Inside the making of Norway’s ‘Viking’ photo for World Cup https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7333438/2026/06/04/norway-world-cup-viking-photo/ They beat Christopher Columbus to North America by centuries. Research shows that Vikings first made the remarkable journey across the Atlantic more than 1,000 years ago. Now, it looks like they’re back. Just take in this gang of grizzled Nordic warriors assembled beside a fjord, weapons in hand, long boats in the background, preparing to raid. But look a little closer at the picture above, perhaps at the sword-brandishing warrior with the long blond hair, and they appear quite familiar. That’s because this group of fearsome explorers is actually the Norway national team, posing for an iconic image to mark their first appearance at the World Cup in 28 years. Star striker Erling Haaland and his team-mates gathered for the shoot in Oslo last weekend, with the pictures captured by renowned photographer David Yarrow. It came about because the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) wanted to do something different for their team picture, and lean into the Scandinavian nation’s history. In recent games, Norwegian supporters have performed their own nod to history with their synchronised ‘Viking row’ performance. So the NFF approached Yarrow six months ago, after he was recommended by Haaland and golfer Viktor Hovland, based on his work with the pair on different projects. “My response was that I wanted to dress them up as Vikings,” says Yarrow, who took one of the most famous World Cup images, of Diego Maradona lifting the trophy at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico 1986. “I like to take people outside of how they’re normally photographed. “I knew it might get some criticism, but I wanted to play on that sense of journey that goes back to the Vikings, as if they’re setting sail for America. “Then it was just a question of doing it right. If you do it in a half hearted way or in a studio it can fall flat but we really went for it. We got the boats in, got everyone dressed in proper Viking gear and not pantomime stuff.” David and his assistants scouted a private beach in Oslo for the location, and got the team together on Saturday. The only player missing was Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard, who was playing for Mikel Arteta’s side in the Champions League final that day. An empty space was left for the 27-year-old captain, and he flew to Oslo on Tuesday to be photographed and digitally added to the final line-up. To make the scene more authentic, a historically accurate wooden jetty was even built, leading to one of the longboats. “We’ve seen a lot of pictures of airliner steps this week,” says Yarrow of other nation’s pictures of players preparing to board flights to the United States, Mexico and Canada. “They get a bit boring. At least the Norwegians have gone out of their way to do something special, and it’s got to be the best team picture before a World Cup.” Yarrow used elements of TV show Vikings for his visual prompts, and says Haaland was influential in getting buy-in from the squad because he has previously photographed the Manchester City star as a Viking warrior. “We got hair and make-up in and they knew my instruction was to be fearsome and have sovereignty. There are a couple of kids in there who looked a bit too angelic to be warriors, but we managed it well. “Erling looks great with his hair down, but I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of the coach Stale Solbakken. He’s a tough guy.” He did two main line-up pictures: one of the squad and another of the whole travelling group, including all the coaches, and the entire technical staff. “Most of them aren’t wearing helmets but (RB Leipzig winger) Antonio Nusa put one on,” he says. “I was going to ask him to take it off, but he showed me his peroxide blond hair.” The Norway team all bought into the project too — and say that it reflects their togetherness. “This is a continuation of how we have worked to describe the national team over time. It’s about showing that this team comes from all of Norway and represents the entire country. The image reflects exactly that: we travel as one team,” says NFF president Lise Klaveness, who is also Norway’s head of delegation for the World Cup. “We recognised early on that the Viking narrative would follow us regardless. That’s why we chose to take ownership of it and fill it with what truly defines us. It’s not about aesthetics alone, but about values: togetherness, team spirit, and standing united.” The term “modern Vikings” is used in the communication, but Klaveness emphasises that it is about values and unity — not about narrowing what the team represents. “This is a diverse and multifaceted team, and that is a strength. The references we use are meant to bring people together, not define one type of player or background,” she says. Such is the uniqueness of the image, Yarrow knows some people might mistakenly assume it is AI. “That’s why we often film our shoots these days,” he says. “We always do the behind-the-scenes stuff. I’m so old, though, I don’t really know what AI means.” After taking the images of the players, some of the background vista elements were photographed by a fjord in Viking Valley, Gudvangen, later in the day. It is not the first iconic sporting team image Yarrow has taken. Last year, he took a photo of the victorious European Ryder Cup team in Brooklyn, New York, beneath the Manhattan Bridge. That image, with the players dressed as prohibition-era gangsters and workers, has since become one of the best-selling sports photographs of all time, and raised a considerable sum for charity. Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup teamDavid Yarrow “The European players loved it, and it actually became the centre-point of their team room,” he explains. “We had it blown up the size of a table tennis table, and now we’ve done the same for the Norway players to have at their base in Greensboro (North Carolina). “Hopefully it brings some levity to what can be a stressful, pressurised time and they can look back at a fun day of team bonding.” Yarrow, a Scot, hopes to raise even more money for charity — the aim is $1million — by organising a party for 900-plus of his countrymen in Boston during the tournament. “We (Scotland) might not be able to win the trophy,” he says. “But we can make an enormous difference for others by gathering every Scot we can from everywhere from Hollywood, professional sports and music.” And what of the raiders from Norway, who face France, Senegal, and Iraq in Group I? “Norway can do some damage at the World Cup,” he says. “They have some top players and also the proper strength in depth to qualify early from their group.” Greg O'Keeffe is a senior writer for The Athletic covering US soccer players in the UK & Europe. Previously he spent a decade at the Liverpool Echo covering news and features before an eight-year stint as the paper's Everton correspondent; giving readers the inside track on Goodison Park, a remit he later reprised at The Athletic. He has also worked as a news and sport journalist for the BBC and hosts a podcast in his spare time.