{"id":806680,"date":"2026-07-16T23:34:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T23:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/806680\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T23:34:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T23:34:29","slug":"the-story-behind-erling-haaland-and-his-taxidermy-raccoon-lock-the-doors-lets-make-this-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/806680\/","title":{"rendered":"The story behind Erling Haaland and his taxidermy raccoon: \u2018Lock the doors, let\u2019s make this special\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Norway star Erling Haaland returned home from the World Cup in North America with an unusual souvenir.<\/p>\n

As he stepped off the team plane in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, the Manchester City striker was photographed carrying a pair of bags over his right shoulder while holding a taxidermy raccoon in his left hand. The Norway team was arriving back home after being eliminated from the World Cup at the quarter-final stage<\/a> by England on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Haaland, 25, had an excellent debut at the World Cup, scoring seven goals in five matches. He has seen a surge in popularity in the U.S. during the World Cup, gaining more than 22 million Instagram followers as a result of his on-pitch performances and off-field personality.<\/p>\n

The City striker bought the raccoon, which is holding an empty bottle of Greenall\u2019s wild berry gin, during a visit to Wild Bill\u2019s Western Store, which has been in Dallas for almost 50 years, where he also donned a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots and a cowboy hat branded with his initials and No 9 shirt number.<\/p>\n

The raccoon is currently sold out on Wild Bill\u2019s website, though it has previously been listed for sale at $750 (\u00a3562; \u20ac659).<\/p>\n

Wild Bill\u2019s owner Julie Newport, who bought the store from founder Bill Dewbre with her business partner four years ago, said Haaland had purchased the raccoon and other items, rather than being gifted them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was from us,\u201d Newport told\u00a0The Athletic. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a couple of these taxidermy raccoons in the store for the last few years, and he obviously gravitated to that and a couple of the squirrels. (Since he posted on social media), we ordered another raccoon \u2014 we put it out on the floor today but by the time we put it on the floor, someone already bought it online.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe taxidermy guy that we buy from has retired. I think I might have one or two more coming. It was $750.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haaland, meanwhile, described Dallas as \u201camazing\u201d and said that he would be returning to the city. \u201c(It\u2019s) unbelievable, so nice,\u201d he said in a vlog <\/a>of his visit on his YouTube channel, posted on July 3, three days after Norway had beaten Ivory Coast 2-1 in its round-of-16 game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. \u201cI\u2019m coming back here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people are so nice here, so positive. I don\u2019t know what it is, they\u2019re just enjoying life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newport confirmed that a banner on Wild Bill\u2019s site which reads, \u201cNow shipping internationally,\u201d is new. The store previously had never done business outside the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are somewhere around 2,000 online orders right now, about 30 per cent of that is international but every day when we wake up, we have more orders,\u201d she said. \u201cFor international, we just didn\u2019t have that ability turned on before (Haaland visited).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sell boots and hats mostly online. People are looking for a specific style or specific brand, and then maybe oddly enough, our top-selling product prior to this was the Texas-sized jelly bean right behind you. Now, that\u2019s obviously changed a little bit\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really exciting and everybody wants to recreate the moment on the steps. They want the boots and we\u2019ve set up a picture of him, which has become a shrine. It\u2019s been a lot of fun. Then, at the end of all of it, I felt really bad that people were starting to ask him for photos, but he autographed two FIFA balls for us that I had here in the store, and my hat that\u2019s sitting up in the hat bar, so I guess you could say this is a huge blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, how did Haaland end up at a Western store in Dallas?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were contacted the day before the (last-16) match,\u201d Newport explained, \u201cand they said someone from the team was coming in and that we wouldn\u2019t know for sure because it was dependent upon security and just getting everybody on the same page.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the day of, someone came in and said: \u2018Yep, we think it\u2019s happening, we\u2019ll give you a call; heads up\u2019. We were excited because they said they might want to learn how to line dance and they\u2019re going to want hats. My colleague Emma worked with our team that was here and they learned a line dance (in preparation).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a half-an-hour heads up \u2014 it was actually like 5-10 minutes \u2014 in between the phone call. He snuck in right behind me as I was scoping out the street to make sure things would be secure. I had the hat bar roped off so he could have a little privacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had some of the kitmen come and then soon after that, two team members came, and when I was talking with him, I was asking him how his time in Dallas has been, and he said this is the only thing he\u2019s gonna have time for, cause he\u2019s leaving tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cI turned over to my manager, Miguel, and I said: \u2018Lock the doors. We\u2019re going to make this special for him\u2019. So we locked the doors. There were people out there waiting but, for these guys to be on such a world stage, I thought if I could give them anything, it would just be a really amazing experience here in Dallas. So we let them roam about the store for about an hour and a half, and they had the time of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haaland had previously posted a video to his social media showing the raccoon on what appeared to be a hotel room window ledge alongside a stuffed squirrel standing upright and a stuffed squirrel with a crushed can of Budweiser beer, saying: \u201cThere\u2019s one geezer, another geezer, another geezer\u201d as the camera pans across the three animals.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Haaland then posted again about his furry friend on X, saying that it \u201cfollowed him home\u201d from the United States. He also posted about it on Instagram, writing: \u201cHelp me name my new buddy\u201d with \u201cCowboy\u201d, \u201cRanger\u201d, \u201cTex\u201d and \u201cR.O.W. (Raccoon on wheels)\u201d as options.<\/p>\n

It followed me home \ud83e\udd9d\ud83e\udd23 pic.twitter.com\/IwMhgv0CAb<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Erling Haaland (@Erling) July 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Haaland \u201cloved\u201d his time in Wild Bill\u2019s, Newport said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou immerse yourself in this Western culture, this Americana nostalgia. He was just very happy and excited in the moment and the team spent a lot of time with him and making sure the hat fit and gave him a little bit of education on the products. It was a really authentic experience for all of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working on getting some exposure for our raccoon T-shirt because we\u2019ve already had that. Maybe we\u2019ll get some traction but honestly, we\u2019re happy for the five minutes. I hope that with this exposure, when people do make their way to Dallas, it is somewhere they want to come and have a similar experience.\u201d<\/p>\n