"She sent me a message. But she played for the same club I played for, Bryne. So she checked me out, I didn't check her out." That's Erling Haaland, casually admitting his girlfriend made the first move — and honestly, respect all around.
While Haaland has been tearing through the 2026 World Cup — scoring in each of Norway's first three group games and helping the nation reach the knockout stage for the first time in nearly 28 years — Isabel Haugseng Johansen has been in the stands watching it happen. She was there after Norway's match against Brazil on July 5, posting pictures with Haaland and family members pitchside.
A meet-cute that started on a youth pitch in Bryne
They grew up in the same small town in southwestern Norway. They played on the same youth football team as kids. Then life moved on, they went their separate ways — and Isabel was the one who eventually slid into Erling's DMs when they crossed paths again as adults.
She's a former footballer herself, now working as an influencer. Haaland clearly appreciated that she understood the game. In an October 2025 YouTube video, he put it simply: "She played football. We met and all of that. It's nice because you understand football."
They've been together since around 2021. In December 2024, they welcomed a son — name still kept private. Haaland announced the pregnancy with a typically understated social media post, then followed it up with something more revealing in a Sky Sports interview: "I've never felt better than now, and to be honest, with a kid, it makes me even better because I actually disconnect more than ever. I don't think of football at all."
Fatherhood and a viral selfie
A player who scored in three straight World Cup matches, whose locker room selfie hit 1 million likes in under an hour and now sits at 2.2 million, crediting his infant son for helping him mentally reset. It's a strange and oddly convincing formula.
"When I go home, I relax even more," he said. "I need to give a shout-out to my son."
Norway are in the knockout rounds. Haaland is in form. And apparently, he's going home to one of the more grounded family setups in world football.
