Norway national football team

History

Main article: History of the Norway national football team

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 Summer Olympics, after beating hosts 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, with this being their last appearance until 1994.

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 during this period, usually finishing near the bottom of their qualifying group. Despite this, Norway achieved victories such as a 3–0 win against Yugoslavia in 1965, a 1–0 away win against France in 1968, and a 2–1 victory against England in 1981 that prompted radio commentator Bjørge Lillelien's famous "Your boys took a hell of a beating" rant.

Norway had their most successful period from 1990 to 1998 under the legendary coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen, with the team once being ranked No. 2. Olsen started his training career with Norway with a 6–1 home victory against Cameroon on 31 October 1990. In qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, Norway topped their group, finishing above the Netherlands and England, beating both teams in the process. During the finals in the United States, Norway was knocked out in 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 the round of 16 as all four teams in the group finished with four points and identical goal difference.

At 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 winning 2–1 against Brazil.

Former under-21 coach Nils Johan Semb replaced Olsen after the latter's retirement. Under Semb's guidance, Norway qualified for Euro 2000, 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. Norway then failed to win a single game in the entirety of 2008, with Hareide resigning at the end of the year. His replacement, initially on a temporary basis, was 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 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.

Team image

Crest

Norway has used the national flag on a white circle as their badge since the 1920s. 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. In 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 Norwegian coat of arms on the top. The lions face each other while holding a blue miniature of the NFF logo, and between the lions and above the NFF logo is the word "NORGE" (Norway) in blue letters. They also wore a special gold version of their logo against Italy on 16 November 2025, to commemorate their qualification for World Cup 2026 after a 28-year wait.

Kit suppliers

Adidas supplied Norway's kit from 1992 to 1996, with Umbro taking over until 2014. 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.

Results and fixtures

Main article: Norway national football team results (2020–present)

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

• Ryerson
• Haaland
• Aasgaard
• Sørloth
• Dønnum
• Abu Fani
• Turgeman
• Møller Wolfe
• Sørloth
• Ajer
• Haaland
• Sørloth
• Nusa
• Haaland
• Haaland
• Haaland
• Horn Myhre
• Haaland
• Ødegaard
• Aasgaard
• Østigård
• Khalaili
• Haaland
• Nachmias
• Nusa
• Surman
• Sørloth
• Haaland
• Saarma
• Esposito
• Nusa
• Haaland
• Larsen

2026

Coaching staff

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.

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification against Estonia and Italy, on 13 and 16 November 2025.

Caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2025, after the match against Italy.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up for the Norway squad within the last twelve months. INJ Withdrew due to injury

PRE Preliminary squad / standby

RET Retired from the national team

SUS Serving suspension

QUA Placed in mandatory quarantine

WD Withdrew due to non-injury issue.

EX Player expelled from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Player records

Main article: List of Norway international footballers

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Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Main article: Norway at the FIFA World Cup

UEFA European Championship

Main article: Norway at the UEFA European Championship

UEFA Nations League

Olympic Games

All-time team record

The following table shows Norway's all-time international record, correct as of 16 November 2025.

;Key

Honours

Global

• Olympic Games
  • Bronze medal (1): 1936

Regional

• Nordic Football Championship
  • Champions (1): 1929–32
  • Runners-up (2): 1952–55, 1956–59
  • Third place (9): 1924–28, 1933–36, 1937–47, 1948–51, 1960–63, 1968–71, 1972–77, 1978–80, 1981–85

Friendly

• Malta International Football Tournament

  • Champions (1): 1990

• Lunar New Year Cup

  • Champions (2): 2001, 2004

Summary

Notes

References

References

1. "Norwegian national team 1946".
2. "Norway national football team: record v Brazil". 11v11.
3. (2023-11-19). "Erling Haaland to miss out on Euro 2024! How Norway have messed up qualifying for another major tournament".
4. (2023-12-02). "Why Erling Haaland isn't at the Euros: How Man City star, Martin Odegaard missed out with Norway".
5. (2023-02-13). "Can Haaland and Odegaard take Norway back to international prominence?".
6. (8 September 2011). "The radio man who gave England's boys a hell of a beating". [[Sports Journalists' Association]].
7. (27 September 2013). "Drillo ferdig som landslagssjef – Høgmo overtar nå". [[Verdens Gang]].
8. (27 May 2015). "Drillo: – Jeg fikk sparken i NFF". [[NRK]] Østfold.
9. (22 May 2008). "NFF snur i drakt-saken". [[NRK]].
10. "Dette emblemet skal pryde den norske landslagsdrakta". Dagbladet.
11. "Norge skifter fra Umbro til Nike (In Norwegian)". Aftenposten.
12. (26 March 2011). "National team coaches (1953–2019)". [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation]].
13. "Norwegian National Football Team Matches". [[Football Association of Norway.
14. (16 November 2020). "Hanche-Olsen klar for koronalandslaget". Budstikka.
15. (4 November 2025). "Norges tropp mot Estland og Italia". [[Norwegian Football Federation]].
16. (12 October 2025). "Solbakken bekrefter: Haaland og Sørloth blant dem som reiser hjem fra landslaget". [[Verdens Gang]].
17. "Most national team games (1908–2020)".
18. "Norway national football team".