Mesterfinalen ( en, Champions Final), also known as UNICEF Mesterfinalen due to its cooperation with

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

, is a Norwegian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

competition contested between the champions of the previous

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

season and the holders of the

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football ...

. If the same team is both reigning League and Cup champions, the silver medalist from the league provides the opposition. The competition was founded in 2009, then known as Superfinalen ( en, Super Final). Superfinalen was not arranged between 2011 and 2016 before it was rebranded and again arranged in 2017. The fixture is a recognised competitive football

super cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

History

There have previously been attempts at a Supercup, and before that, pre-season friendlies between the reigning league and cup champions. For instance, the 2002 pre-season match between Rosenborg and

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

was played between the reigning league and cup champions, although it had no official status. The Superfinalen was introduced in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

as the first attempt to make an official tournament, but the tournament folded in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

after two finals. Ahead of the 2011 season, Norges Fotballforbund and

Norsk Toppfotball Norsk Toppfotball (NTF) is an interest organization for the 16 Norwegian Premier League and 16 Adeccoligaen clubs in Norway. The organization was previously known as Serieforeningen av 1972 (SF-72),Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county), Norway, today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). But since th ...

, were free to play a pre-season friendly, although it would not be regarded as an official match. In 2016, after

Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Chann ...

and

TVNorge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first adver ...

acquired the rights for the

a new attempt was made to arrange a Supercup starting in 2017 under the name UNICEF Mesterfinalen. The first final was played between reigning

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

champions Rosenborg and the league runners-up Brann at Brann Stadion.

Editions

2009

The first edition was contested between Stabæk and Vålerenga at

Telenor Arena Telenor Arena, sometimes referred to as Fornebu Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located at Fornebu in Bærum, outside Oslo, Norway. It serves as a venue for a variety of events, including concerts, exhibitions, action shows, family shows ...

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

on 8 March 2009. It was the first official match to take place at Stabæk's new home ground. Stabæk qualified as winners of the

2008 Tippeligaen The 2008 Tippeligaen was the 64th completed season of top division football in Norway. The season began on 29 March and ended 2 November. Brann were the defending champions, having won their third Tippeligaen championship in 2007. The teams promo ...

, where they finished six points ahead of

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

. Vålerenga qualified as winners of the

2008 Norwegian Football Cup The 2008 Norwegian Football Cup was the 103rd season of Norwegian annual knockout football tournament. The competition started on 10 May 2008 with the first-round games and ended on 9 November 2008 with the final. The defending champions were Lill ...

, where they had won

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

4–1 against Stabæk. As such, Superfinalen became a replay of the previous year's cup final. Stabæk won the match 3–1 after goals by

Daniel Nannskog Daniel Paul Gustav Nannskog (born 22 May 1974) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker for Högaborg, Malmö FF, Djurgården, Assyriska, Sylvia, Landskrona BoIS, Sichuan Guancheng and Stabæk IF, as well as for th ...

Daigo Kobayashi is a Japanese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career He started up his professional career at Tokyo Verdy where he won the 2004 Emperor's Cup and the 2005 Japanese Super Cup. In the same year, they ...

and

Pálmi Rafn Pálmason Pálmi Rafn Pálmason (born 9 November 1984) is an Icelandic footballer who is currently playing for KR in the Icelandic Premier Division. Before that he played in Iceland for Völsungur, KA and Valur, where he was a key player in the team t ...

. Mohammed Abdellaoue scored for the losing side.

Martin Andresen Martin Andresen (born 2 February 1977) is a Norwegian former professional football player and manager, who played as a central midfielder. Club career Early career Andresen was born in Kråkstad. He was a regular on many Norway national youth ...

, playing coach for Vålerenga, received two yellow cards. ;Match details

2010

The 2010 edition was contested between Rosenborg BK and Aalesund FK at

Color Line Stadion Color Line Stadion is an association football stadium in Ålesund, Norway, and the home of 1. divisjon side Aalesunds FK. It was inaugurated in April 2005 and cost NOK 160 million to build. It is referred to as Aalesund Stadion by UEFA, as namin ...

in Ålesund on 7 March 2010. Rosenborg qualified as winners of the

2009 Tippeligaen The 2009 Tippeligaen was the 65th completed season of top division football in Norway. The competition began on 15 March and end on 1 November. Stabæk were the defending champions. Odd Grenland, Sandefjord and Start entered as the three promot ...

, where they finished 13 points ahead of

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

. Aalesund qualified as winners of the

2009 Norwegian Football Cup The 2009 Norwegian Football Cup was the 104th season of the Norwegian annual knockout football tournament. The competition started with two qualifying rounds on 13 April and 22 April, and the final was held on 8 November. The defending champions w ...

, where they beat Molde in a penalty shootout in

. Rosenborg won the match 3–1 after leading 2–0 at halftime.

Kris Stadsgaard Kris Stadsgaard (born 1 August 1985) is a Danish former professional football central defender. Most recently, he played for F.C. Copenhagen. He has previously played for Danish club FC Nordsjælland, Italian club Reggina Calcio, and Rosenborg B ...

and Rade Prica scored the goals in the first half, and

Trond Olsen Trond Olsen (born 5 February 1984) is a Norwegian former footballer. Club career Born in Lyngen, the left-footed former under-21 international was picked up by Lillestrøm SK after the 2005 relegation of his former team Bodø/Glimt. Olsen retur ...

increased Rosenborg's lead to 3–0 before Aalesund pulled one back, courtesy of

Peter Orry Larsen Peter Orry Larsen (born 25 February 1989) is a Norway, Norwegian Association football, footballer currently playing for Aalesunds FK, Aalesund. Career SK Brann On 18 February 2017, Larsen signed for SK Brann, Brann Back to Aalesund Larsen rejo ...

. ;Match details

2017

The 2017 edition was contested between SK Brann and Rosenborg BK at Brann Stadion in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

on 29 March 2017. Rosenborg qualified as winners of the

2016 Tippeligaen The 2016 Tippeligaen was the 72nd completed season of top-tier football in Norway. The competition began on 11 March 2016. Due to the 2016 UEFA European Championship, there was a break between the rounds played on 29 May and 3 July. The decisive ...

, where they finished 15 points ahead of Brann. Brann qualified as runners-up in the Tippeligaen, this because Rosenborg won the

2016 Norwegian Football Cup The 2016 Norwegian Football Cup was the 111th season of the Norwegian annual knock-out football tournament. It began with qualification matches in March 2016. The first round was played on 13 April 2016 and the tournament concluded with the final ...

. Rosenborg won the match 2–0 after leading 1–0 at halftime. Milan Jevtovic scored the goal in the first half, and

Tore Reginiussen Tore Reginiussen (born 10 April 1986) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Alta. Reginiussen has previously played for the clubs Tromsø, Schalke 04, Lecce, OB, Rosenborg and FC St. Pauli and has been capped playing for Norway. ...

increased Rosenborg's lead to 2–0 in the 90th minute. ;Match details

2018

The 2018 edition was contested between Lillestrøm SK and Rosenborg BK at Åråsen Stadion in

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

on 25 April 2018. Initially the game was scheduled for 5 March 2018, but the game was cancelled due to the winterly conditions at Åråsen Stadion. Rosenborg qualified as winners of the

2017 Eliteserien The 2017 Eliteserien was the 73rd completed season of top-tier football in Norway. The season began on 1 April 2017 and ended on 26 November 2017, not including play-off matches. This was first season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen. ...

, where they finished 7 points ahead of

. Lillestrøm qualified as winners of the

2017 Norwegian Football Cup The 2017 Norwegian Football Cup was the 112th season of the Norwegian annual knock-out football tournament. It began with qualification matches in March and April 2017. The first round was played on 26 April 2017 and the tournament concluded wit ...

where they defeated

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, the ...

3–2 in the final. Rosenborg won the 2018 Mesterfinalen with the score 0–1. After a goalless first half,

Nicklas Bendtner Nicklas Bendtner (; born 16 January 1988) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a forward. His preferred position was centre-forward, but he has also played on the right side of attack, and occasionally on the left. A large, ...

scored the winning goal in the 52nd minute. ;Match details

2019

The 2019 edition was to be contested between Rosenborg BK and

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a professional football club based in Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club was originally known as International and changed its name to ...

at Ullevaal Stadion in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. Rosenborg qualified as winners of the

2018 Eliteserien The 2018 Eliteserien was the 74th completed season of top-tier football in Norway. This was second season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen. The season began on 11 March and ended 24 November 2018, not including play-off matches. Fixt ...

, where they finished 5 points ahead of Molde. Molde qualified as runners-up in Eliteserien as Rosenborg also won the

2018 Norwegian Football Cup The 2018 Norwegian Football Cup was the 113th edition of the Norwegian annual knock-out football tournament. It began with qualification matches in March and April 2018. The first round was played from 17–19 April 2018 and the tournament conclud ...

, but due to

extreme weather Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a locat ...

conditions the games was cancelled 2 days prior to the scheduled matchday.

Matches

Venues

The fixture is usually played at the home ground of one of the teams competing. The first exception would have been the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

final, when defending league champions Rosenborg decided that the final should be held at Ullevaal Stadion. In total there have been five host grounds. The first ground to host the fixture was

in 2009. The 2009 final is the only game hosted by the league champions.

Records

* The most successful team in the competition is Rosenborg (3 wins). * The highest scoring games were the

and

finals. Stabæk's 3–1 win against

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

in 2009 was equaled by Rosenborg's 3–1 win against Aalesund in 2010. * Rosenborg hold the record for most consecutive wins (3) from 2010 to 2018. *

has scored the fastest goal in a Norwegian super cup. In 2010 he scored in the 7th minute in the final between Aalesund and Rosenborg. * Brann are the only club to participate in Mesterfinalen, not qualified as either champions of the League or the Cup.

Performances

Performance by club

Total cup wins by city

References

{{National football Supercups (UEFA region) Football competitions in Norway

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

2009 establishments in Norway 2010 disestablishments in Norway 2017 establishments in Norway Recurring sporting events established in 2017