The Norway Cup is an international youth

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tournament 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 ...

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 ...

. It has been held annually since 1972, with the exception of 1976 (due to a conflicting arrangement), 2020 and 2021 (due to the

COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

). It is the world's largest football tournament and sees a typical 1400 to 1700 participating teams per year - in 2016 Norway Cup hit an all-time record with 2199 teams, of which 450 teams played the new 3v3 tournament for 6-10 year olds. The Norway Cup consists of tournaments for ages 10 through 19 for both genders, with over 53,049 teams having participated during its history. The tournament takes place at Ekebergsletta. The tournament is organized by Bækkelagets Sportsklub with Tony Isaksen as its general secretary. Participants come from 50 to 60 countries.

Amazon Grimstad Amazon Grimstad FK is a Professional Norwegian women's football club from Grimstad. It is named after the Amazons of Greek mythology. It was founded in 1999 when the women's football section split from FK Jerv. The senior team currently plays ...

won the first Norway Cup tournament for women, winning 2–1 over Vestar, after a penalty shoot-out.

The world's biggest tournament

From 1972 to 2016, 53,049 teams have participated in the tournament. In recent years around 1600-2200 teams participated each year and the tournament is therefore referred to often as "the world's biggest football tournament." The participants in the tournament come from around 50-60 different nations. In 1972 the first edition of the Norway Cup played with women's teams, while the NFF did not recognize women's football officially until 1976. Amazon Grimstad Grimstad won the first Norway Cup for women. The team won 2–1 against IL Vestar after a penalty shootout. The Norway cup has had its fair share of legends attending the competition, with Paul Rainey attending in 1980 and 1982. He scored 5 goals against West Winds.

Colourful friendship

In 1979 Norway Cup was visited by the Brazilian team Pequeninos from São Paulo. The team consisted of children from the slums of the city. Several players who have participated in the Norway Cup have subsequently made football their profession, including

Erik Mykland Erik Mykland (born 21 July 1971) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was nicknamed ''Myggen'' (mosquito) during his career, as he used to flap his arms and hands like one when celebrating his goals. A ra ...

John Carew John Alieu Carew (born 5 September 1979) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was capped 91 times, scoring 24 goals for the Norway national team. As of 2023, he has been hired until the end of 2024 at Norw ...

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his car ...

and Steffen Iversen.

External links

Official site

References

{{Reflist Ekeberg Sport in Oslo International association football competitions hosted by Norway 1972 establishments in Norway Recurring sporting events established in 1972 Youth football competitions