Clip of Norwegian fans doing 'Viking row' at airport is AI-generated
- Published on July 17, 2026 at 09:54
- 3 min read
- By Livia LIU, Tendai DUBE, AFP Hong Kong, AFP South Africa
Fans celebrated Norway's historic World Cup run despite its quarter-final loss to England, but a video appearing to show Norwegian fans performing the "Viking row" on an airport baggage carousel is AI-generated. The clip contains visual errors indicative of synthetic content and was traced to an account that uses AI to create content.
"In a moment that quickly caught attention, Norway fans were seen rowing their way back home after their team’s defeat to England," reads an Instagram caption published on July 13, 2026.
The video shows a group of fans, mostly in Norwegian sports jerseys, hats, and scarves, performing the "Viking row" on an airport carousel surrounded by a crowd.
"Turning disappointment into a powerful visual, the symbolic journey captured the emotion of the loss while showing the passion and resilience of the supporters," the post adds.
The post credits a sports page, "usspofficial", which had posted the video a day before -- and garnered more than 240,000 likes.
Similar posts of the clip circulated here and here in Chinese, as well as in multiple other languages, after Erling Haaland's side lost 2-1 to England in the World Cup quarter-finals in Miami -- their best result in the competition after a 28-year absence (archived here and here).
Social media users commented that "the Norwegian team with the best sportsmanship" and "they had a great time in all games".
"I appreciate them. They lost the game, but super classy and loving," another comment reads.
The "Viking row" draws on Norwegian rowing traditions tied to life around fjords, lakes and the sea, according to tourism body Visit Norway (archived link).
Since the start of this year's World Cup, social media has been flooded with videos of Norwegian fans dressed in red, white and blue.
They sit down on the ground in groups. Then stretch their arms out and mimic rowing a boat. They rock back and forth in unison while chanting: "Row, row, row!"
However, the circulating clip is AI-generated.
An analysis of the video using the AI detection tool Hive Moderation found it was 99.9 percent likely to "contain AI-generated or deepfake content."
Several elements in the clip also point to it being AI-generated: the baggage carousel turns like a merry-go-round, whereas real airport carousels are static, with only the conveyor belt moving.
The ceiling and floor also appear warped, and the legs of the people sitting on the conveyor belt look elongated as the video zooms in. Several onlookers and people on the carousel also exhibit almost identical poses.
A reverse image search found that an Instagram user published the same clip on July 12, with a caption attributing it to a Snapchat user called "mikesmmayhem."
A separate keyword search for "mikesmmayhem" on Facebook led to an account that shares AI-generated content.
The Facebook account says it uses AI and computer software to create a variety of "fun, heartfelt, imaginative, captivating and silly AI videos".
The video was published on the account on July 12 and includes Facebook's "AI info" label.
AFP contacted the account owner for comment, but a response is not immediately forthcoming.
AFP Fact Check has debunked several posts related to the World Cup.
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