Norway national football team

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 in the FIFA World Cup four times (1938, 1994, 1998 and 2026), and once in the UEFA European Championship (2000).

Norway is one of only three national teams with a winning record against Brazil, and the only team to never have lost against them, with two wins and two draws in four matches, including a 1998 World Cup group stage match.^[4]

After Euro 2000, Norway missed the next twelve major tournaments, until they qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.^[5][6][7]

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.^[8]

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^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11] 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.^[12] 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.

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.^[13]

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

As of 17 November 2025^[14][15]

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.

The following players were called up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification against Estonia and Italy, on 13 and 16 November 2025.^[17][18]

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

The following players have also been called up for the Norway squad within the last twelve months.

As of 16 November 2025.^[19]

Players in bold are still active with Norway.

The following table shows Norway's all-time international record, correct as of 16 November 2025.^[20]

Key

• Olympic Games
  • Bronze medal (1): 1936

• 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

• Malta International Football Tournament
  • Champions (1): 1990

• Lunar New Year Cup
  • Champions (2): 2001, 2004

• Football in Norway
• Norway women's national football team
• Norway national under-21 football team
• Norway national under-20 football team
• Norway national under-19 football team
• Norway national under-17 football team
• Sápmi football team

• Official website of The Norwegian Football Association (NFF)
• Norway at FIFA
• Norway at UEFA
• RSSSF archive of results 1908–
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• Complete list of Norwegian international players