Russian model Anastasia Kostrometina, lookalike of Norwegian football star Erling Haaland, told AFP that she takes the situation 'calmly' after a period of not understanding when faced with remarks from her relatives.

The 24-year-old Kostrometina said in an interview in Moscow: 'At first, I honestly didn't understand how I could resemble a man and a football player. But then I began to take it with humor, and now I take it calmly.'

Anastasia's face features a prominent forehead, a snub nose, full lips, deep blue eyes, and long blonde hair, which makes her features closely resemble the English Manchester City striker.

The model explained that her friends and family had been joking about the resemblance for four years.

But when Erling Haaland became one of the stars of the 2026 World Cup, thanks to many jokes about his facial expressions, the Russian decided to share this resemblance publicly.

A short video posted on Instagram on July 5 shows the Haaland lookalike precisely mimicking the smile, gaze, and facial expressions of the City star.

The post has since garnered more than six million likes.

Anastasia Kostrometina has experienced this sudden fame as a 'dream,' and attributes this success, besides the obvious physical resemblance, to her talent for mimicking the facial expressions of the Norwegian goal scorer.

She added: 'I think I'm good at mimicking these expressions, especially since I don't need to put in much effort,' before admitting with a slight smile that she hopes Haaland sees the video 'and maybe even laughs at it.'

The Haaland lookalike has become a supporter of the Norwegian national team and feels 'frustrated' that the Scandinavians lost in the World Cup quarter-finals against England.

The Russian now hopes that Haaland's career will continue with 'success,' and that his personality remains 'as it is,' adding: 'Erling doesn't try to put on a show in front of the cameras; everything he does is natural. He has nice expressions and sincere emotions, and that's great, and it attracted people to him.'