Erling Haaland, the striker who makes entire defenses tremble in the Premier League, starred in the funniest moment of the year on social media. Or almost.
The clip shows the Norwegian eating with his mouth full, turning his head and jumping in surprise when he sees his own reflection in the glass. The reaction is so exaggerated it looks like something out of a cartoon, but fact-checking outlets like Polígrafo and Lead Stories confirmed what one small detail had already given away: the Manchester City logo on the shirt appears distorted, an unmistakable sign of manipulation.
Haaland’s face and clothing were superimposed with AI onto the original video by Jin Long Qiu, a TikTok creator known for his absent-minded mechanic reels. 😅
So the joke works on two levels: the deadliest man in front of goal didn’t just get scared of himself. AI showed that even he would be afraid of himself when he sees himself. Maybe because he doesn’t know whether to laugh or worry either. 😂