Introduction
Norway is a European nation who competes in
UEFA for international competitions. They are one of the most successful teams in the world, having won the
World Cup twice. Only
Georgia has won as many titles. Norway also earned the distinction of being the first (and so far, only) team to repeat as champions, having won back-to-back titles in
World Cup V and
World Cup VI. During
World Cup V Norway won every single game in all rounds of the tournament, including qualifying, the group stage, and the knockout round, finishing with a 15-0-0 record.
Early World Cups
Despite being a completely random draw, Norway were drawn into somewhat of a Northern European group for qualifying to the first
World Cup, pairing up with
Russia,
Sweden, and
Latvia. Norway started with an impressive 3-2 win over Russia and an even more impressive 2-0 victory over neighbors Sweden. With a spot in the World Cup already secure, the team sent out backups to face Latvia and managed a 1-1 draw to top the group.
In the
World Cup, Norway were drawn into a very tough group with
Brazil,
Czech Republic, and
Morocco. The Norwegians got off a great start by beating Morocco 5-2 in the opening game, their largest ever margin of victory in a competitive match at the time, and then managed to tie the group favorites, Brazil, 0-0 in the next match. Everyone ended up beating Morocco, and Brazil had won against the Czechs on the opening day, so it came down to Norway vs Czech Republic for a spot in the next round. The Czechs proved to be too tough and won 1-0 to eliminate Norway from the World Cup.
Norway dusted themselves off and attempted to qualify for the next
World Cup. This time they were drawn into a much more difficult qualifying group, with
England,
Spain, and
Croatia. A 2-0 win over Croatia to start the campaign increased the spirits of the team, but a setback in the form of a 1-3 defeat to England put the Norwegians in a must win situation against Spain in the final match. Unlike the previous World Cup, Norway overcame their stronger opponents and were rewarded with a 1-0 victory to take 2nd place in the group with 6 points, behind England's 7. This was enough to earn one of the "best second place" qualifying spots to the World Cup, so Norway did not have to go through the play-offs.
The draw for this
World Cup treated Norway much nicer as they ended up in a group with
Jamaica,
Ukraine, and
Morocco again. Again, Norway played Morocco in the opening game. The Africans were determined to get revenge for the previous World Cup, but were unable to. The scoreline wasn't as embarassing this time, just 2-0, but it was enough for Norway. Norway would go on to defeat Jamaica 3-1 in the next match and then tied 1-1 with the Ukraine to get their 7th point and top the group ahead of Morocco and Ukraine who each had 4, and Jamaica who had just 1 point.
Norway lucked out in the knockout round. They were projected to face
Brazil, but
Tunisia managed to shock the world and advance instead thanks to a 1-0 win over Brazil on the last matchday. Tunisia proved to be tougher than expected (at least compared to Morocco), but Norway still managed to move on with a 1-0 result. In the quarterfinals the team came up against
Serbia & Montenegro who had taken down
Denmark in the previous round. The match turned out to be a great one, and it couldn't be settled in 90 minutes, with the score level at 1-1 heading into overtime. Norway scored the winner before the match could go to penalties and moved on to the semifinals where they met the defending champions,
France.
Norway put up a great fight against
France, but they just could not break through the French defense. The team did very well to hold France in check for as long as possible, but finally one of the French strikers broke through and beat the keeper for the eventual winning goal as France moved on to the final. Norway had to settle for the third place match against
Costa Rica. Uninhibited, Norway went after the Central Americans and managed to get the most goals they've scored since that 5-2 win over Morocco in the last World Cup. The defense conceded a few themselves, but when the dust had settled it was 4-2 to Norway and they had earned the bronze.
World Series
Norway also participated in the
World Series. The tournament took a lot of flak for its random draw which saw Norway, third place from the last
World Cup, paired up against
France, who had taken second. This was a matchup most people were hoping for in the quarterfinals or later, but it was going to happen right away in the first round instead.
Norway saw it as a chance to redeem themselves from the World Cup, and started strong when
John Carew scored in the opening minute of the first game in Oslo. The goal wasn't enough though, and France eventually struck back to equalize and then take the lead, eventually winning the match 2-1. Norway didn't give up though, and leveled the series at 1-1 by tieing game 2 1-1 to send it into overtime where
Flo scored his second goal of the match to win the game for Norway.
Back in
France, home field advantage proved to be too much for Norway to overcome. In Game 3, the French bombarded Norway, putting 5 goals past them in the 5-2 route. Game 4 was less harsh, but produced a similar result, with France winning 3-2 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. Norway refused to be eliminated at home and ended up grinding out a hard fought 2-1 victory to force the series back to France. In Paris, Norway again failed to overcome the home side in a match that resembled the
World Cup semifinal where France won 1-0 to take the series 4 games to 2 and eliminated Norway in the opening round.
World Cup III
[Stub]WE8 Roster
GK -
MyhreDF -
JohnsenDF -
LundekvamDF -
BergDF -
BergdolmoDF -
RiiseCF -
IversenCF -
F. JohnsenCF -
FloCF -
Solskjaer (c)
CF -
Carew_
GK -
E. JohnsenDF -
BasmaMF -
BakkeMF -
AndresenMF -
RushfeldtCF -
H. FloCF -
TessemMF -
AndersenMF -
R. StrandMF -
HangelandDF -
El-FakiriGK -
F. OlsonGenerally Norway plays with mostly defenders and strikers, although they use traditional formations, usually alternating between two forms of the 3-4-3 and occassionally a 3-6-1. Critics (and some fans) of the system refer to it as the 5-0-5 since there really are no true midfielders in the starting lineup.
Lately the team has begun to try to include midfielders like Andresen and Rushfeldt into the lineup, but traditionally Norway attempts to ignore the midfield and focuses on their primary goal of ensuring the opposition struggles on offense. Due to this school of thought that "defense always comes before offense", Norway have come up with this type of formation to ensure they are secure on defense but also not completely inept on offense since they are generally not a good offensive side.
Competitions
Honors
Competitive Matches
vs
Albania: 1 W 0 D 1 L 2 GF 2 GA
Norway 1 - 2 Albania (World Cup X Qualifying)
Albania 0 - 1 Norway (World Cup X Qualifying)
vs
Angola: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 0 GA
Norway 4 - 0 Angola (World Cup VI Group Stage)
vs
Argentina: 2 W 1 D 1 L 12 GF 10 GA
Norway 4 - 2 Argentina (World Cup V Group Stage)
Norway 3 - 3 Argentina (World Cup VI Quarterfinals)
Norway 0 - 2 Argentina (World Cup VII Group Stage)
Argentina 3 - 5 Norway (Challenge League Season 1)
vs
Austria: 2 W 1 D 1 L 9 GF 4 GA
Austria 0 - 1 Norway (World Cup V Qualifying)
Norway 6 - 1 Austria (World Cup V Qualifying)
Norway 1 - 2 Austria (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Austria 1 - 1 Norway (World Cup VII Qualifying)
vs
Bahrain: 1 W 0 D 0 L 2 GF 1 GA
Norway 2 - 1 Bahrain (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)
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Belgium: 2 W 0 D 3 L 6 GF 9 GA
Belgium 1 - 0 Norway (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 0 Belgium (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Norway 0 - 2 Belgium (World Cup IX Group Stage)
Belgium 5 - 1 Norway (World Cup X Qualifying)
Norway 3 - 1 Belgium (World Cup X Qualifying)
vs
Bolivia: 1 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 0 GA
Bolivia 0 - 3 Norway (Challenge League Season 1)
vs
Bosnia-Herzegovina: 4 W 0 D 0 L 8 GF 0 GA
Norway 2 - 0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (World Cup V Group Stage)
Norway 2 - 0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (World Cup VI Semifinals)
Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 - 2 Norway (Euro Cup II Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 0 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Euro Cup II Qualifying)
vs
Brazil: 0 W 1 D 1 L 1 GF 7 GA
Norway 0 - 0 Brazil (World Cup I Group Stage)
Norway 1 - 7 Brazil (Confederations Cup I Third Place)
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Bulgaria: 1 W 2 D 0 L 5 GF 3 GA
Norway 2 - 2 Bulgaria (Euro Cup I Group Stage)
Bulgaria 1 - 1 Norway (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 0 Bulgaria (World Cup IX Qualifying)
vs
Cameroon: 0 W 1 D 0 L 1 GF 1 GA
Cameroon 1 - 1 Norway (Challenge League Season 1)
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China: 0 W 0 D 1 L 2 GF 4 GA
Norway 2 - 4 China (World Cup VI Group Stage)
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Confederate States: 2 W 0 D 0 L 11 GF 1 GA
Norway 4 - 1 Confederate States (World Cup X Qualifying)
Confederate States 0 - 7 Norway (World Cup X Qualifying)
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Costa Rica: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 2 GA
Norway 4 - 2 Costa Rica (World Cup II Third Place)
vs
Cote d'Ivoire: 1 W 0 D 3 L 4 GF 8 GA
Norway 0 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup III Quarterfinals)
Norway 1 - 2 Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup VIII Group Stage)
Norway 2 - 1 Cote d'Ivoire (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)
Norway 1 - 3 Cote d'Ivoire (Challenge League Season 1)
vs
Croatia: 3 W 0 D 0 L 5 GF 1 GA
Norway 2 - 0 Croatia (World Cup II Qualifying)
Croatia 0 - 1 Norway (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 1 Croatia (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
vs
Czech Republic: 3 W 0 D 2 L 9 GF 6 GA
Norway 0 - 1 Czech Republic (World Cup I Group Stage)
Norway 2 - 1 Czech Republic (World Cup III Second Round)
Norway 4 - 2 Czech Republic (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Czech Republic 2 - 1 Norway (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 0 Czech Republic (Challenge League Season 1)
vs
Denmark: 1 W 0 D 1 L 2 GF 3 GA
Denmark 0 - 1 Norway (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Norway 1 - 3 Denmark (World Cup VI Qualifying)
vs
Ecuador: 1 W 1 D 0 L 3 GF 2 GA
Norway 2 - 1 Ecuador (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Ecuador 1 - 1 Norway (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
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England: 1 W 1 D 1 L 7 GF 5 GA
Norway 1 - 3 England (World Cup II Qualifying)
England 2 - 2 Norway (Challenge League Season 1)
Norway 4 - 0 England (Euro Cup II Quarterfinals)
vs
France: 2 W 1 D 1 L 6 GF 4 GA
Norway 0 - 1 France (World Cup II Semifinals)
Norway 1 - 0 France (World Cup IV Group Stage)
Norway 4 - 2 France (Confederations Cup I Quarterfinals)
Norway 1 - 1 France (Challenge League Season 1)
vs
Finland: 3 W 0 D 1 L 7 GF 2 GA
Norway 2 - 0 Finland (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Finland 1 - 0 Norway (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Norway 4 - 1 Finland (Euro Cup II Qualifying)
Finland 0 - 1 Norway (Euro Cup II Qualifying)
vs
Georgia: 1 W 0 D 1 L 3 GF 3 GA
Norway 2 - 1 Georgia (World Cup V Semifinals)
Norway 1 - 2 Georgia (Confederations Cup I Semifinals)
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Germany: 1 W 1 D 1 L 3 GF 3 GA
Norway 0 - 1 Germany (World Cup IV Round of Sixteen)
Germany 1 - 2 Norway (Euro Cup II Qualifying)
Norway 1 - 1 Germany (Euro Cup II Qualifying)
vs
Ghana: 1 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 1 GA
Norway 3 - 1 Ghana (World Cup IV Group Stage)
vs
Greece: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Greece 0 - 1 Norway (Challenge League Season 1)
vs
Guinea: 0 W 0 D 0 L 0 GF 0 GA
Norway 0 - 3 Guinea (Challenge League Season 1 Individual Second Round)
vs
Hungary: 2 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 1 GA
Norway 2 - 0 Hungary (World Cup V Qualifying)
Hungary 1 - 2 Norway (World Cup V Qualifying)
vs
Iceland: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 0 GA
Norway 4 - 0 Iceland (World Cup V Quarterfinals)
vs
Ireland: 2 W 0 D 0 L 10 GF 1 GA
Norway 3 - 1 Ireland (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Ireland 0 - 7 Norway (World Cup IV Qualifying)
vs
Italy: 2 W 2 D 1 L 12 GF 12 GA
Norway 2 - 1 Italy (World Cup III Group Stage)
Norway 4 - 4 Italy (Euro Cup I Group Stage)
Italy 3 - 3 Norway (Challenge League Season 1)
Norway 1 - 3 Italy (Euro Cup II Group Stage)
Norway 2 - 1 Italy (Euro Cup II Championship)
vs
Jamaica: 2 W 0 D 1 L 5 GF 4 GA
Norway 3 - 1 Jamaica (World Cup II Group Stage)
Norway 2 - 1 Jamaica (World Cup III Group Stage)
Norway 0 - 2 Jamaica (Confederations Cup II Group Stage)
vs
Japan: 1 W 0 D 0 L 5 GF 2 GA
Norway 5 - 2 Japan (World Cup VIII Group Stage)
vs
Latvia: 2 W 2 D 1 L 6 GF 4 GA
Norway 1 - 1 Latvia (World Cup I Qualifying)
Norway 3 - 0 Latvia (World Cup III Qualifying)
Latvia 0 - 1 Norway (World Cup III Qualifying)
Norway 1 - 1 Latvia (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Latvia 2 - 0 Norway (World Cup IX Qualifying)
vs
Lithuania: 1 W 0 D 1 L 5 GF 6 GA
Lithuania 5 - 3 Norway (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 1 Lithuania (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
vs
Mali: 1 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 2 GA
Norway 3 - 2 Mali (World Cup V Championship)
vs
Morocco: 2 W 0 D 1 L 7 GF 3 GA
Norway 5 - 2 Morocco (World Cup I Group Stage)
Norway 2 - 0 Morocco (World Cup II Group Stage)
Norway 0 - 1 Morocco (World Cup VII Group Stage)
vs
Mozambique: 1 W 0 D 0 L 2 GF 0 GA
Norway 2 - 0 Mozambique (Challenge League Season 1)
vs
Netherlands: 2 W 0 D 1 L 6 GF 6 GA
Norway 3 - 1 Netherlands (World Cup V Round of Sixteen)
Norway 3 - 2 Netherlands (World Cup VI Round of Sixteen)
Norway 0 - 3 Netherlands (Confederations Cup II Group Stage)
vs
Northern Ireland: 3 W 1 D 0 L 9 GF 2 GA
Norway 1 - 1 Northern Ireland (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Northern Ireland 0 - 2 Norway (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Norway 4 - 0 Northern Ireland (Euro Cup II Qualifying)
Northern Ireland 1 - 2 Norway (Euro Cup II Qualifying)
vs
Nigeria: 1 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 1 GA
Norway 3 - 1 Nigeria (World Cup V Group Stage)
vs
Paraguay: 0 W 1 D 0 L 0 GF 0 GA
Norway 0 - 0 Paraguay (World Cup III Group Stage)
vs
Poland: 1 W 1 D 0 L 7 GF 4 GA
Norway 4 - 1 Poland (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
Poland 3 - 3 Norway (Euro Cup I Qualifying)
vs
Romania: 2 W 0 D 0 L 9 GF 0 GA
Norway 2 - 0 Romania (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Romania 0 - 7 Norway (World Cup IV Qualifying)
vs
Russia: 4 W 0 D 4 L 20 GF 16 GA
Norway 3 - 2 Russia (World Cup I Qualifying)
Russia 2 - 3 Norway (World Cup III Qualifying)
Norway 6 - 2 Russia (World Cup III Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 3 Russia (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Russia 1 - 4 Norway (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Norway 1 - 2 Russia (World Cup VII Group Stage)
Russia 2 - 1 Norway (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Norway 0 - 2 Russia (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
vs
Senegal: 1 W 0 D 0 L 3 GF 2 GA
Norway 3 - 2 Senegal (World Cup VI Championship)
vs
Serbia & Montenegro: 2 W 1 D 0 L 6 GF 2 GA
Norway 2 - 1 Serbia & Montenegro (World Cup II Quarterfinals)
Serbia & Montenegro 0 - 3 Norway (World Cup IV Qualifying)
Norway 1 - 1 Serbia & Montenegro (World Cup IV Qualifying)
vs
Serbia: 1 W 1 D 0 L 3 GF 2 GA
Norway 1 - 1 Serbia (World Cup X Qualifying)
Serbia 1 - 2 Norway (World Cup X Qualifying)
vs
Slovakia: 3 W 1 D 0 L 7 GF 2 GA
Norway 2 - 1 Slovakia (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Slovakia 0 - 3 Norway (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Slovakia 1 - 2 Norway (World Cup IX Qualifying)
Norway 0 - 0 Slovakia (World Cup IX Qualifying)
vs
Slovenia: 4 W 0 D 0 L 10 GF 5 GA
Slovenia 2 - 4 Norway (World Cup V Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 1 Slovenia (World Cup V Qualifying)
Slovenia 0 - 1 Norway (World Cup VII Qualifying)
Norway 3 - 2 Slovenia (World Cup VII Qualifying)
vs
South Korea: 0 W 1 D 0 L 2 GF 2 GA
Norway 2 - 2 South Korea (Confederations Cup II Group Stage)
vs
Spain: 2 W 0 D 1 L 3 GF 4 GA
Norway 1 - 0 Spain (World Cup II Qualifying)
Norway 0 - 4 Spain (Confederations Cup I Group Stage)
Norway 2 - 0 Spain (Euro Cup II Semifinals)
vs
Sweden: 4 W 0 D 1 L 10 GF 2 GA
Norway 2 - 0 Sweden (World Cup I Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 0 Sweden (World Cup V Qualifying)
Sweden 1 - 2 Norway (World Cup V Qualifying)
Norway 0 - 1 Sweden (Challenge League Season 1)
Norway 4 - 0 Sweden (Euro Cup II Group Stage)
vs
Switzerland: 1 W 0 D 1 L 2 GF 2 GA
Norway 0 - 1 Switzerland (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Switzerland 1 - 2 Norway (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
vs
Trinidad & Tobago: 0 W 1 D 0 L 0 GF 0 GA
Norway 0 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago (World Cup IX Group Stage)
vs
Tunisia: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Norway 1 - 0 Tunisia (World Cup II Second Round)
vs
Turkey: 1 W 0 D 0 L 4 GF 3 GA
Norway 4 - 3 Turkey (Euro Cup II Group Stage)
vs
Ukraine: 1 W 1 D 0 L 5 GF 2 GA
Norway 1 - 1 Ukraine (World Cup II Group Stage)
Norway 4 - 1 Ukraine (World Cup VI Group Stage)
vs
United States: 1 W 0 D 0 L 1 GF 0 GA
Norway 1 - 0 United States (World Cup IV Group Stage)
vs
Uruguay: 1 W 1 D 2 L 5 GF 9 GA
Norway 1 - 4 Uruguay (World Cup VIII Group Stage)
Norway 1 - 1 Uruguay (World Cup IX Group Stage)
Norway 1 - 3 Uruguay (Challenge League Season 1 Position First Round)
Norway 2 - 1 Uruguay (Confederations Cup II Group Stage)
vs
Wales: 3 W 1 D 3 L 14 GF 10 GA
Wales 2 - 0 Norway (World Cup III Qualifying)
Norway 2 - 2 Wales (World Cup III Qualifying)
Norway 3 - 0 Wales (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Wales 3 - 2 Norway (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Norway 1 - 2 Wales (Euro Cup I Group Stage)
Norway 1 - 0 Wales (World Cup X Qualifying)
Wales 1 - 5 Norway (World Cup X Qualifying)