Wayne Rooney followed through on the bet he made with Erling Haaland after Norway reached the World Cup quarter-finals. He rowed on the Hudson River in New York with Joe Hart and Micah Richards, turning a throwaway promise into a live on-air payoff. Haaland had already made sure the challenge stayed in view, and Rooney went through with it.
The bet and the row
Rooney had said: "If Norway get to the quarter-finals, I'll go in the River Mersey and row down it." Haaland did his bit by calling him out in public, saying: "I'm looking forward to seeing Wayne, Wayne-y boy. I'm looking forward to seeing Wayne Rooney rowing down in Liverpool. That's all I want to see now. Wayne Rooney, I expect you to go out on a rowing trip."
The actual stunt took place on the Hudson River, not the Mersey, so there is a small version of the usual football trivia wobble here. But the point stayed intact, Rooney delivered on the promise after Norway got through. He later said: "I loved it. The fans were brilliant. So we've done it out of respect for the fans."
Why the Norway run gave the bet weight
Norway's route to the quarter-finals was not a one-off result. The fans had been performing the "Viking row" celebration throughout the tournament, and Haaland's form gave the whole thing a sharper edge. He scored 7 goals in 5 World Cup appearances, a return that sits right at the centre of why this story travelled beyond a standard pundit stunt.
That output helped make the bet feel worth revisiting, especially with Norway reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in their history. The celebration, the taunt and the row all lined up neatly once the result arrived.
For Rooney, this was mostly harmless theatre. For Haaland, it was another example of how his tournament form pushed Norway into a genuinely unusual place, and into a story that ended with Rooney on the water in New York.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →
