Are the captions on a video of Norwegian soccer player Erling Haaland saying he will support Argentina over England in the World Cup accurate? No, that's not true: The captions on the video are fake, and Haaland never said he would support Argentina's Lionel Messi and his teammates over England in the 2026 World Cup semifinals. Video of his postgame remarks shows that Haaland said he would support England, not Argentina. Credible news outlets also reported Haaland's comments about supporting England, not Argentina, in the World Cup semifinals.
The claim appeared in the captions of a video posted on July 13, 2026, on X account @ChinaNipona (archived here). It opened:
They asked Haaland which team he's going to support in the semifinal... This is his response... (It's impossible not to love him).
This is what the video looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @ChinaNipona on X.)
Here is the video posted on X:
A Haaland le preguntaron a qué equipo va a apoyar en la semifinal...
-- La China (@ChinaNipona) July 13, 2026
Esta es su respuesta...
(Imposible no quererlo). pic.twitter.com/PXZ3AUSMm4
Beginning at 0:27 in the video, Haaland answers a question about who he will support in the upcoming World Cup matches. Here are the captions that appear in the video:
En esta situacion, mi postura es dificil decirlo pero tengo debilidad por messi y sus compañeros...
Y además de todo, tienen la oportunidad de ganarle a su rival histórico que aun hoy ocupa su territorio de forma ilegítima.
Lead Stories used Google Translate for those captions:
In this situation--it's hard to say--I have a soft spot for Messi and his teammates.
And on top of that, they have the opportunity to beat their historic rival, who still illegally occupies their territory to this day.
Lead Stories uploaded the video to Google Gemini. That translation showed Haaland did not say he has a soft spot for Messi and his teammates nor did he say that was due to England illegally occupying their territory. Here is the transcript from the video:
Journalist: "Erling, how drained are you now after a long Premier League season and a World Cup, and what are you doing to recover before a new season?"
Erling Haaland: "No, I'm completely finished now, I'll be honest and say that. And I think you will quickly find out what I'm going to be up to over the next couple of weeks, I really think so."
Erling Haaland (turning to another journalist): "What do you mean?"
Second Journalist: "I think that's impossible for me to answer, uh ..."
Erling Haaland: "OK, well then it's impossible for me too. Or in that kind of situation, I think it's ... I mean, if that's a free kick, then I should get a free kick in almost every duel in every single match, because I was pushed, I was pulled down the whole way and ... I think it's, I think it's tough."
(Laughs) "Thank you, guys!"
Yahoo Sports (archived here) reported on Haaland's comments about supporting England, not Argentina, going forward in the World Cup:
After the game, speaking to the media, Haaland said: 'Yes, why not? I think I have some of my City teammates in England, and in France, and Spain, so of course I want England to do well.
'I've been supporting ... I think I got an England national team jersey before I got a Norway jersey when I was little, so of course I want England to do well because it's a beautiful country, and their jersey is beautiful too.'
A video of Haaland's postgame interview on July 11, 2026, was published on the FIFA YouTube account. He spoke in English about supporting England in the World Cup.
