The most exciting bet ahead of England and Norway’s World Cup quarterfinal match isn’t taking place on DraftKings.
Norwegian Air Shuttle proposed a wager against British Airways in an Instagram post after the matchup was set earlier this week. The challenge would pit Scandinavia’s second-largest airline against the United Kingdom’s flag carrier.
“Hey @british_airways, do you wanna make a bet?👀🇳🇴🏴,” Norwegian Air Shuttle wrote on Instagram. “If Norway wins, you have to switch to our logo on Instagram on Sunday (one day). And vice versa. Deal?”
British Airways accepted the challenge with a cheeky comment.
“Don’t make bets you can’t win 😉,” it replied.
The wager caught the attention of other major airlines. “We’ll be watching with our satay in one hand and signature drink in the other.🍹” Malaysia Airlines wrote in the comments.
“You two fight over the logo,” Austrian Airlines wrote. “We’ll bring the Schnitzel.”
On Friday, the airlines posted a joint video featuring an official handshake and the exchange of logos. “After all the comments, all the banter, and all the speculation, the handshake has officially been delivered at @british_airways HQ🤝 The deal is on,” the post’s caption said.
The two airlines continued to take playful jabs at each other in the days leading up to the match. “Today’s the day @flynorwegian, nervous yet? 👀🏴🇳🇴,” British Airways wrote.
“just chilling innit xx,” Norwegian Air Shuttle replied.
Eivind Hammer Myhre, a spokesperson for Norwegian, told Business Insider that its social media team came up with the idea to challenge another airline.
“But what wager is fun without risk? And we thought, what’s the most visible thing we can bet? Our logo,” Myhre said. “From there, we created the post, and while we were quite happy with the idea, we would never in a million years have anticipated this kind of reception.”
Myhre said the social media posts have reached tens of millions of people around the world.
“I think the most important thing is that every single comment and feedback has been positive,” he said. “Throughout this, we were a bit worried about the reception at British Airways, but they have been such great sports. This has almost gone from a wager to being a collaboration between two airlines and what seems like the entire internet.”
Still, Myhre couldn’t resist one more jab. “May the best Norwegian team win!” he said.
England and Norway will face off at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. The quarterfinal match will pit tournament standouts like Harry Kane and Erling Haaland against each other. As of Saturday afternoon, platforms like DraftKings, Polymarket, and Kalshi are predicting England to win.
