"We bragged that we could buy Sweden with our sovereign oil wealth fund. It wouldn't have even been funny if they weren't so upset about it — but they got really mad."
That's Torstein Hamran, board member of Oljeberget Supporterklubb — Norway's largest national team supporters' club — summing up where Norway stands right now. Not just financially. Emotionally. Culturally. A country of 5.5 million people, less than New York City, showing up to the 2026 World Cup with something to prove and the firepower to prove it.
They've been waiting 28 years for this. The last time Norway appeared at a World Cup was France '98. Since then: watching. Always watching. Euro 2000 ended in the group stage, and after that, nothing. Nine major tournaments for Sweden. Zero for Norway. The little brother sat on the sidelines while the neighbours collected memories.
A qualifying campaign that demanded attention
That changes this summer, largely because of one man. Erling Haaland scored 16 goals in World Cup qualifying — matching Robert Lewandowski's record for a European player in a single campaign. Norway scored 37 goals across eight matches. Argentina, for context, scored 31 in 18. They beat Italy twice, 7-1 on aggregate. They finished with a perfect European qualifying record, one of only two teams on the continent to do so alongside England.
The supporting cast is serious too. Martin Odegaard captains both Norway and Arsenal. Antonio Nusa operates out of RB Leipzig. Oscar Bobb joined Fulham in January for £27 million. This isn't a one-man show built around Haaland — though Haaland is still the most important player on the pitch by some distance.
For a long time, that was complicated. "He was perceived as really cocky, almost non-Norwegian," says Halvor Viste Berg, an Oljeberget member. Norway runs on janteloven — the cultural law that says you don't put yourself above the collective, you don't seek the spotlight, you don't make yourself the story. Haaland, for years, looked like the exception to that rule. But the perception has softened. A YouTube channel helped. Goals helped more.
The group is not kind — and France's odds reflect that
Norway land in arguably the tournament's most difficult group. France, chasing a third consecutive World Cup final, are among the title favourites. Senegal are the reigning African champions. Iraq qualified through the play-offs and are the one opponent Norway are realistically expected to beat. Anyone backing Norway to top this group is making a bold call — the more likely path to the knockouts runs through third place, which advances from eight of the twelve groups in this expanded 48-team format.
But if they get through? There's one fixture every Norwegian fan has circled: Sweden. The country they can now, apparently, afford to purchase.
The anthem that will soundtrack all of it is Alt for Norge — Everything for Norway. It started as a symbol of resistance when Nazi Germany occupied the country during the Second World War. It became a fan song in 1994, released to mark Norway's first World Cup qualification since 1938. Now it's the emotional spine of a fanbase preparing to descend on Boston and New Jersey with Viking ships, a rowing celebration called the Ro — their answer to Iceland's thunderclap — and thirty years of pent-up hunger.
"It feels like cheering for your friends," says Halvor. "Everyone knows someone on the team. The players come over to celebrate with us after the match."
A song called Kjope Hele Sverige — Buy All of Sweden — is already famous back home. Sweden got mad. Norway found that funnier than anything.
