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Norway national football team
Men's association football team From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Norway national football team (Norwegian: Norges herrelandslag i fotball, or informally Landslaget) represents Norway in men's international football, and is controlled by the Norwegian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Ståle Solbakken. Norway has participated three times in the FIFA World Cup (1938, 1994, 1998), and once in the UEFA European Championship (2000).
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Norway is one of only four national teams with a winning record against Brazil, and the only team together with Senegal to never have lost against them, with two wins and two draws in three friendly matches (in 1988, 1997 and 2006) and a 1998 World Cup group stage match.[3]
After Euro 2000, the national team have been eliminated in 12 consecutive qualifications to a major international tournament (UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup) as of December 2024.[4][5][6]
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History
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Norway's performances in international football have usually been weaker than those of their Scandinavian neighbours Sweden and Denmark, but they did have a golden age in the late 1930s. An Olympic team achieved third place in the 1936 Olympics, after beating the host Germany earlier in the tournament. Norway also qualified for the 1938 FIFA World Cup, where they lost 2–1 after extra time against eventual champions Italy. This was Norway's last World Cup appearance in 56 years.
In the post-war years, up to and including the 1980s, Norway was usually considered one of the weaker teams in Europe. They never qualified for a World Cup or European Championship in this period, and usually finished near the bottom of their qualifying groups. Nevertheless, Norway had a reputation for producing the occasional shock result, such as the 3–0 win against Yugoslavia in 1965, the 1–0 away win against France in 1968, and the 2–1 victory against England in 1981 that prompted radio commentator Bjørge Lillelien's famous "Your boys took a hell of a beating" rant.[7]
Norway had their most successful period from 1990 to 1998 under the legendary coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen. At its height in the mid-90s the team was ranked No. 2. Olsen started his training career with Norway with a 6–1 home victory against Cameroon on 31 October 1990 and ended it on 27 June 1998 after a 0–1 defeat against Italy in the second stage of the 1998 World Cup.
In qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, Norway topped their group, finishing above both the European Championship winning and three-time World Cup finalists the Netherlands, and also above former World Cup winners England, beating both teams in the process.
In the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Norway was knocked out at the group stage after a win against Mexico, a defeat against Italy and a draw against the Republic of Ireland. Norway failed to qualify for second round qualification on goals scored as all 4 teams in the group finished with 4 points and identical goal difference. In the 1998 World Cup in France, Norway was once again eliminated by Italy in the first round of the knockout stage after finishing second in their group, having drawn against Morocco and Scotland and won 2–1 against Brazil.

Former under-21 coach Nils Johan Semb replaced Olsen after the planned retirement of the latter. Under Semb's guidance, Norway qualified for Euro 2000, which remains their last major tournament appearance to date. Semb resigned at the end of an unsuccessful qualifying campaign in 2003 and was replaced by Åge Hareide. Under Hareide, Norway came close to reaching both the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, but ultimately fell short on both occasions. Then, in 2008, it all fell apart as Norway failed to win a single game the entire calendar year. Hareide resigned at the end of 2008. His replacement, initially on a temporary basis, was the returning Egil Olsen, who began his second spell in charge with an away win against Germany, and subsequently signed a three-year contract. Olsen resigned in September 2013[8] after Norway lost at home to Switzerland and had limited chances to qualify for the 2014 World Cup with one game to spare. He was replaced with Per-Mathias Høgmo. Olsen later claimed he was sacked.[9]
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Team image
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Crest

Norway used the national flag on a white circle as their badge from the 1920s onwards. In May 2008 the NFF unveiled a new crest, a Viking-style Dragon wrapped around the NFF logo. After massive public pressure the crest was dropped.[10] Between the 1980s and the 1990s, Norway used the NFF logo in the opposite breast of the shirt together with the national flag on a white circle. On 12 December 2014, a new crest was presented. The crest primarily features the national flag, in addition, there are two lions taken from the Coat of arms of Norway on the top. The lions are facing each other while holding a blue miniature of the NFF logo, and between the lions and above the NFF logo, it says "NORGE" (Norway) in blue letters.[11]
Kit suppliers
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Norway national football team kits.
Between 1996 and 2014, Norway's kits were supplied by Umbro. They took over from Adidas who supplied Norway's kit between 1992 and 1996.
On 10 September 2014, the NFF and Nike announced a new partnership that made the sportswear provider the official Norwegian team kit supplier from 1 January 2015.[12]
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Results and fixtures
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The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win Draw Loss Fixture
2024
5 June 2024 Friendly | Norway ![]() | 3–0 | ![]() | Oslo, Norway |
|
Report | Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Referee: Mikkel Redder (Denmark) |
8 June 2024 Friendly | Denmark ![]() | 3–1 | ![]() | Brøndby, Denmark |
19:30 UTC+2 |
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Report |
|
Stadium: Brøndby Stadium Attendance: 23,390 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France) |
6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Kazakhstan ![]() | 0–0 | ![]() | Almaty, Kazakhstan |
20:00 UTC+6 | Report | Stadium: Almaty Central Stadium Attendance: 23,173 Referee: Allard Lindhout (Netherlands) |
9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Norway ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() | Oslo, Norway |
20:45 UTC+2 | Report |
|
Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 23,171 Referee: Nikola Dabanović (Montenegro) |
10 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Norway ![]() | 3–0 | ![]() | Oslo, Norway |
20:45 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 23,341 Referee: Manfredas Lukjančukas (Lithuania) |
13 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Austria ![]() | 5–1 | ![]() | Linz, Austria |
20:45 UTC+2 |
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Report |
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Stadium: Raiffeisen Arena Attendance: 16,500 Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary) |
14 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Slovenia ![]() | 1–4 | ![]() | Ljubljana, Slovenia |
20:45 UTC+1 | Report | Stadium: Stožice Stadium Attendance: 15,308 Referee: Michael Oliver (England) |
17 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League | Norway ![]() | 5–0 | ![]() | Oslo, Norway |
18:00 UTC+1 | Report | Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 23,458 Referee: Jasper Vergoote (Belgium) |
2025
22 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Moldova ![]() | 0–5 | ![]() | Chișinău, Moldova |
19:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Zimbru Stadium Attendance: 9,342 Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia) |
25 March 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Israel ![]() | 2–4 | ![]() | Debrecen, Hungary |
20:45 UTC+2 | Report |
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Stadium: Nagyerdei Stadion Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Chris Kavanagh (England) |
6 June 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Norway ![]() | v | ![]() | Oslo, Norway |
20:45 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion |
9 June 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Estonia ![]() | v | ![]() | Tallinn, Estonia |
21:45 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Lilleküla Stadium |
4 September 2025 Friendly | Norway ![]() | v | ![]() | Oslo, Norway |
Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion |
8 September 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Norway ![]() | v | ![]() | Norway |
20:45 UTC+2 | Report |
11 October 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Norway ![]() | v | ![]() | Norway |
18:00 UTC+2 | Report |
14 October 2025 Friendly | Norway ![]() | v | ![]() | Oslo, Norway |
Report | Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion |
13 November 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Norway ![]() | v | ![]() | Norway |
18:00 UTC+1 | Report |
16 November 2025 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification | Italy ![]() | v | ![]() | Italy |
20:45 UTC+1 | Report |
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Coaching staff
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Coaching history
The following is a list of all managers of the national team. Prior to 1953, the team was selected by a selection committee, which also continued to select the team until 1969.
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Players
Current squad
- The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification against Moldova and Israel, on 22 and 25 March 2025 respectively.[16]
- Caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2025, after the match against
Israel.[citation needed]
Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up for the Norway squad within the last twelve months.
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Player records
- As of 25 March 2025.[17]
- Players in bold are still active with Norway.
Most appearances

Top goalscorers

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Competitive record
FIFA World Cup
UEFA European Championship
UEFA Nations League
Olympic Games
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All-time team record
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The following table shows Norway's all-time international record, correct as of 25 March 2025.[18]
- Key
More wins than losses
As many wins as losses
Fewer wins than losses
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Honours
Major competitions
- Olympic Games
Bronze Medal (1): 1936
Regional
- Nordic Football Championship
- Champions (1): 1929–32
Friendly
- Malta International Football Tournament
- Champions (1): 1990
- Lunar New Year Cup
- Champions (2): 2001, 2004
Summary
See also
Notes
References
External links
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