Norway's defeat at the 2026 World Cup changed the image of a well-known airline
The 2026 World Cup quarterfinal match between England and Norway sparked an unusual rivalry that extended beyond the field. The airlines Norwegian and British Airways made a creative bet on social media, as a result of which one of them changed its branding after its team’s defeat.
The Norwegian low-cost carrier initiated the challenge. The company officially challenged its British counterpart to stake its brand identity on the outcome. Under the terms of the bet, the carrier whose national team lost the match agreed to remove its logo for 24 hours and replace it with its competitor’s logo as the main profile picture on Instagram.
Representatives from British Airways took the challenge in stride, noting that it’s not worth starting a dispute that can’t be won. To add weight to her argument, a Norwegian employee personally delivered a flash drive containing a file of her company’s logo to British Airways’ headquarters.
The quarterfinal match itself turned out to be extremely tense and ended with a narrow victory for the British team in extra time (2–1).
Immediately after the final whistle, Norwegian had to come down from the clouds and keep its promise. Having lost the soccer bet, the Scandinavian low-cost carrier removed its own branding and decorated its official account in the British Airways style.
“Although the tournament is over for us, this friendly wager will remain in our hearts forever. We hope that the ‘Three Lions’ will bring soccer home after all,” Norwegian noted touchingly.
The British carrier celebrated the victory in style, noting that the rivalry lasted only 90 minutes, but the friendship between the brands is forever. British Airways compared this relationship to the mutual respect between soccer stars Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham and has already offered the Norwegian social media team free round-trip tickets to London to cement their friendship.
However, it was ordinary passengers who benefited the most from this soccer madness. Despite their national team’s elimination, Norwegian Air decided to lift the fans’ spirits and, to mark the end of the bet, announced an immediate, massive sale on tickets for all routes between Norway and the United Kingdom.
This was reported by Euronews.
At the World Cup, which is being held in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, both semifinal matchups have been determined. In the first semifinal match, France will face Spain, while in the other match, England and Argentina will compete for a spot in the final.
The first semifinalist was determined yesterday at the World Cup. The French national team confidently defeated Morocco 2–0 and became the first team to secure a spot among the tournament’s top four.
Meanwhile, FIFA has decided to sell fans pieces of turf from the stadium that will host the 2026 World Cup final. Prices will start at $450, and the most expensive collector’s sets will cost up to $3,000.
