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

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, is a Norwegian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition contested between the champions of the previous

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

season and the holders of the

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () 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 tournament in the country. The tournament ...

. 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 (). 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, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

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 were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

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

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

after two finals. Ahead of the 2011 season,

Norges Fotballforbund The Norwegian Football Federation (, ; 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 for men and women (whose top levels are respectively ...

and

Norsk Toppfotball Norsk Toppfotball (NTF) is an interest organization for the 16 Norwegian Premier League and 16 Adeccoligaen clubs in Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Penins ...

stated that Superfinalen would be discontinued, stating that the championship was interesting neither from sports nor from a commercial aspect. However, the two would-be qualified teams, league winner Rosenborg and cup winner

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...

, 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 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Cha ...

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 adv ...

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 * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

and

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

champions Rosenborg and the league runners-up Brann at

Brann Stadion Brann Stadion is a football stadium in Bergen, Norway. It was constructed in 1919, and has been the home of the football club Brann ever since. The stadium lies south of the city centre, at the foot of Mount Ulriken. The record attendance ...

Editions

2009

The first edition was contested between Stabæk and Vålerenga at

Telenor Arena Unity Arena, previously known as Telenor Arena and 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, ...

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

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 association football, football in Norway. The season began on 29 March and ended 2 November. SK Brann, Brann were the defending champions, having won their third Tippeligaen champi ...

, where they finished six points ahead of

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

. Vålerenga qualified as winners of the 2008 Norwegian Football Cup, where they had won the final 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 association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. During a club career that spanned between 1994 and 2010, he represented H� ...

, Daigo Kobayashi and

Pálmi Rafn Pálmason Pálmi Rafn Pálmason (born 9 November 1984) is an Icelandic Football (soccer), footballer who is currently playing for Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, KR in the Úrvalsdeild karla (football), Icelandic Premier Division. Before that he played in ...

Mohammed Abdellaoue Mohammed "Moa" Abdellaoue (; born 23 October 1985) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Skeid and Vålerenga before moving to Germany where he played for Hannover 96 and VfB Stuttgar ...

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. Martin is also keen bridge player winning both a North American and European championship. Club career ...

, 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 (town), Ålesund, Norway, and the home of 1. divisjon side Aalesunds FK. It was inaugurated in April 2005 and cost Norwegian krone, NOK 160 million to build. It is referred to as ...

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

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 List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

. Aalesund qualified as winners of the 2009 Norwegian Football Cup, where they beat Molde in a penalty shootout in the final. Rosenborg won the match 3–1 after leading 2–0 at halftime. Kris Stadsgaard 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 Municipality in Troms county Norway, the left-footed former under-21 international was picked up by Lillestrøm SK after the 2005 relegation of his ...

increased Rosenborg's lead to 3–0 before Aalesund pulled one back, courtesy of Peter Orry Larsen. ;Match details

2017

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

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

on 29 March 2017. Rosenborg qualified as winners of the

2016 Tippeligaen The 2016 Tippeligaen was the 72nd completed season of top-tier Association football, football in Norway. The competition began on 11 March 2016. Due to the UEFA Euro 2016, 2016 UEFA European Championship, there was a break between the rounds play ...

, 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 fina ...

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

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 professional football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. ...

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 Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. His preferred position was centre-forward, but he has also played on the Forward ...

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 association football, football club based in Molde Municipality, Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football league system, Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club w ...

Ullevaal Stadion Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. 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 conclu ...

, but due to

extreme weather Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe weather, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weat ...

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

Venues

The fixture is usually played at the home ground of one of the teams competing. The first exception would have been the 2019 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 i ...

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. * Kris Stadsgaard 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 countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

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