Erling Haaland, the Norwegian national team's forward, is one of the biggest stars in world football. He is known as a "goal-scoring machine", standing 1,95 m tall and weighing nearly 100 kg.

Haaland consumes approximately 6,000 calories daily during intense training and match periods. Most of his diet consists of fresh, protein-rich meals, sourced from his favorite farms, food stores, and butcher shops around Manchester, England.

Haaland preparing grilled beef in a YouTube video from 10/2025. He shared his preference for home-cooked meals over processed foods and his fondness for slightly fatty beef. *Guardian*

To understand Haaland's diet, Leigh Kiniry, an American reporter for CBS, decided to replicate his eating habits. Her first meal was breakfast. The menu included 4 scrambled eggs, two slices of sourdough bread, a large bowl of Greek yogurt with berries, and a cup of black coffee with maple syrup.

Kiniry felt completely full after breakfast, but Haaland had previously mentioned often drinking additional unpasteurized whole milk. Therefore, she decided to drink an extra bottle of rich whole milk. Haaland purchases this type of milk directly from a farm, as it is not sold in stores or supermarkets in England. The player calls it a "superfood good for the stomach, skin, bones, and muscles", despite the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in England advising that this milk "may contain harmful bacteria".

"By noon, I began to feel overwhelmed by my overloaded stomach. Yet, the challenge had only just begun", reporter Kiniry wrote.

She and her colleague visited Ad Maiora, Haaland's favorite Italian restaurant, where they even created a sandwich named after him. "The Haaland" sandwich features Parma ham, burrata cheese, pesto sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and truffle oil, all tightly packed into a fresh, flatbread approximately 30 cm long.

"Dinner was my biggest concern, as Haaland is very fond of steak", Kiniry stated.

The "Haaland" sandwich at Ad Maiora, the player's favorite Italian restaurant in Manchester, England. *CBS*

They stopped by a local butcher shop in Cheshire, a Manchester suburb home to many famous football players. At The Cheshire Smokehouse, butcher Wayne recounted that Haaland frequently visits to purchase steak and venison, noting that venison is naturally lean and has lower cholesterol.

That evening, they went to Hawksmoor steak restaurant, known for its charcoal-grilled beef. Haaland often orders bone marrow as an accompaniment, so they began their meal with that dish.

By this point, Kiniry's stomach was completely distended. Without bread or wine to cleanse the palate, the bone marrow almost made her surrender before the steak even arrived. Finally, a perfectly medium-rare, seared T-bone steak weighing 1,2 kg was served.

"I gave it my absolute best. But ultimately, I had to accept defeat", Kiniry said.

The 1,2 kg T-bone steak at Hawksmoor steak restaurant. *CBS*

She concluded that eating like an elite football player was harder than she imagined. She is not a 25-year-old professional athlete burning thousands of calories daily, but a mother of three in her 30s.

"This experience provided new insight and appreciation for the rigorous physical demands on elite athletes. Eating that much meat without a single drop of wine?", she pondered.

Haaland has captivated fans worldwide not only with his exceptional goals and engaging personality but also with his extraordinary energy. The Norwegian team's performance at the World Cup demonstrated to the world that, whether on the scoreboard or at the dinner table, few can keep up with the "Viking Goal Machine", Kiniry observed.

Joshua King, a teammate on the Norwegian national team, once described Haaland: "I've never seen anyone eat as much as him. He eats like a bear."

By Hong Hanh (Source: CBS)