Erling Haaland chose to mark his first appearance at a World Cup with a special family tribute, wearing a shirt bearing his mother's name 'Braut' alongside his father's family name while representing Norway at the 2026 World Cup.
The Athletic revealed that Haaland wore a shirt bearing the name 'Braut Haaland' during Norway's matches — a practice he began with the national team last August — while continuing to use the name 'Haaland' with Manchester City in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.
The Norwegian striker's choice of name was a tribute to his mother Gry Marita Braut, a former track and field athlete who achieved success in heptathlon competitions, alongside retaining the name of his father Alfie Inge Haaland, the former Leeds United and Manchester City player.
The newspaper noted that using both the maternal and paternal family names is rooted in Norwegian custom, where the use of double surnames is widespread, though not all Norway national team players follow the practice.
Haaland made a strong start to his first World Cup, scoring twice as Norway defeated Iraq 4-1, beginning his race to top the tournament's scoring charts.
The Manchester City striker opened his World Cup goal account in the 29th minute, latching onto a cross from David Møller Wolfe and converting it with his left foot past goalkeeper Jalal Hassan.
Haaland added his second goal by pressing the Iraq defence, with the goalkeeper's attempted clearance rebounding off him and into the net; he came close to completing a hat-trick on more than one occasion during the match.
Leo Østigård scored Norway's third from a header following a corner taken by Martin Ødegaard, before the fourth arrived when Ayman Hussein inadvertently turned the ball into his own net following a header attempt by Haaland.
The match was marked by an unusual incident at half-time when a sprinkler on the pitch malfunctioned, requiring ground staff to intervene and repair the problem before the stadium was ready for the second half.