Erling Haaland Drops $10K on Texas Taxidermy and Cowboy Gear

There’s a particular kind of sports tourism that happens when international athletes land in America for the first time — and Erling Haaland just delivered a masterclass in it. The Norwegian soccer star didn’t leave the 2026 FIFA World Cup empty-handed. Instead, he and four of his teammates hit Wild Bill’s Western Store in Dallas for a private shopping spree that landed somewhere between cultural immersion and pure indulgence.

An hour and a half later, the group walked out with a $10,000 tab, courtesy of Haaland himself. Sure, the cowboy hats — including an El Presidente felt hat and a beaver felt hat — and the western shirts and boots all make sense as souvenirs. That’s the stuff you’d expect a visitor from Norway to grab as a“I was in Texas”keepsake. But then there’s the taxidermy. A raccoon holding a liquor bottle for $750. Two squirrels dressed up like they were auditioning for a beer commercial — one in a sheriff hat, the other chugging a Budweiser — each running $450. These aren’t practical purchases. These are the kind of decisions you make when you’ve had a good time and money isn’t really a limiting factor.

What’s interesting here is the window it opens into how athletes experience America when they’re visiting. The World Cup brings players from across the globe into U.S. cities, and some of them see it as an opportunity to soak up the local flavor — or at least the version of it that fits neatly in a suitcase. Haaland, one of the best-paid soccer stars in the world, clearly decided that his team’s quarterfinal exit at the hands of England was the perfect moment to embrace the full Texas stereotype and take home some truly bizarre souvenirs as proof of the trip.

By any measure, it’s a harmless bit of fun. The man can afford it, and the story landed exactly where stories like this are supposed to land — generating smiles and a little bit of“only in America”energy. For Haaland, these three taxidermied creatures might end up being more memorable than a trophy ever could’ve been.