As the Norwegian soccer star, Erling Haaland, shines at the FIFA World Cup 2026, his female lookalike from Russia is making a splash on social media.
Russian model, Anastasia Kostromitina, has shot to fame on Instagram with videos posts showing her mimicking Haaland. One of the most watched clips has just reached 110 million views and over 5 million likes.
Kostromitina, 24, who is a model at the Moscow-based "MOTION" model agency, told Reuters in Moscow, that she had never been interested in football. It was a friend of hers who first noticed her striking resemblance to the Norway and Manchester City forward, said Kostromitina.
At first the comments did not please Kostromitina at all.
"I could not understand why I was compared to a male soccer player," she says.
Acceptance came later and now Kostromitina takes it with a sense of humour and even uses it as a tool to boost her career as many brands are queueing to work with her as a model.
Kostromitina says she hopes Haaland likes her video posts but her biggest wish is to make a selfie with the Norwegian football star.
But besides Internet fame and modelling success, Kostromitina has taken up a new hobby: watching football matches.
And of course she is supporting Norway at the 2026 World Cup.
The Scandinavian country, which last made it to a World Cup playoff in the 1998 tournament staged in France, will face England in the quarterfinals of the current World Cup on Saturday.