Norway national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Norway women's national football team.

Norway

Nickname(s)	Drillos
Association	Football Association of Norway (Norges Fotballforbund)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Egil Olsen
Asst coach	Ola By Rise
Captain	Brede Hangeland
Most caps	John Arne Riise (110)
Top scorer	Jørgen Juve (33)
Home stadium	Ullevaal Stadion
FIFA code	NOR
FIFA ranking	31
Highest FIFA ranking	2 (October 1993, July–August 1995)
Lowest FIFA ranking	59 (December 2008)
Elo ranking	37
Highest Elo ranking	6 (June 2000)
Lowest Elo ranking	91 (May–June 1976)
First colours Second colours
First international
Sweden 11–3 Norway (Gothenburg, Sweden; 12 July 1908)
Biggest win
Norway 12–0 Finland (Bergen, Norway; 28 June 1946)
Biggest defeat
Denmark 12–0 Norway (Copenhagen, Denmark; 7 October 1917)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1938)
Best result	Round of 16, 1998
European Championship
Appearances	1 (First in 2000)
Best result	Round 1, 2000

Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Bronze	1936 Berlin	Team

The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen. It is as of October 2011 currently ranked by FIFA as the 24th best national team in the world.

Norway has participated three times in the FIFA World Cup (1938, 1994, 1998), and once in the European Championship (2000).

Norways holds an incredible record of being the only national team to not lose to Brazil, having draw with them twice and also beaten them twice (one of those victory coming in the 1998 FIFA World Cup).

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 Olympics, after beating the hosts Germany earlier in the tournament. Norway also qualified for the 1938 World Cup, where they lost 2–1 after extra time against eventual champions Italy. This turned out to be Norway's last World Cup finals appearance in 56 years.

In the post-war years, up to and including the 1980s, Norway was usually considered as one of the weaker nations in Europe. They never qualified for a World Cup or European Championship in this period, and usually finished near the bottom of their qualifying group. Nevertheless, Norway had a reputation for producing the occasional shock result, such as the 3–0 win against reigning European champions 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.

Norway had their most successful period from 1990 to 1998 under the legendary coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen. Together with a rising quality in Norwegian players, Olsen is given much of the credit for taking Norway's national team from obscurity and turning them into a dreaded opponent, respected around the world^{[citation needed]}. At its height in the mid-90s the team was even ranked second on the FIFA World Rankings. 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 FIFA World Cup.

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. In France 1998, Norway was eliminated by Italy in the first round of the knock out stage after finishing second in their group, having drawn against Morocco and Scotland and won 2–1 against Brazil.

The former under-21 coach Nils Johan Semb replaced Olsen after the planned retirement of the latter. Under Semb's guidance, Norway qualified for the 2000 European Championship, which remains their last finals 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.

Norway's best single result is arguably the 2–1 win against Brazil on 23 June 1998 in the World Cup group stage (a game, before which Brazil were already the group winner). Norway is in fact the only team in the world that has played against Brazil and never lost. In its four matches all-time against Brazil, Norway have won twice, and drawn on the other two occasions.

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 complaints were received the crest was dropped.

Championship records

World Cup Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1930 Did not enter - - - - - - - 1934 Did not enter - - - - - - - 1938 Round 1 12 1 0 0 1 1 2 1950 Did not enter - - - - - - - 1954 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1958 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1962 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1966 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1970 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1974 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1978 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1982 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1986 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1990 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 1994 Round 1 17 3 1 1 1 1 1 1998 Round 2 15 4 1 2 1 5 5 2002 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 2006 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 2010 Did not qualify - - - - - - - 2014 TBD - - - - - - - 2018 TBD - - - - - - - 2022 TBD - - - - - - - Total 3/19 8 2 3 3 7 8

European Championship Year Round GP W D* L GS GA 1960 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1964 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1968 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1972 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1976 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1980 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1984 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1988 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1992 Did not qualify - - - - - - 1996 Did not qualify - - - - - - 2000 Round 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 2004 Did not qualify - - - - - - 2008 Did not qualify - - - - - - 2012 Did not qualify - - - - - - 2016 TBD - - - - - - Total 1/13 3 1 1 1 1 1

2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Legend
Group winners directly qualify for the finals
The eight best group runners-up advance to the play-offs

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Switzerland 5 3 2 0 7 1 +6 11 Iceland 5 3 0 2 6 5 +1 9 Albania 5 3 0 2 6 5 +1 9 Norway 5 2 1 2 6 6 0 7 Cyprus 5 1 1 3 4 8 −4 4 Slovenia 5 1 0 4 4 8 −4 3

Albania — 3–1 1–2 7 Jun 1–0 11 Oct Cyprus 15 Oct — 1–0 1–3 10 Sep 0–0 Iceland 10 Sep 11 Oct — 2–0 7 Jun 0–2 Norway 0–1 6 Sep 15 Oct — 2–1 10 Sep Slovenia 6 Sep 2–1 1–2 11 Oct — 0–2 Switzerland 2–0 8 Jun 6 Sep 1–1 15 Oct —

Current squad

The following squad was called up for the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Albania on 22 March 2013.

Statistics correct as of 22 March 2013.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club 1 1GK Rune Almenning Jarstein (1984-09-29) 29 September 1984 29 0 Viking 12 1GK Espen Bugge Pettersen (1980-05-10) 10 May 1980 7 0 Molde 5 2DF Brede Hangeland (1981-06-20) 20 June 1981 83 4 Fulham 2 2DF Tom Høgli (1984-02-24) 24 February 1984 29 1 Club Brugge 4 2DF Vadim Demidov (1986-10-10) 10 October 1986 16 0 Celta Vigo 3 2DF Tore Reginiussen (1986-04-10) 10 April 1986 14 2 Rosenborg 17 2DF Jonathan Parr (1988-10-21) 21 October 1988 9 0 Crystal Palace 23 2DF Vegard Forren (1988-02-16) 16 February 1988 7 0 Southampton 15 2DF Vegar Eggen Hedenstad (1991-06-26) 26 June 1991 4 0 SC Freiburg 16 3MF Christian Grindheim (1983-07-17) 17 July 1983 52 2 Vålerenga 19 3MF Ruben Yttergård Jenssen (1988-05-04) 4 May 1988 23 0 Tromsø 7 3MF Markus Henriksen (1992-07-25) 25 July 1992 16 1 AZ 11 3MF Magnus Wolff Eikrem (1990-08-08) 8 August 1990 9 0 Molde 8 3MF Håvard Nordtveit (1990-06-21) 21 June 1990 9 1 Borussia Mönchengladbach 22 3MF Valon Berisha (1993-02-07) 7 February 1993 9 0 Red Bull Salzburg 18 4FW Erik Huseklepp (1984-09-05) 5 September 1984 33 7 Brann 9 4FW Mohammed Abdellaoue (1985-10-23) 23 October 1985 25 6 Hannover 96 10 4FW Tarik Elyounoussi (1988-02-23) 23 February 1988 19 6 Rosenborg 20 4FW Alexander Søderlund (1987-08-03) 3 August 1987 12 0 Haugesund 14 4FW Joshua King (1992-01-15) 15 January 1992 5 1 Blackburn Rovers

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up for the Norway squad within the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up GK André Hansen (1989-12-17) 17 December 1989 1 0 Odd Grenland v Zambia, 12 January 2013 DF Espen Ruud (1984-02-26) 26 February 1984 28 1 OB v Zambia, 12 January 2013 DF Kim André Madsen (1989-03-12) 12 March 1989 4 0 Strømsgodset v Zambia, 12 January 2013 DF Lars Christopher Vilsvik (1988-10-18) 18 October 1988 4 0 Strømsgodset v Zambia, 12 January 2013 DF Fredrik Semb Berge (1990-02-06) 6 February 1990 2 0 Odd Grenland v Zambia, 12 January 2013 DF Ruben Kristiansen (1988-02-20) 20 February 1988 2 0 Tromsø v Zambia, 12 January 2013 DF Jørgen Horn (1987-06-07) 7 June 1987 2 0 Strømsgodset v Zambia, 12 January 2013 DF Stefan Strandberg (1990-07-25) 25 July 1990 0 0 Rosenborg v South Africa, 8 January 2013[a] DF Kjetil Wæhler (1976-03-16) 16 March 1976 31 1 IFK Göteborg v Cyprus, 16 October 2012 DF Thomas Rogne (1990-06-29) 29 June 1990 2 0 Celtic v Greece, 15 August 2012 MF Daniel Braaten (1982-05-25) 25 May 1982 43 2 Toulouse v Ukraine, 6 February 2013 MF Ardian Gashi (1981-06-20) 20 June 1981 11 0 Helsingborg v Ukraine, 6 February 2013 MF Anders Konradsen (1990-07-18) 18 July 1990 2 0 Rennes v Ukraine, 6 February 2013 MF Alexander Tettey (1986-04-04) 4 April 1986 14 0 Norwich City v Ukraine, 6 February 2013[a] MF Bjørn Helge Riise (1983-06-21) 21 June 1983 35 1 Lillestrøm v Zambia, 12 January 2013 MF Magnus Lekven (1988-01-13) 13 January 1988 3 0 Esbjerg v Zambia, 12 January 2013 MF Mohammed Fellah (1989-05-24) 24 May 1989 2 0 Vålerenga v Zambia, 12 January 2013 MF Yann-Erik de Lanlay (1992-05-14) 14 May 1992 2 0 Viking v Zambia, 12 January 2013 MF Stefan Johansen (1991-01-08) 8 January 1991 0 0 Strømsgodset v South Africa, 8 January 2013[a] MF Henning Hauger (1985-07-17) 17 July 1985 23 0 Elfsborg v Cyprus, 16 October 2012 MF Morten Gamst Pedersen (1981-09-08) 8 September 1981 74 16 Blackburn Rovers v Greece, 15 August 2012 FW Håvard Nielsen (1993-07-15) 15 July 1993 2 1 Red Bull Salzburg v Ukraine, 6 February 2013 FW Jo Inge Berget (1990-09-11) 11 September 1990 3 0 Molde v Zambia, 12 January 2013 FW Marcus Pedersen (1990-06-08) 8 June 1990 2 0 OB v Zambia, 12 January 2013

Notes

• ^[a] Player withdrew from the squad.

Individual all-time records

  Still active players are highlighted

Top Appearances

Main article: List of Norway international footballers

#	Player	Career	Matches
1	John Arne Riise	2000–2013	110
2	Thorbjørn Svenssen	1947–1962	104
3	Henning Berg	1992–2004	100
4	Erik Thorstvedt	1982–1996	97
5	John Carew	1998–2011	91
6	Øyvind Leonhardsen	1990–2003	86
7	Kjetil Rekdal	1987–2000	83
	Brede Hangeland	2002–present	83
9	Steffen Iversen	1998–2011	79
10	Erik Mykland	1990–2000	78

Last updated: 22 March 2013
Source: RSSSF.no

Top Goalscorers

#	Player	Career	Goals	Matches	Average
1	Jørgen Juve	1928–1937	33	45	0.73
2	Einar Gundersen	1917–1928	26	33	0.79
3	Harald Hennum	1949–1960	25	43	0.58
4	John Carew	1998–2011	24	91	0.26
5	Ole Gunnar Solskjær	1995–2007	23	67	0.34
	Tore André Flo	1995–2004	23	76	0.30
7	Gunnar Thoresen	1946–1959	22	64	0.34
8	Steffen Iversen	1998–2011	21	79	0.27
9	Jan Åge Fjørtoft	1986–1996	20	71	0.28
10	Odd Iversen	1967–1979	19	45	0.42
	Olav Nilsen	1962–1971	19	62	0.31
	Øyvind Leonhardsen	1990–2003	19	86	0.22

Last updated: 22 March 2013
Source: RSSSF.no

Managers

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 table lists the manager, his nationality, the period he was manager, games played (P), games won (W), games drawn (D), games lost (L), goals for (F) and goals against (A). It also lists any finals reached and how far the team progressed. The list is up to date as of 12 January 2013.

Manager	Nationality	Tenure	P	W	D	L	F	A	Finals
Hahn, WillibaldWillibald Hahn	Austria	01953-08-011 August 1953 – 31 December 1955	26	7	7	12	28	42
Lewin, RonRon Lewin	England	01956-01-011 January 1956 – 31 December 1957	17	5	4	8	25	38
Majowski, EdmundEdmund Majowski	Poland	01958-01-011 January 1958 – 15 September 1958	5	3	1	1	10	8
Larsen, RagnarRagnar Larsen	Norway	01958-09-1616 September 1958 – 31 December 1958	1	0	0	1	1	4
Henriksen, KristianKristian Henriksen	Norway	01959-01-011 January 1959 – 31 December 1959	10	3	0	7	15	29
Kment, WilhelmWilhelm Kment	Austria	01960-01-011 January 1960 – 15 August 1962	20	6	2	12	32	45
Larsen, RagnarRagnar Larsen	Norway	01962-08-1616 August 1962 – 31 December 1966	33	11	7	15	47	74
Kment, WilhelmWilhelm Kment	Austria	01967-01-011 January 1967 – 31 December 1969	25	9	3	13	39	61
Johannessen, ØivindØivind Johannessen	Norway	01970-01-011 January 1970 – 31 December 1971	17	4	2	11	18	43
Curtis, GeorgeGeorge Curtis	England	01972-01-011 January 1972 – August 1974	17	4	2	11	18	43
Schou-Andreassen, KjellKjell Schou-Andreassen and Nils Arne Eggen	Norway	01970-08-01August 1970 – 31 December 1977	27	6	4	17	26	52
Fossen, Tor RøsteTor Røste Fossen	Norway	01978-01-011 January 1978 – 30 June 1987	94	28	28	38	96	119
Grip, TordTord Grip	Sweden	01987-07-011 July 1987 – 30 June 1988	7	0	4	3	3	7
Stadheim, IngvarIngvar Stadheim	Norway	01988-07-011 July 1988 – 10 October 1990	24	5	8	11	32	37
Olsen, EgilEgil Olsen	Norway	01990-10-1111 October 1990 – 30 June 1998	88	46	26	16	168	63	1994 World Cup – Group stage 1998 World Cup – Round of 16
Semb, Nils JohanNils Johan Semb	Norway	01998-07-011 July 1998 – 31 December 2003	68	29	21	18	89	61	Euro 2000 – Group stage
Hareide, ÅgeÅge Hareide	Norway	02004-01-011 January 2004 – 8 December 2008	58	24	18	16	88	65
Olsen, EgilEgil Olsen	Norway	02009-01-1414 January 2009 –	42	23	7	12	55	38

All-time team record

The following table shows Norway's all-time international record, correct as of 15 August 2012.

Norway's all-time international record, 1908–2012
Opponents	Played	Won	Drawn*	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Albania	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	25%
Argentina	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100%
Armenia	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3	50%
Australia	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	0%
Austria	11	3	1	7	12	21	-9	27%
Azerbaijan	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	100%
Bahrain	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%
Belarus	6	3	2	1	9	4	+5	50%
Belgium	8	0	3	5	6	14	-8	0%
Bermuda	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	100%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	2	0	2	5	3	+2	50%
Brazil	4	2	2	0	8	5	+3	50%
Bulgaria	14	2	5	7	12	29	-17	14%
Cameroon	1	1	0	0	6	1	+5	100%
Chile	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%
China PR	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0%
Colombia	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%
Costa Rica	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	50%
Croatia	3	0	1	2	3	5	-2	0%
Cyprus	7	7	0	0	19	3	+16	100%
Czechoslovakia	5	0	1	4	5	13	-8	0%
Czech Republic	5	1	1	3	4	5	-1	20%
Denmark	89	21	15	53	106	227	-121	24%
East Germany	9	1	2	6	8	15	-7	11%
Egypt	6	3	3	0	7	2	+5	50%
England	15	4	4	7	14	32	-18	27%
Estonia	5	4	1	0	16	4	+12	80%
Faroe Islands	2	2	0	0	9	0	+9	100%
Finland	65	40	16	9	179	81	+98	62%
France	15	4	4	7	16	19	+3	27%
Georgia	3	3	0	0	6	1	+5	100%
Germany	13	2	4	7	11	25	-14	15%
Ghana	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100%
Greece	8	2	2	4	9	11	-2	28%
Grenada	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%
Guatemala	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100%
Honduras	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100%
Hungary	19	6	6	7	24	35	-11	32%
Iceland	30	18	5	7	57	28	+29	60%
Israel	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	50%
Italy	15	3	4	8	12	18	-6	20%
Jamaica	2	1	1	0	7	1	+6	50%
Japan	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%
Jordan	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%
Kuwait	3	0	2	1	3	4	-1	0%
Latvia	2	1	0	1	3	4	-1	50%
Lithuania	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Luxembourg	11	8	1	2	24	9	+15	73%
Macedonia	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	50%
Malta	8	6	2	0	21	3	+18	75%
Mexico	6	2	1	3	8	11	-3	33%
Moldova	4	3	1	0	4	0	+4	75%
Montenegro	2	1	0	1	3	4	-1	50%
Morocco	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0%
Netherlands	20	5	6	9	27	44	-17	25%
New Zealand	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%
Nigeria	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0%
North Korea	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%
Northern Ireland	7	6	0	1	18	7	+11	86%
Oman	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%
Paraguay	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0%
Poland	20	4	3	13	26	57	-31	20%
Portugal	10	1	2	7	5	15	-10	10%
Qatar	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	100%
Republic of Ireland	20	4	9	7	21	30	-9	20%
Romania	11	2	5	4	7	11	-4	18%
Russia	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	33%
Saar	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	0%
San Marino	2	2	0	0	12	0	+12	100%
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	6	0	+6	100%
Scotland	16	3	6	7	18	26	-8	19%
Senegal	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0%
Serbia	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	0%
Serbia and Montenegro	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	50%
Singapore	1	1	0	0	5	2	+3	100%
Slovakia	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3	100%
Slovenia	5	4	1	0	12	3	+9	80%
South Africa	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	50%
South Korea	5	2	1	2	6	8	+2	40%
Soviet Union	12	0	2	10	4	26	-22	0%
Spain	6	1	1	4	2	9	-7	17%
Sweden	104	24	22	58	141	268	-127	23%
Switzerland	19	8	5	6	25	18	+7	42%
Thailand	2	2	0	0	8	0	+8	100%
Trinidad and Tobago	1	0	0	1	2	3	-1	0%
Tunisia	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	50%
Turkey	11	3	4	4	16	12	+4	27%
United Arab Emirates	2	1	1	0	5	2	+3	50%
United States	5	2	1	2	14	8	+6	40%
Ukraine	4	0	1	3	0	3	-3	0%
Uruguay	2	0	1	1	2	3	-1	0%
Wales	12	4	4	4	15	17	-2	33%
West Germany	9	2	1	6	9	25	-16	22%
Yugoslavia	12	2	1	9	15	28	-13	17%
Total	770	270	182	319	1145	1305	-160	35%

See also

• Norway women's national football team
• Sápmi football team

External links

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