AI-made Erling Haaland videos spread as fans treat him like a character

In short: During the 2026 World Cup, fans are widely sharing AI-made videos of star players, even when the clips are not real.

What's going on

A short video that looked like Norwegian striker Erling Haaland eating in a restaurant went viral during the World Cup. One post on X drew more than 31 million views in a few days. Fact checkers later traced the original footage to a skit by Chinese comedian Jin Long on TikTok, meaning the Haaland version was not real.

The clip kept spreading even after people pointed out it was fake. That is part of a bigger pattern: athletes are increasingly treated online less like private individuals and more like characters in an ongoing story. A “deepfake” is a video made with AI that copies a person’s face or voice (like a very advanced digital mask). For many fans, the clip does not need to be true, it just needs to match the personality they expect.

Wired notes that Haaland has already become a popular meme in China, including ads, songs, and fan edits. Haaland also opened official accounts on Douyin and Weibo and gained millions of followers. Similar AI memes have targeted other players too, including Kylian Mbappé.

What to watch

Expect more AI-made sports clips to circulate during big tournaments, mixing real moments with invented ones. For viewers, it will matter less what a player actually did and more what “fits” the character fans have built. That raises practical questions for athletes and teams, including how to correct false clips fast and how sponsors and platforms respond when fake content drives attention.

Source: Wired