Norway’s goal machine Erling Braut Haaland, 25, continues his success at the Football World Cup in North America, but off the pitch, many still stumble over his last name—both in pronunciation and spelling. This has prompted the tourism organization Visit Halland to launch a campaign encouraging media and supporters to use the correct spelling.

After Norway’s 2–0 victory over Brazil, Haaland has landed in the spotlight ahead of the team’s quarterfinal against England on Saturday. Meanwhile, his name is being written all over the internet—but not always correctly.

Visit Halland has noticed an unexpected problem related to the name. When people search for the organization or use hashtags, it’s common for “Halland” to appear instead of “Haaland.” These recurring misspellings are causing frustration for the regional tourism organization, which is managed by Region Halland.

– In both image searches and hashtags, it ended up being Halland instead of Haaland, says Jimmy Sandberg, operations manager at Visit Halland, to Swedish Radio.

Not the First Time

The operations manager explains that the organization has therefore had to remind both journalists and football fans of the difference between the Norwegian star and the Swedish region.

The mix-up isn’t new. Already back in 2022, when Haaland made a big breakthrough with English top club Manchester City, Visit Halland issued an open letter urging the public to be careful with the spelling.

According to Jimmy Sandberg, more people now seem to write the name correctly, although it’s hard to say if the organization’s campaign has contributed to the change.

Which Team Do You Support?

Saturday evening brings a prestigious quarterfinal as Norway faces England in Miami. Kickoff is at 23:00 Swedish time, and the match will be broadcast live on TV4.