Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has turned a viral internet joke into reality, teaming up with YouTube star MrBeast to recreate a meme that has followed him since the summer.
The video shows Haaland and MrBeast eating noodles together before the Norwegian turns toward a mirror and reacts with mock horror at his own reflection.
The scene is a direct recreation of a clip that spread widely online during this year’s World Cup, showing Haaland getting startled by his reflection while eating in a restaurant. The original video was not real. It was generated by Artificial Intelligence, though it fooled many fans and became one of the most shared football memes of the tournament.
Haaland’s seven goals and Norway’s run to the World Cup quarterfinals had already made him a favourite among casual fans discovering his personality for the first time.
MrBeast, whose real name is James Donaldson, captioned the new collaboration “The scariest dish of my life” when he posted it on Instagram.
Haaland had teased the partnership earlier with a photo of the two of them captioned “2 YouTubers,” to which MrBeast’s account simply replied “Nice.”
The collaboration comes at a big moment for Haaland on the pitch. Manchester City beat Sunderland 5-3 in the Premier League on Sunday, while Haaland’s goal in the 81st minute completed a rare personal record.
The striker has now scored against all 25 Premier League clubs he has faced since joining City in 2022, with Sunderland the last team standing between him and the achievement. He had gone into the match without a goal against the Black Cats in two previous league meetings.
Haaland’s strike arrived after City had gone back and forth with Sunderland throughout the match.
Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough to prevent City from taking all three points and heading into the international break with a perfect record in the league.
