The Norway women's national football team is controlled by the

Football Association of Norway The Norwegian Football Federation ( nb, Norges Fotballforbund, nn, Noregs Fotballforbund; NFF) is the governing body of football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the league systems f ...

. The team is former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one of the most successful national teams. The team has had less success since the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

History

Norway women's national football team emerged in 1978 for the Nordic Championship tournament, which was relatively early for Western Europe, but late for the Nordic countries, beating only

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. Having little culture for official clubs and a series system, Norway had a lot to do to catch up to especially

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Their early history therefore consisted of losing to their neighbours and eventually beating

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

for their first win.

A power to be reckoned with

Eventually, Norway marked themselves as one of the better countries in Europe, if inferior to their Nordic neighbours. They beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. In the first

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the European Competition for Representative Women's Teams (later renamed UEFA Women's Championship), Norway played opposite Sweden,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and Iceland. Norway lost both matches against Sweden, but beat Finland over both matches. A surprising home draw against Iceland mattered little, Norway took the second spot in a qualification where only the best teams qualified. Sweden later won the Euros.

The start of the golden years

Norway seemed to have problems with Sweden, and they lost 0–5, their biggest loss at the time (if repeated later) shortly afterwards. Compared to other teams, however, Norway improved, and they beat Denmark and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in the

for the 1987 Euros. The Euros, consisting as the men's Euros had been until 1980 of two semi finals and a final played in one of the countries qualified for it. In this case, Norway was the host for the four matches. Norway beat

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in the semifinals and met Sweden in the finals. The finals was the first time Norway beat Sweden in a match, as Norway won 2–1. This made the national football team the first Norwegian sports team ever to have won anything, eleven years ahead of the

Norway women's national handball team The Norway women's national handball team represents Norway at international handball competitions, and is governed by the Norges Håndballforbund (NHF). As of 2022, Norway has been in 24 finals and is regarde ...

. Norway continued to win the next year as they beat Sweden again in a final in an invitational and unofficial world cup in China. In the 1989 Euros Norway made the finals against West Germany, but this time lost 1–4. After that loss the coaches resigned, leaving the helm to

Even Pellerud Even Jostein Pellerud (born 15 July 1953) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. Career Pellerud played for several clubs, including Vålerenga from 1974 to 1979 and Kongsvinger from 1983 to 1986. He was head coach for the Norway women ...

. Pellerud saw Norway progress to the 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup. Before the first official world cup, Norway made it to the fourth (and Norway's third in a row) final of the Euros, where Norway again met Germany. Germany won in extra time. In the World cup Norway made it to the semifinals, where they lost to the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Following that, Pellerud led the team to the 1993 Euros. Norway beat Denmark in the semifinals and Italy in the finals, winning their second Euros. Norway followed up with winning the 1994 Algarve Cup, the first ever to be arranged. The focus the next year was the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and its antecedent Euros, which also functioned as a qualifier for the World Cup. Norway met Italy already in the quarter finals, and won it. Sweden managed to come back and thrash Norway in the second semifinal in Sweden, winning 5–7 after two matches. Norway was still qualified for the World Cup.

World Champions and beyond

The 1995 World Cup in Sweden is part of Norwegian sports heritage. Norway won all their matches in the group stage, and continued to meet an unconvincing Denmark in the quarter finals. Norway was up 3–0 with five minutes to go, and while conceding a goal a minute later, Norway was never threatened. The next encounter for Norway was the US, and in a close match, USA could never respond to an early goal by

Ann Kristin Aarønes Ann Kristin Aarønes (born 19 January 1973) is a Norwegian former footballer. She first played for Spjelkavik IL, then for Trondheims-Ørn and the Norwegian national team. Later she played for the WUSA's New York Power, during the club's first ...

, and the USA lost their first official international tournament. Norway met Germany in the finals. Having lost two Euro finals, Norway were not among the favourites, but they defeated Germany by two goals scored within the space of four minutes, becoming world champions. Pellerud resigned shortly afterwards. From the first women's football in the Olympic Games, it was considered equal with the world cup in rank. Norway qualified as a matter of course because of their win in the World Cup. Norway drew with

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and beat Germany and Japan, proceeding to the semi finals. There they lost to the US after extra time, but won the bronze medal after defeating Brazil. The 1997 Euros turned out to be a big disappointment for the ruling world champions at home, and Norway only made it to the semi-finals. This was the last time the two-year gap was used, making it easier to focus on the two competitions separately. Norway eased through to the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, where they beat all their opposition in the group stage. They met Sweden in the quarter finals, proving that now Norway had the upper hand by beating them 3–1. Surprisingly, Norway lost heavily to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, who won 5–0, thus equaling the embarrassment Sweden defeated Norway some 13 years earlier. In the bronze final, Norway lost to Brazil on penalties in front of a record 90,185 spectators. Norway was not among the biggest favourites to win the Sydney Olympics. They started off losing to the US, but picked up nicely by beating Nigeria and China, the latter by one goal. In the semi finals Norway beat Germany with a lucky own goal by Tina Wunderlich after Germany pressed the Norwegians for the better part of the match. The final saw Norway against heavy favourites USA in an even match.

Tiffeny Milbrett Tiffeny Carleen Milbrett (born October 23, 1972) is an American former professional soccer forward who was a longtime member of the United States women's national team. In May 2018 the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced Milbrett will be en ...

took the lead for the US, but Norway equaled the score by

Gro Espeseth Gro Espeseth (born 30 October 1972) is a former Norwegian footballer, world champion and olympic champion. She played for the clubs Sandviken and Trondheims-Ørn, debuted for the Norwegian national team in 1991, and played 105 matches for the ...

and stayed in the game with a good keeper in

Bente Nordby Bente Dalum Nordby (born 23 July 1974) is a former Norwegian football goalkeeper, who last played for Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon, France. She played with the Norway women's national football team from 1991 to 2007. Career Nordby is the se ...

. Norway took the lead in the match via a header by

Ragnhild Gulbrandsen Ragnhild Øren Gulbrandsen (born 22 February 1977) is a Norwegian journalist and former football striker from the city of Trondheim who retired from football at the end of 2007. Most of her playing career was spent with Trondheims-Ørn (Trond ...

, but Milbrett scored in stoppage time to prolong the match to extra time with

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

. Norway scored the winner in what seemed like a handball. The coach

Per-Mathias Høgmo Per-Mathias Høgmo (born 1 December 1959) is a football manager from Norway and former player. He is the former manager of the Norway national football team. He has previously been head coach of Norway women's national football team and the Tippe ...

quit after achieving this feat.

Decline

Åge Steen took over as coach, but under his tutelage, things went from top to mediocre. In the 2001 Euros Norway's play was lackluster, and while making it to the semi finals thanks to the French national team, Norway lost clearly to Germany. In the 2003 World Cup Norway disappointed with a fumbling 1–4 to Brazil in the group stage before losing to USA in the quarter finals. As Greece was arranging the 2004 Summer Olympics, there were only two additional spots for European teams, and Sweden and Germany, who had both proceeded to the finals, took them. Steen continued for another year, as stipulated by his contract, but was replaced in late 2004.

Brief recovery

Under the new coach,

Bjarne Berntsen Bjarne Berntsen (born 21 December 1956) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. He is the elder brother of fellow football coach Alf Ingve Berntsen. Playing career Bjarne Berntsen began his football career at local club Figgjo IL. He ...

, Norway took things up a notch by reaching the final of the 2005 Euros with a classic 3–2 win over Sweden in extra time in the semifinal. Again Germany defeated Norway to win the championship. Norway continued to achieve reasonable results except in the Algarve Cup where the results started to slip. Despite this Norway qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China. They drew with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and narrowly beat

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and then a 7–2 win over

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

took them to the top of their group. Norway then progressed further by beating China 1–0, but lost 0–3 to Germany in the semifinal. In the bronze final Norway lost 1–4 to the US to finish in fourth place in the World Cup, which qualified them to enter the Beijing Olympics. Norway's top scorer

was awarded the

Bronze Boot Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

behind Marta of Brazil and Abby Wambach of the United States. From there Berntsen's fortunes began to wane. First he was criticized for telling

Lise Klaveness Lise Klaveness (born 19 April 1981) is a Norwegian lawyer and former footballer who played 73 matches for Norway's national team between 2002 and 2011. She is currently the president of the Norwegian Football Federation. Since assuming her le ...

she had no future in the national team under him, at 1a.m. at Oslo airport as they were arriving back from China, a gross error that he later admitted. Then in the 2008 Olympics Norway first impressively beat USA, then lost to Japan 1–5 and went out in the quarter finals against Brazil. In October 2008, five players refused to play in the National Team, making comments that implied playing under Berntsen was too much of a burden, which led to a media outcry. With a reduced team, and also after some less controversial resignations, Norway produced a relatively good result at the 2009 UEFA Women's Championship by beating Sweden 3–1 in the quarter-finals, even with an embarrassing 0–4 against Germany and a modest 1–0 against Iceland and 1–1 against France. After the championship, Berntsen's contract ended.

Landsem

Eli Landsem Eli Landsem (born 22 March 1962) is a Norwegian former international footballer who was the coach of the Norway women's national football team between 2009 and 2012. Career As a player, Landsem won 15 caps for Norway, scoring one goal. She made ...

, the first woman coach and the first coach with experience of coaching women's football, took over at the end of 2009. Under her some of the players who had previously elected not to play returned. Landsem produced acceptable results and the team qualified to play in the 2011 FIFA World Cup after winning all but one of the matches in their qualification group. However Norway failed to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in its history after losing to Brazil (0–3) and

(1–2). As a result, they also failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The next task was qualification to the 2013 European Cup competition, with Norway in Group3 with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. The campaign began badly with 3–1 losses to Iceland and 64th-ranked Northern Ireland, but in 2012 the position was recovered with wins in the last six matches, and Norway finished top of Group3 with eight wins from ten matches. They later went on to finish as runners-up in the finals in Sweden.

Struggle

At the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Norway was drawn into a group with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and the Ivory Coast. Norway performed well in the group stage, as the team beat Thailand 4–0 and the Ivory Coast 3–1. They drew 1–1 against former champions Germany. Norway would lose 2–1 in the round of sixteen to England. England went on to win the bronze medal.

2016–present

On 16 December 2016 Martin Sjögren was introduced as the new coach of Norway. He had previous coaching experience in the

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

with Linköpings and LdB FC Malmö. Norway qualified for Euro 2017 without losing a game. They were drawn into Group A alongside the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

. Norway was the highest ranked team in Group A, and were predicted by many to win the group. They ended up being one of the biggest disappointments of the tournament as they lost all three group games without scoring a goal. On 9 September 2017 Norway striker and 2016 UEFA Women's Player of the Year

Ada Hegerberg Ada Martine Stolsmo Hegerberg (born 10 July 1995) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Division 1 Féminine club Lyon and the Norway national team. Hegerberg has represented Norway at the youth international l ...

announced she was taking a break from international duty, and was unsure when or if she would return. On 7 October 2017 the Norway Football Association announced that Norway's male and female players would receive equal financial compensation, with the men making a contribution to the women's team. This equalled nearly a fifty percent increase in compensation for the women. On 4 September 2018 Norway defeated the

2–1 in their final group game of UEFA World Cup Qualifying. As a result, Norway won qualifying Group3 and secured an automatic berth in the 2019 World Cup, while the

who won Euro 2017 were forced to go to the play-off.

Euro 2022

In their Euro 2022 group stage match against England on 11 July 2022, the team suffered their biggest defeat, losing 8–0. Norway was eliminated after the first round, as in 2017, after losing the final Group A match against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

(0–1), having won only one match, in the opening match against

(4–1). In addition,

, back in the national team after several years of falling out with the federation, did not score a single goal.

All-time record

*Source:

Results and fixtures

* The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. ;Legend

2021

2022

2023

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Players

Current squad

The following 25 players were initially called up for the Friendly against

and the

on 11 and 15 November 2022. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 16 November 2022, after the match against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad in last 12 months. ^WIT Withdrew from the squad
^INJ Injured

Previous squads

* 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup * 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup * 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup * 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup * 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup * 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup * 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup * 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup

Records

, after the match against

. :''Players in bold are still active with Norway.''

Most caps

Most goals

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''

Match History

Olympic Games

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''

UEFA Women's Championship

:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''

Algarve Cup

The

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious an ...

is a global invitational tournament for national teams in

women's soccer Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national ...

hosted by the

Portuguese Football Federation The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) ( pt, Federação Portuguesa de Futebol; ) is the governing body of football in Portugal. The federation was formed in 1914 as Portuguese Football Union (UPF) by the three existing regional associations ...

(FPF). Held annually in the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

region of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious women's football events, alongside the Women's World Cup and Women's Olympic Football.

Invitational trophies

: Winner 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2019 *

Albena Cup The Albena Cup was an invitational competition for women's football (soccer) teams held in Albena, Bulgaria. Contested by both clubs and national teams, it was originally named Grand Hotel Varna Tournament and the first two editions were held ind ...

: Winner 1988, 1989 * Four Nations Tournament: Winner 2002, 2013 *Cyprus Tournament: Winner 1993

References

Notes

External links

*
FIFA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norway Women's National Football Team Kniksen Award winners European women's national association football teams FIFA Women's World Cup-winning countries UEFA Women's Championship-winning countries

History

A power to be reckoned with

The start of the golden years

World Champions and beyond

Decline

Brief recovery

Landsem

Struggle

2016–present

Euro 2022

All-time record

Results and fixtures

2021

2022

2023

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Players

Current squad

Recent call-ups

Previous squads

Records

Most caps

Most goals

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

Match History

Olympic Games

UEFA Women's Championship

Algarve Cup

Invitational trophies

See also

References

Notes

External links