Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, like almost all sports fans in the US, have their eyes glued to the FIFA World Cup. Erling Haaland’s brace recently helped Norway eliminate Brazil after a 2-0 win in the Round of 16. Brunson was also in attendance at the game at New York’s MetLife Stadium tonight.
Following the nerve-wracking matchup, the Knicks’ players Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart both took to social media and gave Haaland his flowers for leading Norway to the quarterfinals.
“Cheers, Haaland 🫡,” wrote Brunson on X while saluting the Norwegian striker’s performance.
“Haaland is an animal,” Hart wrote on X.
The Norwegian forward has now tied with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé for the Golden Boot race with seven goals scored in this edition of the FIFA World Cup.
Jalen Brunson enjoying some World Cup action 🏀⚽ pic.twitter.com/i7nR1d3nN8
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 5, 2026
Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart discussed their picks for the top scorer at the FIFA World Cup earlier when they recorded an episode of their podcast, ‘The Roommates Show’.
“For the top goal scorer, I’m going to say Erling Haaland because I think Norway will make the push,” said Brunson.
“For y’all, please don’t pick Haaland. It’ll probably be Mbappé because Erling Haaland does not have many people on his team to put the ball into the box,” Hart responded.
“You know what, Josh? You’re right, you got it. F–k my picks,” Brunson hilariously fired back with sarcasm.
“It’s probably going to be Mbappé. He’s going to play the most games. He’s going to their PKs, and he’s going to get goals from open play,” Hart replied.
But after tonight’s performance, Hart had to take back his words on Haaland.
“I was wrong. You were right,” wrote Hart on X while tagging Jalen Brunson under the update statistics of the race for the Golden Boot.
Norway is now heading into the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup for the first time in the country’s history. It had qualified for the Round of 16 twice in the past (1938, 1998), but got eliminated on both occasions.
They are now set to face England on Saturday, July 11, to potentially reach the semifinals. The only time Haaland and Mbappé can face off once again (after Haaland sat out their group-stage battle) is now directly in the finals. If France and Norway reach the FIFA World Cup Finals, we could see Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart take sides against each other for probably the first time since they teamed up on the Knicks.
Just a few days ago, Brunson also reacted to Cape Verde’s heartbreaking loss to Lionel Messi’s Argentina, the defending champions. And now, he’s giving Haaland the respect he deserves.
This shows how truly diverse and global soccer is as a sport. It will undoubtedly be a nail-biting contest over who wins the most prestigious soccer event in the world.
