How an Elementary School Teacher Invented the World Cup's Biggest Trend

You have seen the Viking Row. Fans sit on the floor in the shape of a longboat, a leader bangs a drum, and everyone rows their arms in unison while chanting. It looks ancient. It is not. It was invented roughly six months ago by Ole Frøystad, an elementary school teacher, who walked into a bar in a northern suburb of Oslo with a notepad containing 10 to 15 chants he had personally written. The Viking Row was, in his words, the jewel in the crown.

It debuted in a March friendly against Switzerland and the early reviews were that it looked silly. Frøystad diagnosed the problem immediately: people were not using their backs. So the supporters' group produced instructional videos on correct rowing form and got them onto local news. Read that again. A nation received formal technique coaching on a fake Viking rowing motion from a school teacher on the evening news and then complied.

The next video hit 38 million views before a ball was kicked. The row then appeared on a Boston escalator, in Times Square, at a Mets game, in the Norwegian Parliament, and at a PGA Tour event, where rowers followed Viktor Hovland around the course. Hovland, buoyed by what he called electric chanting, won a playoff over Scottie Scheffler. The chant is now 2-0 against Brazil and Scottie Scheffler.

At the Oslo homecoming, Crown Prince Haakon banged the drum and led tens of thousands of people in the Viking Row. A member of a royal house that traces back over a thousand years performed a dance move that a substitute teacher made up in January.

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This story was originally published July 16, 2026 at 8:07 AM.