Norwegian Air made a World Cup bet with British Airways and lost.
Airline rivalries have been around for as long as companies realised people quite enjoy watching brands have a go at each other online.
The latest example came during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, when Norwegian Air decided to challenge British Airways to a bet ahead of England and Norway’s quarter-final.
The terms were pretty simple. Whichever country lost, its airline had to change its Instagram profile picture to the rival airline’s logo for 24 hours.
British Airways accepted.
The whole thing became slightly more serious when representatives from the two airlines reportedly met near Heathrow Airport before the match to swap USB sticks containing their respective logos.
Very corporate. Very committed to the bit.
Then England beat Norway 2–1 after extra time, which left Norwegian with a fairly unavoidable task.
True to its word, the airline changed its Instagram profile picture to the British Airways logo and posted: “It is coming home. Well played, England and British Airways.”
View this post on Instagram
“While the tournament is over for us, this friendly bet will forever live in all our hearts,” Norwegian wrote.
“We wish England and @british_airways all the best in the semi-final, and we sincerely hope you’ll get to bring football home!”
British Airways replied: “We love this new look on you.”
Other airlines also wandered into the comments, including Qantas, which wrote: “felt cute might delete later xx”.
Malaysia Airlines perhaps had the most realistic response of the lot.
“Respect to Norwegian! Most airlines need six months and 14 approvals to change a logo,” the airline commented.
Norwegian also launched a 48-hour flash sale on flights between Norway and the UK following the result.
Norway may have lost the quarter-final, but at least the airline followed through on the bet.
Which, in the world of corporate social media, is almost an achievement in itself.
