| Football (soccer) in Norway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| National team | Norway national football team |
| First played | 1883; 142 years ago (1883) |
| National competitions | |
| Club competitions | |
| International competitions | |
Association football is the most popular sport in Norway.[1]The Football Association of Norway was founded in 1902 and the first international match was played in 1908. There are 1,822 registered football clubs and about 25,000 teams. There are 393,801 (104,597 of them are girls/women) registered football players,[2] which means that 8.5% of the population play organized football.[3][4]
The first football team in Norway was probably started by abuekorps inBergen,Nygaards Bataljon, in 1883.[5] In 1885 the first Norwegian club however,Idrætsforeningen Odd, was founded inSkien. The footballing interest was very low, and was put on ice after a few months. However, the clubOdd Grenland started up with football again in 1894, and are now Norway's oldest football club. The Football Association of Norway (theNFF), was founded in 1902, and quickly established a cup competition. After the NFF joinedFIFA in 1908,Norway had its first ever international match, away againstSweden inGothenburg; despite Norway taking the lead after a mere 45 seconds, Sweden went on to win 11–3. In 1911 Norway hosted its first international in Oslo, again against Sweden; this time Norway lost 4–0. In 1912 the Norway national team attended the Olympic Games, and were knocked out after losing toDenmark andAustria 7-0 and 1-0 respectively. The NFF hosted the FIFA congress in Oslo in 1914, where a national league was established with six teams competed for the title Drafn, Frigg, Kvik/Halden,Larvik Turn, Mercantile andOdd. Drafn from Drammen went on to be the first league winners. At the1936 Summer Olympics, the Norway national men's team won their only medal (bronze). In the relatively successful tournament Norway beatTurkey and hostsGermany 4-0 and 2-0 respectively, losing toItaly in the semi-final, then beatingPoland 3–2 in the third-place play-off to take the bronze medal. The team is known in Norway as "Bronselaget" meaning the Bronze team.The Norwegian football team won 2–1 to Brazil in 1998. Norway is also the only national team in history to have an undefeated record vs Brazil, Playing 4 matches and winning 2 and drawing the other 2.[6]
The current national league system administered by the Norges Fotballforbund is organised as, from 2017 season, 1-1-2-6, whereEliteserien is the highest Norwegian level andOBOS-ligaen the second highest, followed by two third level (PostNord-ligaen) and six fourth level (Norsk Tipping-ligaen).
| Division | Promotion | Relegation | Promotion/relegation playoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eliteserien | N/A | 15th, 16th | 14th Relegation |
| OBOS-ligaen | Winner, runner-up | 15th, 16th | 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Promotion, 14th Relegation |
| PostNord-ligaen | Winners in two groups | 12th, 13th, 14th in two groups | 2nd in two groups Promotion |
| Norsk Tipping-ligaen | Winners in six groups | 12th, 13th, 14th in six groups |
| Level | League(s)/Division(s) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eliteserien 16 clubs | |||||||||||
| 2 | OBOS-ligaen 16 clubs | |||||||||||
| 3 | PostNord-ligaen Group 1 14 clubs | PostNord-ligaen Group 2 14 clubs | ||||||||||
| 4 | Norsk Tipping-ligaen Group 1 14 clubs | Norsk Tipping-ligaen Group 2 14 clubs | Norsk Tipping-ligaen Group 3 14 clubs | Norsk Tipping-ligaen Group 4 14 clubs | Norsk Tipping-ligaen Group 5 14 clubs | Norsk Tipping-ligaen Group 6 14 clubs | ||||||
| 5–9 | 4. divisjon through8. divisjon are regional divisions administered by the various regional football associations. | |||||||||||
Thenational cup (Norwegian Championship) has been contested since 1902 and is the oldest football tournament in the country.
Norwegian football began to have regular seasons from 1937, whenNorgesserien started with the inaugural1937–38 season. Before that, tournaments and leagues were played irregularly. In 1963, Norwegian football changed from autumn-spring to spring-autumn seasons. The league football was suspended during theWorld War II.
The following teams have qualified for elimination rounds in theUEFA Champions League.
Rosenborg played in the Champions League on 10 further occasions.
Stadiums with a capacity of 20,000 or higher are included.
| # | Stadium | Capacity | City | Club | Division |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ullevaal Stadion | 28,000[7] | Oslo | Norway national football team | |
| 2 | Lerkendal Stadion | 21,405[8] | Trondheim | Rosenborg | Eliteserien |
| League competitions |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cup competitions |
| ||||
| Defunct cup competitions |
| ||||
| Playoff competitions |
| ||||
| Youth competitions |
| ||||
| National teams | |||||
| Others | |||||
| Lists and categories | |||||
