Erling Haaland becomes first player in 72 years to score in first three World Cup starts

Erling Haaland just did something no footballer has managed since 1954. The Manchester City striker scored in each of his first three World Cup matches, capping the streak with the decisive goal against the Ivory Coast in the Round of 32 on June 30.

For a country that hadn’t even appeared in a World Cup for 28 years, Norway now has the tournament’s most talked-about player. And the ripple effects are showing up in places you might not expect, like the Ethereum blockchain.

Three games, three goals, one very long drought broken

Haaland’s World Cup journey started on June 16 with a brace against Iraq. He followed that up with another goal against Senegal on June 23, helping Norway navigate a group stage that most pundits figured would end their tournament early.

Then came the Ivory Coast match. One goal was all it took to punch Norway’s ticket deeper into the knockout rounds and cement Haaland’s name next to a record that had gathered dust for over seven decades.

From the pitch to the blockchain

Haaland’s on-field dominance is doing something interesting off the field. The market for blockchain-based digital collectibles tied to his image has surged during the tournament, with Sorare NFTs leading the charge.

Sorare, the Ethereum-based fantasy football platform, has seen a notable spike in trading activity around Haaland cards throughout the group stage and knockout rounds. One unique Sorare digital card featuring Haaland reportedly sold for 265 ETH, a sum equivalent to roughly $600,000 to $750,000.

Sorare cards function within a fantasy sports ecosystem where a player’s real-world performance directly affects the card’s utility and, by extension, its market value. When Haaland scores in three consecutive World Cup starts for the first time in 72 years, supply and demand does the rest.

Meanwhile, on the more speculative end of the spectrum, a meme token called $HAALAND launched on the Solana blockchain during the tournament. It emerged as a community-driven reaction to his performances rather than any official partnership. Haaland himself has no known endorsement deals with any cryptocurrency firms as of late June 2026.

That distinction matters. The gap between a platform like Sorare, which has an established product and licensed partnerships with football leagues, and an unofficial meme token riding a player’s name is roughly the same as the gap between investing and gambling at a casino that just opened five minutes ago.

What this means for investors watching the sports-blockchain intersection

Sorare’s model ties digital asset value to something measurable and recurring. Football seasons happen every year. World Cups happen every four years. That’s a fundamentally different value proposition than a profile picture NFT whose worth depends entirely on community vibes.

Meme tokens like $HAALAND carry all the usual warnings. They have no official backing, no utility beyond speculation, and their value can evaporate the moment the player’s tournament ends, or the moment he has a bad game.

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