Norwegian Air changes logo to British Airways after losing bet

Norwegian Air kept its word. After England beat Norway 2-1 in extra time in Saturday's World Cup quarterfinal in Miami, the Oslo-based carrier swapped its Instagram profile picture for British Airways' logo, honoring a friendly wager thehonouringglines struck days before kickoff.

How did Norwegian and British Air bet start?

Days ahead of the match, Norwegian challenged British Airways directly on Instagram: "Hey @british_airways, do you want to make a bet? If Norway wins, you have to switch to our logo on Instagram on Sundwant tond vice versa." 

British Airways initially clapped back with "Don't make bets you can't win" before formally accepting witSunday andaccepted!"

This exchange soon attracted the participation of other carriers in the comments section. Malaysia Airlines made a joke about how all airlines take six months and 14 approvals just to change their logos, implying that both airlines managed to do this deal much faster.

American Airlines also joined the discussion, stating that it had nothing to do with the game but was flying there.

The friendly wager comes against the more serious historical background of how both airlines have previously clashed. Norwegian used to be in direct competition with British Airways on low-cost long-haul flights from London Gatwick to North America; however, this aggressive expansion strategy led to financial difficulties for Norwegian, which had to deal with problems with the Rolls-Royce engines of their 787 Dreamliner planes.

Norwegian then had to give up long-haul flights and focus only on their Scandinavian base, which eventually proved to be the right choice for the company’s future success.

Norway made it to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1998 after shocking Brazil 2-1 in the last 16, with goals from Erling Haaland.

The “Viking War Chant” of Norway has been one of the most memorable aspects of the World Cup so far, while Saturday’s game was a closely contested one before Jude Bellingham found the back of the net twice to put England through.