Russian model's resemblance to Erling Haaland has football fans doing a double take
A Russian model recreated Erling Haaland's viral meme clips on social media. Her uncanny resemblance to the striker left viewers startled and amused online.
Erling Haaland's expressions have become one of the internet's favourite meme templates during the ongoing FIFA World Cup, but this time, it wasn't the Norwegian striker grabbing attention. Instead, it was a Russian model whose striking resemblance to him left social media users convinced they were looking at his long-lost twin.
Russian model Anastasia Kostromitina went viral after sharing a series of videos recreating some of Haaland's most recognisable memes, with many viewers saying the resemblance was so uncanny that they had to look twice.
Erling Haaland, one of football's biggest stars from Norway, has remained in the spotlight throughout the ongoing FIFA World Cup, not only for his performances but also for the countless memes inspired by his expressions, celebrations and viral AI-generated edits circulating across social media.
His trademark smirk, deadpan reactions and humorous edits have become a staple of football meme culture during the tournament.
Playing into that trend, Anastasia recreated several of those viral moments on her social media.
In one video, she mimicked Haaland's signature smirk and recreated a series of photographs that fans instantly recognised from popular memes. She matched his facial expressions and poses so closely that many viewers initially mistook her for an AI-generated version of the footballer.
Watch the video here:
Another clip recreated one of the internet's favourite Haaland memes, an AI-generated video that showed the striker eating alone in a restaurant before suddenly noticing his own reflection in a mirror and appearing startled by it. Anastasia acted out the sequence with the same blank expression and exaggerated reactions that made the original clip go viral.
Across the videos, she leaned into the similarities, recreating Haaland's look and expressions with remarkable accuracy while adding a humorous twist of her own.
The videos prompted plenty of bewildered reactions online, with many users saying they had rarely seen two unrelated people look so alike.
Several commenters remarked that the resemblance between the model and the footballer was so striking that it almost felt unsettling, with some admitting they initially thought the videos actually featured Haaland.
Others joked that the clips looked like an unexpected crossover between the worlds of football and fashion, imagining scouts from both industries trying to figure out who they were looking at.
Many also pointed out that Anastasia's ability to replicate Haaland's trademark expressions made the illusion even more convincing, turning the already popular memes into a fresh round of internet entertainment.