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

Quick Facts Nickname(s), Association ...

Norway

Nickname(s)	Drillos[lower-alpha 1] Løvene (The Lions)
Association	Norges Fotballforbund (NFF)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Ståle Solbakken
Captain	Martin Ødegaard
Most caps	John Arne Riise (110)
Top scorer	Jørgen Juve (33)
Home stadium	Ullevaal Stadion
FIFA code	NOR
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	47 1 (4 April 2024)[1]
Highest	2 (October 1993, July–August 1995)
Lowest	88 (July 2017)
First international
Sweden 11–3 Norway  (Gothenburg, Sweden; 12 July 1908)
Biggest win
Norway 12–0 Finland  (Bergen, Norway; 28 June 1946)[2]
Biggest defeat
Denmark 12–0 Norway  (Copenhagen, Denmark; 7 October 1917)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 1938)
Best result	Round of 16 (1938, 1998)
UEFA European Championship
Appearances	1 (first in 2000)
Best result	Group stage (2000)
Medal record Olympic Games 1936 Berlin Team
Website	fotball.no

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Norway is one of very few national teams never to have lost against Brazil. In four matches, Norway has a match record against Brazil of two wins and two draws,^[3] in three friendly matches (in 1988, 1997 and 2006) and a 1998 World Cup group stage match.

After Euro 2000, the national team have been eliminated in 12 consecutive qualifications to a major international tournament (UEFA Euro and FIFA World Cup) as of December 2023.^[4][5][6]

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 host 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. This was Norway's last World Cup appearance in 56 years.

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 in this period, and usually finished near the bottom of their qualifying groups. Nevertheless, Norway had a reputation for producing the occasional shock result, such as the 3–0 win against 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.^[7]

Norway had their most successful period from 1990 to 1998 under the legendary coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen. At its height in the mid-90s the team was ranked No. 2. 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 World Cup.

In qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, Norway topped their group, finishing above both the European Championship winning and three-time World Cup finalists the Netherlands, and also above former World Cup winners England, beating both teams in the process.

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. Norway failed to qualify for second round qualification on goals scored as all 4 teams in the group finished with 4 points and identical goal difference. In 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 won 2–1 against Brazil.

Former under-21 coach Nils Johan Semb replaced Olsen after the planned retirement of the latter. Under Semb's guidance, Norway qualified for Euro 2000, which remains 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. 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. Olsen resigned in September 2013^[8] 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.^[9]

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

2023

Georgia  v  Norway

28 March 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Georgia	1–1	Norway	Batumi, Georgia
20:00 UTC+4	Mikautadze 60'	Report	Sørloth 15'	Stadium: Batumi Stadium Attendance: 20,300 Referee: Andris Treimanis (Latvia)

Norway  v  Scotland

17 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Norway	1–2	Scotland	Oslo, Norway
18:00 UTC+2	Haaland 61' (pen.)	Report	Dykes 87' McLean 89'	Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 25,791 Referee: Matej Jug (Slovenia)

Norway  v  Cyprus

20 June 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Norway	3–1	Cyprus	Oslo, Norway
20:45 UTC+2	Solbakken 12' Haaland 56' (pen.), 60'	Report	Kastanos 90+3'	Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 23,643 Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)

Norway  v  Jordan

7 September 2023 Friendly	Norway	6–0	Jordan	Oslo, Norway
18:00 UTC+1	Nusa 11' Ajer 23' Larsen 31' Bjørkan 41' Finne 79' Vetlesen 90+1'	Report		Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Referee: Kristoffer Karlsson (Sweden)

Norway  v  Georgia

12 September 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Norway	2–1	Georgia	Oslo, Norway
20:45 UTC+2	Haaland 25' Ødegaard 33'	Report	Zivzivadze 90+1'	Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 23,665 Referee: Nikola Dabanović (Montenegro)

Cyprus  v  Norway

12 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Cyprus	0–4	Norway	Larnaca, Cyprus
21:45 UTC+3		Report	Sørloth 33' Haaland 65', 72' Aursnes 81'	Stadium: AEK Arena Attendance: 7,206 Referee: Donatas Rumšas (Lithuania)

Norway  v  Spain

15 October 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Norway	0–1	Spain	Oslo, Norway
20:45 UTC+2		Report	Gavi 49'	Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Attendance: 25,885 Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany)

Norway  v  Faroe Islands

16 November 2023 Friendly	Norway	2–0	Faroe Islands	Oslo, Norway
18:00 UTC+1	Larsen 3' Bobb 24'	Report		Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Referee: Vilhjálmur Þórarinsson (Iceland)

Scotland  v  Norway

19 November 2023 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	Scotland	3–3	Norway	Glasgow, Scotland
19:45 UTC±0	McGinn 13' Østigård 33' (o.g.) Armstrong 59'	Report	Dønnum 3' Larsen 20' Elyounoussi 86'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 48,138 Referee: Horațiu Feșnic (Romania)

2024

Norway  v  Czech Republic

22 March 2024 Friendly	Norway	1–2	Czech Republic	Oslo, Norway
18:00 UTC+1	Bobb 20'	Report	Zima 36' Barák 85'	Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Referee: Willy Delajod (France)

Norway  v  Slovakia

26 March 2024 Friendly	Norway	1–1	Slovakia	Oslo, Norway
19:00 UTC+1		Report		Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion

Norway  v  Kosovo

5 June 2024 Friendly	Norway	v	Kosovo	Oslo, Norway
				Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion

Denmark  v  Norway

8 June 2024 Friendly	Denmark	v	Norway	Brøndby, Denmark
				Stadium: Brøndby Stadium

Kazakhstan  v  Norway

6 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Kazakhstan	v	Norway	Kazakhstan
20:00 UTC+6

Norway  v  Austria

9 September 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Norway	v	Austria	Oslo, Norway
20:45 UTC+2				Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion

Norway  v  Slovenia

10 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Norway	v	Slovenia	Oslo, Norway
20:45 UTC+2				Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion

Austria  v  Norway

13 October 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Austria	v	Norway	Austria
20:45 UTC+2

Slovenia  v  Norway

14 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Slovenia	v	Norway	Ljubljana, Slovenia
20:45 UTC+1				Stadium: Stožice Stadium

Norway  v  Kazakhstan

17 November 2024 2024–25 Nations League	Norway	v	Kazakhstan	Oslo, Norway
18:00 UTC+1				Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion

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.

As of 22 March 2024.^[13][14]

More information Manager, Tenure ...

Manager	Tenure	P	W	D	L	F	A	Finals
Willibald Hahn	1 August 1953 – 31 December 1955	26	7	7	12	28	42
Ron Lewin	1 January 1956 – 31 December 1957	17	5	4	8	25	38
Edmund Majowski	1 January 1958 – 15 September 1958	5	3	1	1	10	8
Ragnar Larsen	16 September 1958 – 31 December 1958	1	0	0	1	1	4
Kristian Henriksen	1 January 1959 – 31 December 1959	10	3	0	7	15	29
Wilhelm Kment	1 January 1960 – 15 August 1962	20	6	2	12	32	45
Ragnar Larsen	16 August 1962 – 31 December 1966	33	11	7	15	47	74
Wilhelm Kment	1 January 1967 – 31 December 1969	25	9	3	13	39	61
Øivind Johannessen	1 January 1970 – 31 December 1971	17	4	2	11	18	43
George Curtis	1 January 1972 – August 1974	17	3	2	12	17	30
Kjell Schou-Andreassen Nils Arne Eggen	August 1974 – 31 December 1977	27	6	4	17	26	52
Tor Røste Fossen	1 January 1978 – 30 June 1987	94	28	28	38	96	119
Tord Grip	1 July 1987 – 30 June 1988	7	0	4	3	3	7
Ingvar Stadheim	1 July 1988 – 10 October 1990	24	5	8	11	32	37
Egil Olsen	11 October 1990 – 30 June 1998	88	46	26	16	168	63	1994 World Cup – Group stage 1998 World Cup – Round of 16
Nils Johan Semb	1 July 1998 – 31 December 2003	68	29	21	18	89	61	Euro 2000 – Group stage
Åge Hareide	1 January 2004 – 8 December 2008	58	24	18	16	88	65
Egil Olsen	14 January 2009 – 27 September 2013	49	25	8	16	61	50
Per-Mathias Høgmo	27 September 2013 – 16 November 2016	35	10	7	18	33	49
Lars Lagerbäck	1 February 2017 – 6 December 2020	34	18	8	8	60	34
Leif Gunnar Smerud[lower-alpha 2][15]	18 November 2020	1	0	1	0	1	1
Ståle Solbakken	7 December 2020 –	33	17	7	9	61	33

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As of 26 March 2024.^[17]

Players in bold are still active with Norway.

The following table shows Norway's all-time international record, correct as of 27 September 2022.^[18]

More information Opponents, Played ...

Norway's all-time international record, 1908–2022
Opponents	Played	Won	Drawn*	Lost	GF	GA	GD	% Won
Albania	5	2	2	1	6	5	+1	50%
Argentina	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2	100%
Armenia	3	2	1	0	13	1	+12	50%
Australia	3	1	1	1	6	4	+2	50%
Austria	12	2	2	8	10	24	−14	17%
Azerbaijan	6	4	1	1	9	1	+8	57%
Bahrain	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%
Belarus	7	3	2	2	9	5	+4	43%
Belgium	9	0	3	6	8	17	−9	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	18	5	5	8	16	31	−15	28%
Cameroon	1	1	0	0	6	1	+5	100%
Chile	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%
China	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	5	1	1	3	6	10	−4	20%
Cyprus	11	11	0	0	28	4	+24	100%
Czechoslovakia	5	0	1	4	5	13	−8	0%
Czech Republic	8	1	3	4	8	10	−2	13%
Denmark	90	21	15	54	107	229	−121	23%
East Germany	9	1	2	6	8	15	−7	11%
Egypt	6	3	3	0	7	2	+5	50%
England	16	2	4	8	14	33	−18	27%
Estonia	7	4	2	1	16	5	+11	57%
Faroe Islands	4	4	0	0	15	0	+15	100%
Finland	66	41	16	9	181	81	+100	62%
France	16	4	4	8	16	24	−8	25%
Georgia	3	3	0	0	6	1	+5	100%
Germany	15	2	4	9	11	34	−23	13%
Ghana	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1	100%
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	100%
Greece	9	2	2	5	10	13	−3	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	21	7	6	8	26	36	−9	33%
Iceland	34	20	6	8	64	35	+29	59%
Israel	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	50%
Italy	17	3	4	10	13	22	−8	18%
Jamaica	2	1	1	0	7	1	+6	50%
Japan	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%
Jordan	2	1	1	0	6	0	+6	50%
Kuwait	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	0%
Latvia	4	2	1	1	5	4	−1	50%
Lithuania	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	100%
Luxembourg	12	9	1	2	25	9	+15	73%
Malta	12	10	2	0	30	4	+26	83%
Mexico	6	2	1	3	8	11	−3	33%
Moldova	5	4	1	0	6	1	+5	80%
Montenegro	4	3	0	1	6	4	+2	66%
Morocco	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0%
Netherlands	21	5	6	10	27	46	−19	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%
North Macedonia	4	2	1	1	4	3	+1	50%
Northern Ireland	11	9	0	2	25	10	+15	82%
Oman	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%
Panama	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%
Paraguay	1	0	1	0	2	2	0	0%
Poland	21	4	3	14	26	60	−34	18%
Portugal	11	1	2	8	5	18	−13	9%
Qatar	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7	100%
Republic of Ireland	20	4	9	7	21	30	−9	20%
Romania	14	3	7	4	14	14	0	21%
Russia	16	1	5	10	10	31	−21	16%
Saar	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	0%
San Marino	4	4	0	0	24	1	+23	100%
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	6	0	+6	100%
Scotland	17	3	6	8	18	27	−9	17%
Senegal	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	0%
Serbia	4	1	1	2	3	5	−2	25%
Serbia and Montenegro	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1	100%
Singapore	1	1	0	0	5	2	+3	100%
Slovakia	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	100%
Slovenia	11	6	3	2	17	10	+7	67%
South Africa	3	2	0	1	3	2	+1	67%
South Korea	5	2	1	2	8	6	+2	40%
Spain	8	1	2	5	4	12	−8	13%
Sweden	111	26	26	59	153	280	−127	22%
Switzerland	21	8	6	7	26	21	+5	38%
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	3	5	15	14	+1	27%
United Arab Emirates	2	2	2	0	2	2	0	50%
United States	5	2	1	2	14	8	+6	40%
Ukraine	5	0	1	4	0	5	−5	0%
Uruguay	2	0	1	1	3	2	−1	0%
Wales	12	4	4	4	15	17	−2	33%
West Germany	9	2	1	6	9	25	−16	22%
Yugoslavia	13	2	1	10	15	29	−14	16%
Zambia	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0%
Total	852	303	201	348	1249	1402	−153	35%

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Official

• Olympic Games
  • Bronze Medal (1): 1936

Exhibition

• Nordic Football Championship
  • Winners (2): 1929–32
  • Runners-up (2) 1952–55, 1956–59

• 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