Euro 2022: Everything you need to know about Norway

Norway Euro 2022 group stage fixtures

Read more about Northern Ireland, England and Austria by clicking on the team’s name.

How they qualified

Major tournament record

European Championship

Best European Championship performance: Champions- 1987 & 1993.

Most-recent European Championship performance: Group Stages- 2017.

FIFA World Cup

Best World Cup performance: Champions- 1995.

Most-recent World performance: Quarter-finals- 2019.

Olympic Games

Best Olympic performance: Gold Medal- 2000.

Most-recent Olympic performance: Quarter-finals- 2008.

Norway at Euro 2022: Will Norway recapture their crown?

Norway certainly have pedigree when it comes to winning major tournaments, so will they reopen their bulging trophy cabinet this summer?

To date, the Grasshoppers have won the World Cup in 1995, Olympic Gold in 2000 and the European Championships of 1987 and 1993.

However, in more recent times, they’ve only won one knockout game in the last nine years, that being a penalty shootout victory over Australia.

At the Euros, Norway reached the semi-finals in 2001 and 2009 and were runners-up in both 2005 and 2013.

However, last time round in the Netherlands, they lost all three matches and didn’t even score a goal.

Likewise, at World Cups, since finishing fourth 15 years ago, they’ve won just five of 12 matches, getting no further than the quarter-finals.

Three years ago in France, Norway bowed out in the last eight, getting hammered 3-0 by England in Le Havre.

Those two will meet again on matchday two of the group stages, with Martin Sjögren’s side targeting some revenge.

Having said all of that, Norway breezed through European Championship qualifying, winning all six matches, scoring 34 times and conceding once.

Likewise, they’re on the verge of World Cup 2023 qualification, so would remain one of just seven ever-presents at the competition.

However, they’ve struggled to beat the world’s best in recent years, a record that they’ll hope to rectify in England.

First a foremost, Norway need to make sure they get out the group, with their final match against Austria in Brighton set to be key in that regard.

Key players: Maren Mjelde

Captain Maren Mjelde has a whopping 151 international caps to her name, and will be hoping to add to that at the end of a tough season.

She made just four appearance in the FAWSL for club side Chelsea this year due to a long-term ACL injury.

However, she is in the squad with Head Coach Martin Sjögren saying “We will do everything we can to get her ready…… we believe that she will be ready.”

Despite playing at the back, Mjelde has scored 18 international goals as she is deadly from the penalty spot.

With Chelsea, she’s won seven major honours, including three league titles, making 92 appearance since arriving six years ago.

In the FAWSL, she’s completed 85.2% of passes, accumulating 18 tackles and 49 blocks.

If Norway are to enjoy a deep run at these European Championships, they’ll need Mjelde to be 100% fit and back at her best.

Key players: Caroline Graham Hansen

At the other end of the field, Norway boast more firepower than most, starting with Caroline Graham Hansen.

At club level, the 27 year old has already won 22 major honours, including the league title in Norway, Germany and Spain.

She is a key part of the all-conquering Barcelona Femení side who’ve reached back-to-back Champions League Finals, winning the competition in 2021.

For Barça, Graham Hansen has scored 33 goals in 97 appearances, also accumulating a whopping 50 assists

This includes netting in that Champions League Final drubbing of Chelsea 13 months ago.

At national team level, her first international goal came a decade ago, scoring 43 times in total, recently bagging a hat-trick against Armenia in September.

This makes her the top-scorer in Norway’s squad, hoping to fire them to European Championship glory on 31 July.

Key players: Ada Hegerberg

The headline maker in this Norwegian squad, without a shadow of a doubt, is Ada Hegerberg, who is back and raring to go.

Back in 2018, she was the first-ever winner of the Ballon d’Or Féminin, but hasn’t seen too much action since then.

First, Hegerberg sat out World Cup 2019, due to a dispute with the Norwegian Football Federation, not playing international football for almost five years in total.

Her international return came as recently as April, appropriately enough bagging a hat-trick against Kosovo in a World Cup qualifier.

During this period, Hegerberg also missed 20 months of club football due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in in 2019.

This season, she returned to action with Olympique Lyonnais, scoring 17 goals in 27 appearances, including in May’s Champions League Final win.

With Lyon winning Ligue 1 and the Champions League this season, Hegerberg has now collected 19 trophies since joining the club in 2014.

At national team level, she led the line when Norway last reached a major final, losing 1-0 to Germany in the final of Euro 2013.

Back in the red and blue of Norway, Hegerberg is a serious game-changer, elevating this already solid outfit to another level.

Norway possible starting line-up for Euro 2022

Norway’s full squad for Euro 2022

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 Group A table:

Last updated: 1 min ago