After 28 years away, Norway are making a return to the FIFA World Cup™.
The Scandinavians finally booked their ticket to the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States with a 4-1 win against Italy in their final qualifier. Stale Solbakken’s men had won all seven of their previous matches, including a 3-0 trouncing of eventual runners-up Italy, and a record-shattering 11-1 flattening of Moldova.
Norway’s scoring exploits throughout the preliminaries meant they went into their final fixture in Milan knowing only a 9-0 defeat or greater would prevent them from ending a near three-decade wait to take part in the global showpiece, but in the end they topped the group by six clear points with a perfect record of eight wins from eight games.
This current Norway team has been labelled with a ‘golden generation’ tag. Goal machine Erling Haaland, who scored 16 times in their eight qualifiers, and mercurial midfielder Martin Odegaard are the pick of their talented bunch, while the likes of Kristoffer Ajer, Oscar Bobb, Antonio Nusa, Alexander Sorloth and Jorgen Strand Larsen help round off a well-balanced squad.
Now that they’ve made their return to the finals, Solbakken will be eyeing history in North America. Norway’s best showing came in France, as Tore Andre Flo and Co reached the Round of 16 following draws with Morocco and Scotland, and a memorable win over reigning champions Brazil. Italy would bring their journey to a halt, however, with a 1-0 win in Marseille.
Norway at the FIFA World Cup
First appearance: 1938
Appearances: Four (1938, 1994, 1998, 2026)
Best result: Round of 16 (1998)
