ERLING HAALAND is the subject of a bizarre trend in the South American nation of Peru.
The Norwegian big man has been one of the
Erling Haaland has inspired a baby naming trend in Peru Credit: Getty
The Norwegian’s World Cup heroics have inspired more than 500 names in his honour Credit: Getty
He bagged himself seven goals – just one fewer than joint-top scorers and – before reaching the end of the road against in the quarter-finals.
But it seems were plenty inspiring enough – at least to the people of .
The nation, who didn’t even qualify for the World Cup, have clearly caught Haaland fever after people noticed an uptick in names inspired by the star.
It was revealed by Peru’s National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (Reniec) that over 500 children had been born in the country bearing a name inspired by the forward.
That included 468 children named Haaland, and another 91 with his full name .
Those numbers were as of last weekend, with a few extra surely arriving in the days since.
The burst in popularity came fresh off the back of the 25-year-old’s heroics against , after his double sent their side tumbling out of the competition.
Registry spokesperson Ivan Torres told Panamericana Television: “Different football stars serve as inspiration for Peruvians to register their children with these names.”
And rarely does that ring more true than in Peru, which also contains 3,402 people named Messi, 1,185 Ronaldos (after Cristiano).
But tops the popularity list of the unusual honour, with almost 34,000 namesakes in the country.
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Eze Chidiebere Paul
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