World Cup 2026 Soccer Norway fan speaks out on why he didn’t join rowing celebration in viral World Cup moment By Jake Nisse Published July 10, 2026, 1:24 p.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on Google Even a historic World Cup performance couldn’t get him to row.
Norway is into its first-ever World Cup quarterfinal, and the “Viking Row” celebration has become a hit after games.
But one fan has noticeably refused to take part — and now has explained why.
“First of all, I just find it really stupid,” Emil Lappen told Sky News.
“That’s the thing I thought when they came up with it, that it was stupid and annoying, and I didn’t want to do it.”
Lappen refused to perform the celebration after Norway’s 3-2 win over Senegal at MetLife Stadium, even as a sea of fans did so around him.
He explained to Sky that he believes the rowing celebration is too similar to the “Thunderclap” previously performed by Iceland fans — and how he believes it is historically inaccurate.
Emil Lappen believes the rowing celebration is “stupid” and historically inaccurate TV2 “It copies a lot of what Iceland were doing and it’s factually wrong,” he said. “They didn’t row, they sailed, over the Atlantic.”
Sky News anchor Barbara Serra fairly added that the rowing motion wasn’t all that similar to the “Thunderclap”, which was famously used by Iceland fans at the 2016 Euros and 2018 World Cup.
“All they wanted was the same reaction from people and then they just changed the motion,” he said. “That’s the same thing.”
The celebration has even been embraced by the team’s players, with star Erling Haaland among those to take part on the field.
Still, Lappen said that he will be watching the game from home — and not rowing — as Norway takes on England this Saturday.
This is Norway’s first World Cup appearance since 1998, and its run to the last eight is already their best performance at the tournament.
