Russian model goes viral for resemblance to footballer Haaland

Model Anastasia Kostromitina and player Erling Haaland
REUTERS
While player Erling Haaland competes in the 2026 World Cup with the Norwegian national team, a Russian model who became known for resembling the striker is making waves on social media.
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Anastasia Kostromitina, 24, went viral on Instagram when she posted videos in which he imitates the player. The most popular of them has already surpassed 110 million views and received more than 5 million likes.
The model told Reuters that she was never interested in football. It was a friend who noticed the similarity between her and the Manchester City striker.
At first, she didn't like the comparison.
"I couldn't understand why they were comparing me to a football player", she said.
The model Anastasia Kostromitina went viral on the internet because of her resemblance to the Norwegian player Erling Haaland
REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov
Over time, however, she decided to join in on the fun. Today, she uses the similarity to produce videos on social media. According to her, the repercussion opened doors in her modeling career, with brands interested in closing partnerships.
"When he became famous during the World Cup, a trend emerged on the internet of people who looked like him making videos. So I thought: why not do the same, especially since everyone was telling me about it?", she said
Kostromitina stated that she hopes Haaland sees her videos. More than that, she dreams of taking a selfie with the striker.
Internet fame also brought an unexpected change: she started following football matches and now supports Norway in the World Cup.
Haaland's team faces England this Saturday (11), in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Haaland is one of the players managed by Rafaela Pimenta, the first woman to become a super agent in football
Getty Images via BBC
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