Football's best bromance: Why Bellingham and Haaland break the mould

[littlemissmartypants]

13 hours ago
By Dan Sales
...
Footage of their camaraderie over the years has become a welcome antidote to toxic masculinity and the darker corners of social media.
...
The friendship between the pair was noticed first at BVB, who even put out a video on YouTube on Valentine's Day of them reading cheesy pick-up lines to each other.

They included Haaland reading, "I'd like to take you to the movies but they don't let you bring in your own snacks."
...

"Football online is often built around outrage and tribalism and turning every player into either heroes and villains, so I think what these clips do is re-humanise two people who are normally cast as multi-million pound assets or rivals or goal-scoring machines. These are two of the most ruthlessly competitive players in world football, but off the pitch they are funny, affectionate and clearly comfortable in showing they care about each other.

Snip...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz9l8pzxv7vo


Matches Today
Saturday, July 11th, 2026

1) Norway v England
Erling Haaland says Norway's World Cup chances are 'really low,' puts pressure on England ahead of quarterfinals
https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/article/erling-haaland-says-norways-world-cup-chances-are-really-low-puts-pressure-on-england-ahead-of-quarterfinals-164851742.html

2) Argentina v Switzerland
Argentina-Switzerland Preview: Another thriller on tap?
https://sports.yahoo.com/video/argentina-switzerland-preview-another-thriller-on-tap-223808147.html

Good Luck, Everyone!
💙⚽️💙
❤️pants

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Read your post's title and immediately thought of "Heated Rivalry".