Norway’s World Cup ended Saturday night.
The internet apparently didn’t get the memo.
Less than 48 hours after England knocked Norway out in extra time, the team landed back in Oslo to fighter jet escorts, a royal welcome and more than 100,000 fans lining the streets. Then Erling Haaland walked off the plane carrying a taxidermied raccoon clutching an empty liquor bottle.
Within hours, the TSA had weighed in, social media was naming the raccoon and videos from Norway’s homecoming were spreading almost as quickly as the Viking Row celebrations that defined the country’s unlikely run to the World Cup quarterfinals.
For a team that became one of the tournament’s biggest internet sensations, it was a fitting final act.
Erling Haaland arrived home with the tournament’s strangest souvenir
Haaland had already found a way to make Norway’s arrival unforgettable before the team reached central Oslo.
As he stepped off the plane, the striker was carrying a taxidermy raccoon clutching a whiskey bottle under one arm and a white-and-maroon Dolce & Gabbana tote over the other shoulder.
Fans quickly identified the raccoon as the $750 “Whiskey Raccoon” sold by Wild Bill’s Western Store in Dallas. Haaland had apparently been eyeing it for a while: Earlier in the tournament, he shared a Snapchat video showing what appeared to be the same display.
He later posted the arrival photo to Instagram with the caption, “It followed me home,” adding a raccoon and laughing emoji.
Then he asked followers to help name his new travel companion. The choices in his Instagram Stories poll were “Cowboy,” “Ranger,” “TEX” and “R.O.W.,” which he defined as “Raccoon on Wheels” and was almost certainly a reference to Norway’s viral Viking row.
The TSA soon entered the conversation.
Using Haaland’s arrival photo, the agency joked that it was “not sure how much longer we can keep up with the things soccer fans are trying to travel with.” A second slide answered the question nobody had expected to ask: Taxidermied raccoons holding empty liquor bottles are fine with the TSA, though travelers should check with their airline first.
This was not the TSA’s first World Cup post to take off. Earlier in the tournament, the agency repeatedly weighed in on international fans’ growing obsession with ranch dressing, even begging World Cup visitors not to chug ranch at airport security when bottles ran afoul of the liquids rule.
Norway came home to fighter jets, royalty and one last Viking Row
The raccoon may have dominated social media, but it wasn’t even the biggest moment of Norway’s homecoming.
As the team’s flight approached Oslo, Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35 fighter jets joined the aircraft and escorted it into the capital.
The escort was not the military’s first appearance in Norway’s viral rowing story. Before the England match, the Norwegian Armed Forces posted a reel showing members of a medical evacuation crew performing the celebration inside an aircraft after a demanding mission.
“Some row for victory. Others row to regain their strength for the next mission,” the translated caption began.
After landing beneath a ceremonial water cannon salute, the players climbed aboard an open-top bus that rolled through streets packed with supporters waving Norwegian flags.
Unofficial estimates put the crowd at more than 100,000 people, according to Reuters.
“I have felt very proud, it has been amazing, I have been both at home and in Spain, and the atmosphere between the Norwegian people has been there all the time, so it has been unbelievable,” Norway fan Catherine Breiland told Reuters.
The team then headed to the Royal Palace, where King Harald, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon and other members of the royal family welcomed the squad after Norway’s deepest World Cup run in nearly three decades.
And then came one final Viking Row.
With tens of thousands of fans filling the square below, Crown Prince Haakon grabbed the drum while players, supporters and the royal family joined together in the synchronized rowing celebration that had become Norway’s signature during the tournament.
Norway’s World Cup may be over, but its viral run isn’t
Norway left the United States without a semifinal appearance.
It came home with something harder to measure.
Norway’s homecoming arrived as fans were already looking back at the viral moments that made this World Cup feel impossible to say goodbye to, from international visitors discovering America to the friendships, celebrations and running jokes that took over social media.
Over the past month, Norway became one of the tournament’s most unexpected stories. The Viking Row spread from stadiums to streets and airport terminals. Norwegian Air’s bet with British Airways took off online. Fans from other countries adopted Norway as a second team and kept watching to see where the run would lead.
Haaland stepped off the plane in Oslo carrying a taxidermied raccoon. The TSA joined the joke. Fighter jets had escorted the team home, and tens of thousands of supporters were waiting outside the Royal Palace.
There, they sat down and rowed one last time.
For a country that unexpectedly became the World Cup’s main character, it was about as Norwegian an ending as anyone could have imagined.
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