It seems even Spider-Man isn’t immune to being left on read. As Erling Haaland basks in the spotlight following Norway’s historic run to the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals, a viral story including the striker has surfaced, this time with confirmation from the other side. Tom Holland has finally confirmed the rumors of an ignored DM sent to the Manchester City star.
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During an appearance on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Holland admitted to the story of a message he sent to Haaland, which the latter never replied to, and described it as a reality check every actor needs.
“That is exactly the type of humbling experience that is important for actors,” Holland told Fallon after confirming that the story is real. “You know, I’ll text him, I’ll take him to dinner. Not even a response. Not an excuse, not I’m busy tonight, I’m playing football, nada.”
Here’s what happened, according to the ‘Spider-Man’ actor. He explained that while he was in Monaco, watching his friend Lewis Hamilton in an F1 race, he saw Haaland in a hospitality suite across from him and decided to send a message. Unfortunately for him, the message was never read.
Erling Haaland seems to have confirmed the story, as a few days ago, he explained the events from his side during an appearance on the Norwegian show A Laget.
“This is a bit embarrassing, to be completely honest,” the striker said. “I don’t watch movies much, so I have no idea who people are. There was one asking if we could go out for dinner, but I’d never seen him, so I didn’t bother to answer. I didn’t want to answer an unknown person.”
Fallon followed up with Holland, asking him if he would still be willing to have dinner with the Norwegian star, and Holland joked:
“I don’t think he would have dinner with me after the other day. He’s probably hurting a little bit.”
Of course, the English actor was referring to his country’s team beating the Norwegian side 2-1 just a few days earlier to knock them out of the running for the World Cup. Haaland failed to score in that appearance and had to be taken out of the game in overtime due to tiredness, according to coach Stale Solbakken.
Despite the joke, Holland made it clear that there were no hard feelings, calling Haaland “incredible” and an “absolute legend.” With Holland confirming the story, a humorous crossover between the silver screen and the pitch has become part of World Cup folklore.
