In the past decade, Norway has come a long way in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup after 27 years, for the first time since the 1998 edition. Much of the credit for this feat goes to some of the best players, such as Martin Odegaard, Erling Haaland, Alexander Sørloth, Antonio Nusa and Kristoffer Ajer, etc. This set of Norwegian players is also viewed as the Golden Generation. The Norway national football team is currently ranked 32nd in the FIFA global rankings, owing to their recent performances in the European World Cup qualifiers. However, Landslaget have failed to qualify for the European Championship on every single occasion except the 2000 edition. The Norwegian football federation was set up in 1902, the official body that governs both men's and women's national teams.
Ever since the establishment of the Norwegian football team, they have participated in three FIFA World Cups (1938, 1994 and 1998) ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Cup event set to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Norway national football team nickname, “Løvene” (Lions), shares fierce rivalry with fellow Scandinavian nations such as Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.
In July 1908, Norway played their first official international match against the Swedish national football team in Gothenburg. In that historic fixture, the Norway squad had the majority of players from the Mercantile FK and several other Norwegian clubs.
In the early 1900s, Norway formed its official football governing body, the Norwegian Football Federation, which is headquartered in Oslo, but it only joined FIFA in 1908 – making it eligible to compete in FIFA-organised tournaments. It took them several decades to join hands with the European football body UEFA in 1958. Since then, the Scandinavian nation has been a part of the Union of European Football Associations, regularly playing in UEFA competitions such as the European Qualifiers, World Cup Qualifiers, or Nations League.
