A video circulating on social media since Monday, purporting to show Norwegian footballer Erling Haaland getting startled by his own reflection in a mirror, has been confirmed as doctored. The clip, which garnered millions of views across platforms, was debunked through a detailed fact-check by iVerify Pakistan, a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
How the Viral Video Spread
On June 28, a social media user on X shared the video with the caption: “I’m seriously going to die laughing at Haaland.” The post accumulated 31.5 million views. Another user posted the same clip with a caption describing Haaland’s reaction as “shocking” and comparing him to the Dragon Ball character Majin Buu, gaining 11.4 million views. A football fan account captioned it: “With Haaland eating and getting scared looking at himself in the mirror, I just can’t handle it. I’m crying over that jump he makes,” amassing 6.4 million views. Additional posts by other users garnered 5.6 million, 1.7 million, and 748,000 views respectively. The video was also widely shared on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, collectively accumulating over 805,000 views on those platforms.
Methodology of the Fact-Check
Due to the high virality and public interest in Haaland during the ongoing World Cup, iVerify Pakistan initiated a fact-check. Frame-by-frame analysis revealed visual discrepancies: in the clip, Haaland’s ear appeared pointed, whereas in real life it is more rounded. At the 4-second mark, his pinky and ring finger appeared blurred and melting together, a common artifact in AI-generated or edited videos.
AI-detection tools were employed to verify the footage. Truth Scan labeled the video as 91% AI-generated. Detectvideo AI and Sora AI Detector both rated it 53% AI-generated. Additionally, X marked the video as AI-generated content in its context section and shared the original video used to create the doctored clip. A reverse image search traced the earliest known version of the original video to a Facebook account on June 19, 2026.
Conclusion
The claim that the viral video shows Erling Haaland getting startled by his reflection is false. The video is doctored using AI technology. This fact-check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
