"Haaland is now Peruvian too." That's Ivan Torres, spokesperson for Peru's civil registry RENIEC, and he's not joking — hundreds of Peruvian newborns have been named after Norway's striker following the World Cup. One parent went further and simply named their child "Mundial." Peru didn't even qualify for the tournament.
This is Latin America's football culture doing what it has always done. Torres told Panamericana TV that names inspired by Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Cristiano Ronaldo each count around 30,000 registrations in Peru alone. Haaland's numbers are newer, but they're climbing fast.
Norway's unexpected fanbase — and one remarkable Mexican birth certificate
Part of what's driving the Haaland wave is a regional reluctance to back Argentina, widely seen across Latin America as too Eurocentric in its footballing identity. Norway filled the vacuum. Their "Viking row" celebrations and Haaland's goals on the way to the quarter-finals — the deepest run in their history — turned millions of new fans across the continent. Getting knocked out by England in the last eight didn't cool the love.
Mexico produced the tournament's most extraordinary naming story. A birth certificate went viral showing a baby girl registered as Quinona Ysisidra Morita Haaland Guevara — a combination of Mexican stars Julián Quiñones and Gilberto Mora alongside Haaland. "Ysisidra" is a play on "Y si sí?", the rallying chant Mexican fans used right up until England ended their tournament in the last 16. Mexico's governance secretariat hasn't verified whether the certificate is genuine, but the intent is hard to miss either way.
In Argentina, which will play in Sunday's final, the names Enzo, Emiliano and Lionel topped the rankings in the province of Salta in the week leading up to the match — a direct reflection of midfielder Enzo Fernandez, goalkeeper Emiliano "Dibu" Martinez, and captain Messi.
A tradition with a cautionary note
None of this is new. Fabiola Molina, who hosts the Mexico City parenting podcast "Sin manual para padres," traces the pattern back to Maradona's 1986 World Cup. She points out that the Backstreet Boys left Bolivia, Chile and Argentina full of men named Brian Gonzalez in the 1990s.
- Around 30,000 Peruvian registrations each for Messi, Neymar, and Ronaldo-inspired names
- Hundreds of Peruvian newborns named Haaland after the 2026 tournament
- Enzo, Emiliano, and Lionel surged in Argentina's Salta province ahead of the final
- One Mexican baby reportedly named after three players: Quiñones, Mora, and Haaland
Molina puts it plainly: "Just because your name is Messi or Lionel, it doesn't mean you'll grow up to be a good soccer player — destiny won't carve that out for you." The children bearing these names will spend their entire lives having that explained to them.
