Erling Haaland’s influence reached new heights during the World Cup – it has even caused a surge in carrot sales in Norway.If the Manchester City talisman wasn’t a superstar before, this summer catapulted him into a new stratosphere as his goalscoring exploits and unique personality made him a household name.Haaland finished as the World Cup’s third-top scorer on his tournament debutGettyOn the pitch, Haaland led Norway to a World Cup quarter-final, firing in seven goals in six games before being knocked out by England.And his profile only grew away from it, with the goal machine’s lifestyle – which includes meditation and his unfiltered social media activity – earning him a whole new fanbase.Haaland was easily the most viral player of the competition, whose Instagram following grew from 40million to 60million during it.Haaland inspires Norway againThe ‘Haaland effect’ is showing no signs of slowing down in Norway, with reports that he is now inspiring a boom in carrot consumption.According to reports, carrot sales have increased by 25 per cent in the Scandinavian nation in recent weeks, and isn’t hard to trace the root cause.The vegetables are a known favourite of Haaland’s, who has previously been spotted snacking on them while signing autographs and he recently starred in a commercial promoting them.During the World Cup, he featured on every Norwegian television channel in an advert for vegetable wholesaler Bama – a vegetable wholesaler, where he drives a truck and eats carrots.Norwegian Nutrition Advisor Iselin Sagen told talkSPORT on the carrot boom: “The sales went up in July. We have never seen this record in July before.“Also the sales were very good in August. And we know that there were two things going on at the same time in July. “We had a big campaign with Haaland running before every match. He drives the trucks, eats the carrots and asks for more carrots.Haaland has continued his goalscoring form into the new season, scoring five goals in his first five Premier League outingsGetty“And the supermarket also had bunched carrots on offer all summer. “So, I cannot prove that it was him. But he is a huge role model in Norway and he was right in the middle of it.”This isn’t the first time the 26-year-old’s diet has caught the eye, having previously stunned fans by revealing he consumes 6,000 calories per day – which includes heart, liver and a cheat meal of kebab pizza.But Sagen revealed Haaland’s background, having grown up in the small farming town of Bryne, has likely led to his love of carrots too.She said: “I really do think that Erling Haaland loves Norwegian vegetables.“He grew up in a district where there are many farmers in Bryne, a small place in Rogaland district.”Haaland was inspirational for Norway at the World Cup, and he is a huge influence off the pitch tooGettyWhile the vegetables are in fact a staple in Norway, Sagen had little doubt that Haaland was behind their recent popularity, who is known to prefer bunched carrots with greens still attached.The nutritionist continued: “We eat a lot of carrots in Norway. That’s one of the most eaten vegetables in Norway. “But we did know that bunched carrots with the grass on – that was having a low sale before this campaign, and this year.“We were thinking about what’s happening with the bunched carrots, [that] we should sell more. “But when you ask how much is it [the increase], it’s around 600 tonnes more carrots sold in July 2026 compared to 2025. And that’s around one or two carrots more per person – we have five and a half million people in Norway.”