The Swedish tourist board has hit back after people Googling the coastal region of Halland were asked if they meant to look up Manchester City footballer Erling Haaland instead.

The professional striker hails from Norway but his rising popularity is now causing problems for the county on the western coast of Sweden, just south of Gothenburg.

Thanks to people repeatedly misspelling Haaland’s surname, the hashtag #Halland has been circulating on social media, with fans actually referring to the Man City team member rather than the place.

In turn, Google has become confused, and those searching for the Swedish holiday destination are now finding themselves being directed towards search results about the similarly named sportsman.

In response, director of Visit Halland Jimmy Sandberg has put up a LinkedIn post which starts with the words “HALLAND VS. HAALAND”.

Sandberg said: “Dear football fans of the world, we have a problem. Erling Haaland’s popularity, and a spelling error, is drowning out our beloved Swedish region of Halland on the internet right now.”

Sandberg attached an open letter, which reads: “If you were to Google images of Halland, and look at the Instagram #Halland, all you would see is pictures and stories of Haaland. The popularity of the football phenomenon combined with the spelling error is completely suffocating our online presence.”

The post also has a practical takeaway for hashtag users and football fans alike: “We are aware that Scandinavian vowels can be quite confusing, so to further assist you we’d like to offer up a small linguistic guide.”

Sandberg finishes by pleading, “please, Haaland fans: give us our hashtag back!”

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