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Norwegian Air honours FIFA World Cup bet with British Airways logo | Business
A friendly social media wager between Norwegian Air and British Airways culminated in the Norwegian carrier temporarily replacing its Instagram profile logo with British Airways’ iconic Speedmarque after England defeated Norway 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-finals.
The challenge, agreed upon days before the match, required the losing airline to adopt its rival’s logo for a day. Following England’s extra-time victory in Miami, Norwegian honoured the agreement with a congratulatory post, bringing to a close a light-hearted campaign that attracted widespread attention and prompted several international airlines to join the online exchange.
How the World Cup wager began
The challenge started on July 8 when Norwegian Air tagged British Airways on Instagram and asked whether it was prepared to “risk your logo”. It proposed that the losing airline would replace its Instagram profile picture with that of its rival for one day after the England-Norway quarter-final.
British Airways responded in similar fashion, first saying Norwegian should not make bets it could not win before joking that it was “Nor-way” scared. After several exchanges, the British carrier formally accepted the challenge, saying Norwegian should not be surprised if it claimed victory “at cruising altitude”.
To mark the agreement, representatives from both airlines later appeared in a joint video, shaking hands and confirming that the wager was purely a friendly contest linked to the World Cup.
Check the video here:
England comeback decides the bet
The challenge remained alive until the final whistle in Miami. Norway took an early lead through Andreas Schjelderup in the 36th minute before Jude Bellingham equalised in first-half stoppage time.
Bellingham then scored again early in extra time to complete England’s comeback and send the Three Lions into the FIFA World Cup semi-finals. The result meant Norwegian Air had officially lost the wager.
Norwegian Air changes its logo
Honouring its promise, Norwegian Air replaced its Instagram profile picture with British Airways’ Speedmarque logo shortly after the match.
In its post, the airline congratulated England and British Airways, saying “It’s coming home” while wishing them well for the semi-finals. It added that although Norway’s World Cup journey had ended, the friendly wager would remain memorable and expressed hope that England would go on to “bring football home”.
Check the post here:
British Airways responded in the comments, saying it liked Norwegian’s new look and thanking the airline for taking part in the challenge. It also described the exchange as the beginning of a new friendship between the two carriers.
British Airways replies to Norwegian Air after winning the bet
Other airlines joined the conversation
The wager quickly grew beyond the two airlines as several international carriers joined the exchange before and after the quarter-final.
Malaysia Airlines joked that it would watch the contest with “satay in one hand and a signature drink in the other”, while Austrian Airlines responded that it would “bring the schnitzel”. SWISS also joined the thread, joking that it had no time for popcorn because it had to prepare for Argentina and Lionel Messi.
After Norwegian changed its logo, Malaysia Airlines returned with another humorous comment, saying it respected the airline because “most airlines need six months and 14 approvals to change a logo”.
Other carriers, including Finnair, airBaltic, KLM, Riyadh Air, Qantas, Virgin Australia and Kenya Airways, also participated in the conversation, helping turn a simple World Cup wager into one of the tournament’s most widely shared brand interactions on social media.
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