If you’re in the market for a taxidermied raccoon — and let’s be honest, who isn’t? — you may have some trouble tracking one down, and that’s all thanks to soccer player Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian superstar took the tournament by storm, leading his team to the quarterfinals and becoming one of this edition of the World Cup’s biggest names.
Not just because of what he did on the field, but also because of the way he fully embraced American culture, part of which involved certain souvenirs.
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Haaland was seen hopping off the team plane back in Norway with a stuffed raccoon holding an empty bottle of booze.
That got a lot of attention because, well, let’s be honest, it’s a little odd. It also turned out that it was part of a taxidermy collection the Manchester City star picked up during the tournament.
That raccoon getting Haaland’s stamp of approval meant that suddenly there was a surge in demand, one the western shop where he bought it is having trouble meeting.
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According to Front Office Sports, Dallas’ Wild Bill’s Western Store is fresh out of stuffed raccoon and has even been shipping internationally for the first time because of the demand.
There’s a good lesson here: you never know where your biggest success could come from.
There’s no way the Wild Bill’s Western Store long game was, “So, in 2026, the World Cup will be in the U.S., and we’re going to bank on a Norwegian guy having a real affinity for stuffed raccoons.”
If that is how they drew it up, more power to them, but I’m comfortable assuming that it wasn’t.
But hey, I’m sure they won’t complain about Erling Haaland using his power to influence global taxidermied raccoon demand to help their bottom line.
I certainly wouldn’t.
Meanwhile, the TSA — which has really been faced with some strange conundrums thanks to the World Cup — posted on X that there’s no rule against flying with a booze bottle-wielding stuffed raccoon, but suggested consulting individual airlines.
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