The world’s press has given considerable coverage this week to the proud send-offs of the competing teams for the World Cup. The Turkish team, with the unfathomably long car escort, and the Brazilian team’s plane being given an aviation baptism on the tarmac. Airline steps have never taken up more column inches in National Newspapers than they have this first week of June 2026. It is the biggest sports event ever to be held and every team’s departure to the Americas has been a source of national interest.   But one Nordic nation went both a step further and a step back in time. It was a great personal honour to work with the Norwegian Football Association and make a photograph that I hope will be cherished by the country. It was many months in the planning, but we can now release “The Vikings are Coming”, a celebration of the departure of one of the most fancied teams in the tournament. This is a formidable football squad; the best that Norway has ever produced.   I would like to thank the Norwegian coach St​åle Solbakken for entertaining the idea in the first place and the team captain Martin ​Ødegaard for accommodating this project after such a busy schedule for his club side Arsenal.    The players look like they are popping out from the pages of Norse mythology and that was always the intent. Of course, there is no more plausible a Viking than Norwegian national treasure Erling Haaland - making him look like a warrior was one of the easier tasks of my career.   In these days of AI, there will be doubters as to the validity of the boats and I would like to thank the Norwegian FA for procuring the best operating Viking ships available. Their presence lent great weight to the narrative.   Valhalla!