The viral football chant for Erling Haaland during World Cup 2026 actually originates from West Germany’s 1979 Eurovision legends, Dschinghis Khan.

Photo credit: screenshot from YouTube. Erling Haaland.

If you have scrolled through TikTok, Instagram Reels lately, or just watched a match of the Norwegian entry at World Cup 2026, there is no chance you missed it. The rhythmic and infectious cheer echoing from the stands: “Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaland, hey!”. It is impossible to ignore, and once it gets stuck in your head, good luck trying to get it out.

Today, this melody is instantly associated with the unstoppable Norwegian striker Erling Haaland – often named “The Cyborg” or “The Viking” – who shatters records and dismantles defenses with ease. But here is a plot twist that almost no one in the stands is aware of: the melody behind the most viral fan chant in the football world actually comes directly from the glitter, camp, and disco frenzy of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Yes, really. From the 1970s pop stage to the stands of the Premier League and World Cup 2026, the journey of this hit is as unexpected as it gets.

From the Bundesliga to the Premier League: How the Chant Was Born

To understand the connection, one must go back to Haaland’s breakthrough days in Germany in the uniform of Borussia Dortmund. When the young Norwegian striker started tearing up the nets in bunches, the die-hard Dortmund fans decided he needed a song worthy of his monstrous goal-scoring ability.

Instead of inventing a completely new melody, the fans dug into the archives of German disco and “hijacked” the melody of the famous hit “Moskau” (in English: “Moscow”) by the legendary pop band Dschinghis Khan. The song gained momentum at record speed:

“Haaland, Haaland / He came to us from Germany / He’s here to win the Champions League / Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaland, hey!”

When Haaland made the glamorous move to Manchester City, the English fans did not just inherit the striker; they imported the chant right along with him. They updated the lyrics to pay tribute to his father, former City player Alf-Inge Haaland, and sang the song all the way to the historic Champions League victory in 2023. Recently, the phenomenon even crossed continents, as the Mexican group Banda La Prestigiosa created a vibrant cover version with traditional Mexican brass instruments, accompanied by the “Viking claps” – a video that received official approval and a supportive response on social media from Haaland and Manchester City itself.

The Eurovision Connection: Where Did the Melody Really Come From?

So how does Eurovision fit into this whole story? While fans today sing it to celebrate hat-tricks and titles, the musical DNA of the chant belongs entirely to Eurovision history. As noted in recent articles and cultural reviews examining the viral audio, the original song by Dschinghis Khan was born directly from the track of the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest.

The colorful and unique pop band was formed specifically for the Eurovision stage, representing West Germany in the 1979 contest, which was held in Jerusalem. The band performed the energetic song bearing their name, “Dschinghis Khan“, captured Europe’s heart, and finished in a respectable fourth place, in the same year that the Israeli entry won with the song “Hallelujah“.

Riding the wave of insane success and international exposure from Eurovision that exact same year, the band members immediately returned to the studio and released the hit “Moskau”. With a sweeping disco beat, Russian-flavored melodic elements, and pure theatrical pop energy, the track became a massive hit all across Europe.

Pop Heritage Getting a New Life

This is a bizarre and brilliant piece of pop culture alchemy. A disco track created as a direct follow-up to success at Eurovision 1979 slept quietly in the cultural consciousness for decades, only to be resurrected 40 years later by football fans to celebrate a Norwegian goal machine in the 21st century.

So the next time you hear tens of thousands of fans roaring “Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaland, hey!” during Norway’s match against England tonight, take a moment to smile to yourself about the history hiding behind the beat. They might be singing to the most terrifying cyborg in the football world, but they are dancing to the rhythm of classic Eurovision disco.

Tell us in the comments: Did you know that Haaland’s viral fan chant is based on a hit by Eurovision 1979 stars, and which Eurovision song would you want to adopt as a football anthem?