Why is Haaland so popular in China?

What happened Erling Haaland, the Manchester City and Norway striker, has a fast-growing fanbase in China, where his Viking humor and fierce goalscoring have won over netizens. In the past 10 days, the 2026 Fifa World Cup has lifted #Haaland impressions on Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote) to 982.3 million, up from 534.7 million — pushing the striker past his own club, with #ManchesterCity at 846.9 million. Those figures mark his shift from elite athlete to comic internet phenomenon. His popularity in China dates to his Borussia Dortmund years, when fans called him the “Nordic Cyborg” and “Robot Striker” for his relentless scoring. The 2022 move to Manchester City made him a mainstream celebrity. As Premier League viewership grew across China, his record-breaking debut season and treble elevated his profile. The Premier League draws 300 million regular TV viewers in China, according to CGTN. Comedian-athlete appeal What sets Haaland apart from other global athletes is his crossover appeal. Chinese fans admire his goals, but also his exaggerated expressions, awkward humor and steady stream of meme-worthy moments. Nicknamed “Habao,” or “Ha Baby,” he is now a fixture of China’s meme culture, which prizes playful absurdity and in-the-know internet humor. Brands have noticed. Alongside global partners including Nike and Beats by Dre, Haaland has increasingly aligned with Chinese companies. He became Midea’s global ambassador in 2023 and global ambassador for Walovi, the international brand of herbal tea giant Wang Lao Ji, in 2026. His Mandarin-language Walovi campaign has gone viral worldwide, and the hashtag for his Midea partnership (#HaalandglobalambassadorofMidea) has drawn 498,400 impressions. Haaland’s reach now extends beyond his own accounts. Isabel Haugseng Johansen, Haaland’s girlfriend, has built a Xiaohongshu following of nearly 195,000 by posting travel, food, routines and glimpses of daily life. Posts on Norwegian cuisine or Chinese food have drawn more than 100,000 likes. In one widely shared thread asking why Haaland is so popular, users gave a simple answer: he is “strong yet adorable.” For Chinese brands chasing globally recognizable ambassadors with real social media pull, Haaland increasingly looks like a rare mix of athlete, celebrity and internet personality. The Jing Take Many international footballers are famous in China. Few have become internet-native celebrities the way Haaland has. Haaland pairs elite performance with an unusually approachable image. Chinese audiences admire excellence, and few athletes embody dominance more clearly than the Manchester City striker. Yet unlike many tightly managed sports stars, he often comes across as awkward, playful and self-deprecating. The contrast between his physical power and his childlike humor reads as authentic. Timing helped. He arrived as China’s social platforms increasingly rewarded humor that is ironic and slightly absurd — a joy-driven culture that thrives on exaggerated expressions and the unexpected, exactly the content Haaland produces by default. Fans respond to the personality, and his embrace of playful marketing lands well in China. The Chinese marketing opportunity His Mandarin-language Walovi and Midea campaigns sit comfortably in China’s increasingly tongue-in-cheek advertising. One Midea spot shows him bench-pressing a fridge and running on a treadmill rigged to a washing machine. Brands are mining his meme value. Haaland’s appeal also tracks a wider shift in celebrity culture. Gen Z consumers in China value relatability over polish, and his nicknames show fans admiring and teasing him at once. The relationship feels participatory rather than distant — part of what has carried his girlfriend’s profile too. Even Johansen’s Xiaohongshu presence feeds the ecosystem. Her content offers a softer, lifestyle extension of the Haaland universe — food, travel and daily routine rather than celebrity spectacle. Together they create a sense of access that lands with digitally native audiences. The soccer star is becoming a standalone cultural brand spanning sport, entertainment and internet culture. For luxury houses, that mix is increasingly valuable: few global ambassadors command both Western fan communities and China’s vast consumer base with the same authenticity and engagement. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

Why is Haaland so popular in China?

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag

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Why is Haaland so popular in China?

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag