Norway has participated in thequalification for 18FIFA World Cup tournaments and reached the finals four times, in1938,1994,1998 and2026. They have the peculiar distinction of not losing any matches unless it was toItaly during the finals phase (losing to Italy in 1938 during round 1 in a straight knockout tie, being eliminated in the 1994 group stage from having the fewest amount of goals scored after defeatingMexico, losing to Italy and drawing 0-0 with theRepublic of Ireland which resulted in all four teams having 4 points and a 0 goal difference, and in 1998 drew withScotland andMorocco before coming from behind to defeatBrazil 2-1 to advance to the round of 16 where they were defeated by Italy).
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Did not enter | ||||||||
| Round of 16 | 12th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Did not enter | ||||||||
| Did not qualify | ||||||||
| Group stage | 17th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Round of 16 | 15th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |
| Did not qualify | ||||||||
| Qualified | ||||||||
| To be determined | ||||||||
| Total | Round of 16 | 4/23 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 |
| World Cup | Round | Opponent | Score | Result | Venue | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Round of 16 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | L | Marseille | A. Brustad | |
| 1994 | Group stage | 1–0 | W | Washington, D.C. | K. Rekdal | |
| 0–1 | L | East Rutherford | — | |||
| 0–0 | D | East Rutherford | — | |||
| 1998 | Group stage | 2–2 | D | Montpellier | Y. Chippo (o.g.),D. Eggen | |
| 1–1 | D | Bordeaux | H. Flo | |||
| 2–1 | W | Marseille | T.A. Flo,K. Rekdal | |||
| Round of 16 | 0–1 | L | Marseille | — |
| FIFA World Cup matches (by team) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Wins | Draws | Losses | Total | Goals Scored | Goals Conceded |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 June 1938 | Italy | 2 – 1(a.e.t.) | ||
| 17:00(WEST) | Ferraris Piola | (1-1, 1-0) Report (FIFA) | Stadium:Stade Vélodrome Attendance: 19,000 Referee:Alois Beranek (Austria) |
| 19 June 1994 | Norway | 1 – 0 | ||
| 16:00(EDT) | Rekdal | (0-0) Report (FIFA) | Stadium:RFK Stadium Attendance: 52,395 Referee:Sandor Puhl (Hungary) |
| 23 June 1994 | Italy | 1 – 0 | ||
| 16:00(EDT) | Pagliuca D. Baggio | (0-0) Report (FIFA) | Stadium:Giants Stadium Attendance: 74,624 Referee:Hellmut Krug (Germany) |
| 28 June 1994 | Republic of Ireland | 0 – 0 | ||
| 12:30(EDT) | Report (FIFA) | Stadium:Giants Stadium Attendance: 72,404 Referee:José Torres Cadena (Colombia) |
| 10 June 1998 | Morocco | 2 – 2 | ||
| 21:00CET | Hadji Hadda | (1-1) Report (FIFA) | Stadium:Stade de la Mosson Attendance: 29,800 Referee:Pirom Un-Prasert (Thailand) |
| 16 June 1998 | Scotland | 1 – 1 | ||
| 17:30 CET | Burley | (0-0) Report (FIFA) | Stadium:Stade du Parc Lescure Attendance: 31,800 Referee:László Vágner (Hungary) |
| 23 June 1998 | Brazil | 1 – 2 | ||
| 21:00 CET | Bebeto | (0-0) Report (FIFA) | Stadium:Stade Vélodrome Attendance: 55,000 Referee:Esse Baharmast (United States) |
| 27 June 1998 | Italy | 1 – 0 | ||
| 16:30 CET | Vieri | (1-0) Report (FIFA) | Stadium:Stade Vélodrome Attendance: 55,000 Referee:Bernd Heynemann (Germany) |
| Rank | Player | Matches | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henning Berg | 7 | 1994 and 1998 |
| Stig Inge Bjørnebye | 7 | 1994 and 1998 | |
| Kjetil Rekdal | 7 | 1994 and 1998 | |
| 4 | Øyvind Leonhardsen | 6 | 1994 and 1998 |
| Erik Mykland | 6 | 1994 and 1998 | |
| 6 | Jostein Flo | 4 | 1994 and 1998 |
| Mini Jakobsen | 4 | 1994 and 1998 | |
| Dan Eggen | 4 | 1998 | |
| Håvard Flo | 4 | 1998 | |
| Tore André Flo | 4 | 1998 | |
| Frode Grodås | 4 | 1998 | |
| Ronny Johnsen | 4 | 1998 | |
| Vidar Riseth | 4 | 1998 |
| Rank | Player | Goals | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kjetil Rekdal | 2 | 1994 and 1998 |
| 2 | Arne Brustad | 1 | 1938 |
| Dan Eggen | 1 | 1998 | |
| Håvard Flo | 1 | 1998 | |
| Tore André Flo | 1 | 1998 |