Wang Lao Ji. In the viral campaign, Haaland spoke Chinese and appeared to breathe fire, a spectacle that fit neatly into the meme universe Chinese fans had already built around him. His recent advertising work for Chinese herbal drinks and Norwegian salmon has also fed the online buzz.

The scale of the response is especially striking because China did not qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Even without a national team in the tournament, millions of Chinese football fans are following it through a player from Norway who has become a proxy for their own hopes about the global game. Haaland’s popularity reflects a broader pattern in which Chinese social media can take a distant foreign athlete and turn him into something local, playful and unmistakably their own.