Norway are a serious contender heading into the World Cup

The last decade has been full of disappointment after disappointment for the Norwegian national teams. Despite consistently being ranked in the top 15 of the FIFA rankings and producing some of the world’s very best players, the women have not made it past the quarterfinals of a major tournament and suffered two consecutive group stage exits in the Euros. The level of talent has not always been as high with the men, but their dismal record of failing to qualify for a major tournament since Euro 2000 has remained unchanged despite the emergence of some world-beaters in recent years.

The likes of Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard and Alexander Sørloth have all been regulars in the side for a fair few years now, but they could not get the team to finish ahead of Türkiye in 2022 World Cup qualifying and were outdone by Scott McTominay-powered Scotland in the most recent Euro qualifiers. Finally, though, they have clicked into a formidable side just in time for the 2026 World Cup, which they will all but certainly qualify for as long as they manage to defeat the mighty Estonia next month.

Of course, they have not always faced the toughest of tests at all times in this group, but the way have played suggests that they can go toe-to-toe against the big hitters as well. Besides, the expanded World Cup format means that they will most likely be among the stronger teams in their group, so progression to the knockouts should very much be on the cards either way.

Norway have been building towards this success right after the unsuccessful Euro 2024 qualification campaign. Head coach Ståle Solbakken, who has been in charge of the team since 2020, came up with some tweaks to his system going into the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League campaign. He moved away from a 4-3-3 formation to something closer to a 4-4-2 on paper, thus forging a more traditional strike partnership between Haaland and Sørloth. Ødegaard tends to start on the right of midfield, while a more natural winger such as Antonio Nusa is deployed on the left.

Especially in international football, the key to coming up with a good tactical setup is to find the best way to platform your best players while maintaining a decent balance in the side. That is exactly what Solbakken has sought to do in the current setup, and it has worked wonders. After a goalless draw with Kazakhstan in their Nations League opener, Norway have won all but one match since September 2024, with the outlier being a heavy loss to Austria that ultimately did not hurt them as they finished top of their group. While 11-1 wins over Moldova might say little about their chances against World Cup-level opposition, a performance such as the one they put together in the 3-0 win over Italy suggests that they are very much where they want to be.

Regardless of the level of opposition they are up against, Norway generally prefer to attack in transition. It should be easy to understand why – they have two big and powerful strikers (among whom is one absolute beast who will surely go down as one of the best ever in his position), serious dribbling threat on the wings particularly through Nusa on the left, and an additional bit of creative magic in someone like Ødegaard or even Oscar Bobb on the right. The latter part proves particularly useful when they have to try and link up to break down a low block, but for the most part, a more direct approach works quite well.

Haaland is, of course, the headline act. His record of 51 goals in 46 international games makes it quite hard to argue against that, especially when he acts like an absolute force of nature and terrorises defences as he did to Israel last weekend.

But for my money’s worth, Sørloth deserves a lot of credit for making this strike partnership click as well as it has. The 29-year-old forward has a fair bit of experience playing in a front two at the club level, and he puts it all to good use for his national team. While his partner tends to prefer to operate high and centrally for the most part, the Atlético Madrid forward is always willing to make runs around him. He moved across to the left channel to get the opener against Italy (following video), but can also often be seen scampering down the right wing.

Of course, Haaland himself is not half bad with his off-ball movement, so the two can combine to devastating effect. Add on top of that a bit of brilliant support, and you can get spectacular performances like this:

Norway’s attack clearly has the potential to blow away any defence on their day, but their own back line is not nearly as strong. So, they have to work hard collectively out of possession, and Sørloth has an important role to play in this regard as well. While he can often stay alongside Haaland in a 4-4-2, he is sometimes also asked to track back wide in a 4-5-1 or even interchange with Ødegaard, who is better at orchestrating a press. They do like to start in a high block but rarely press intensely, and probably are at their most threatening when they drop deep and lure their opponent forward before hitting them on the counter.

Solbakken’s side certainly are rather limited without the ball. They don’t have the centre-backs or midfielders needed to commit to an intense high press, and can be pushed deeper from a mid block fairly easily too. They do at least have some defenders who are used to defending deep, and their counterattacking potential should be enough to deter most opponents from throwing too much forward.

But perhaps their most important attribute after the attacking firepower is their depth. Many nations of their stature can easily end up becoming overreliant on key individuals, as neighbours Sweden are finding out in this World Cup qualifying campaign. Of course, Norway would not look quite as threatening without someone like Haaland or Ødegaard, but they have capable back-ups in the likes of Jørgen Strand Larsen and Bobb. They have different options to pick from in other parts of the squad as well, such as Sander Berge, Patrick Berg and Morten Thorsby in midfield. All in all, they have enough to put together a balanced side that sets up a decent platform for the attacking superstars.How Norway will fare at the World Cup is quite difficult to say before the draw is made, but finally getting there will be an achievement in itself for them. If they do get to North America with all of their forwards in form, Solbakken’s side will certainly be entertaining to watch and could well spring a surprise or two as well.

How Norway will fare at the World Cup is quite difficult to say before the draw is made, but finally getting there will be an achievement in itself for them. If they do get to North America with all of their forwards in form, Solbakken’s side will certainly be entertaining to watch and could well spring a surprise or two as well.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, we’d appreciate it if you would forward it to a friend. If you’re that friend, welcome! You can subscribe to The Transfer Flow here. We also have a podcast where we go in depth on transfer news and rumours every week. We’re on YouTube here, and you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify by searching for “The Transfer Flow Podcast.” If you’re interested in football betting, check out this post on why we started Variance Betting.