REUTERS/John Sibley
Norway fans perform the Viking row in Times Square
Norway’s Viking Row has emerged as the undisputed king of postgame celebrations at the World Cup. However, some fans are less than thrilled with that new tradition, including one man who shared a hilarious pedantic explanation after he went viral for refusing to join during the run that’s brought his country to the quarterfinals.
The 2026 World Cup has shined a light on a number of countries that have managed to stand out from the pack for a variety of reasons.
Cape Verde did so by staging an unexpected run due to its play on the pitch, Scotland attracted plenty of attention thank to how its fans behaved (and drank) off of it, and the United States once again showed signs that suggested it had finally figured the whole “soccer” thing out before proving that was not the case by imploding in spectacular fashion.
Norway, on the other hand, has seemingly done exactly that after forging a path to the quarterfinals, which marks the longest it’s stayed alive in its four appearances at the World Cup (the previous best was a loss in the round of 16, which came during their most recent appearance in 1998)
The country has also rallied around the “Viking row” that has become the go-to celebration for the team and its fans on the field, in the stands, and even on escalators.
Erling Haaland leads the Viking Row for Norway 🇳🇴
One of the greatest traditions continues on in this FIFA World Cup. pic.twitter.com/mHDGCVH2b6
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 5, 2026
Most people seem to enjoy the ritual that is quite a sight to behold, but that is firmly not the case with one man who has staged a crusade against the “stupid” show of support.
A Norway fan who refused to do the Viking Row after his country beat Senegal outlined his beef with the celebration
The Viking Row is not an age-old tradition in Norway but rather a celebration that was dreamed up in 2025 by Ole Froystad, who championed the successful campaign to make it A Thing at the 2026 World Cup.
The push also involved a song that was whipped up for the occasion: “Vikingblod,” which features lyrics about Vikings who pledge to “row all the way” across the Atlantic to conquer the United States.
That brings us to Emil Lappen, who garnered plenty of attention in Norway after he refused to do the Viking Row in the stands at MetLife Stadium following the squad’s 3-2 win over Norway in the knockout round.
His defiance went viral in his home country and beyond, and after voicing his disdain with a Norwegian news outlet, he recently accepted an invitation to air some grievances in English during an interview with Sky News.
“They can win whatever they want, I will not row.”
Norway fan Emil Lappen explains to @BarbaraGSerra why he won’t be taking part in the Viking row while watching his team play at the World Cup.
Latest: https://t.co/GlRk0LAyx2
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/x95bElaxPv
— Sky News (@SkyNews) July 9, 2026
Lappen bluntly stated he thinks the Viking Row is “stupid and annoying” and suggested it was a ripoff of the “Thunderclap” Iceland debuted at Euros in 2016 before bringing it to the World Cup a couple of years later (it also inspired the “Skol” chant that’s been a staple of Minnesota Vikings games for the past decade).
He also has a bone to pick when it comes to historical accuracy (or lack thereof), adding:
“It’s factually wrong. The Vikings sailed across the Atlantic; they didn’t row across the Atlantic.
A song they released said they were going to ‘row’ across the Atlantic, and that’s why I’ve been so annoyed about it. The Vikings rowed up rivers and things like that, but across the Atlantic they sailed.”
All signs point to Lappen being entirely serious about his disdain for the Viking Row as opposed to being incredibly committed to a bit, and I can’t help but respect either of those possible explanations.