Association football is the most popular sport in Norway. 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, which means that 8.5% of the population play organized football.

History The first football team in Norway was probably started by a buekorps in Bergen, Nygaards Bataljon, in 1883.Sletten, 1972, p.58. In 1885 the first Norwegian club however, Idrætsforeningen Odd, was founded in Skien. The footballing interest was very low, and was put on ice after a few months. However, the club Odd Grenland started up with football again in 1894, and are now Norway's oldest football club. The Football Association of Norway (the NFF), was founded in 1902, and quickly established a cup competition. After the NFF joined FIFA in 1908, Norway had its first ever international match, away against Sweden in Gothenburg; 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 to Denmark and Austria 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 and Odd. Drafn from Drammen went on to be the first league winners. At the 1936 Summer Olympics, the Norway national men's team won their only medal (bronze). In the relatively successful tournament Norway beat Turkey and hosts Germany 4-0 and 2-0 respectively, losing to Italy in the semi-final, then beating Poland 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.

League system

The current national league system administered by the Norges Fotballforbund is organised as, from 2017 season, 1-1-2-6, where Eliteserien is the highest Norwegian level and OBOS-ligaen the second highest, followed by two third level (PostNord-ligaen) and six fourth level (Norsk Tipping-ligaen).

DivisionPromotionRelegationPromotion/relegation playoffEliteserienN/A15th, 16th14th RelegationOBOS-ligaenWinner, runner-up15th, 16th3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Promotion, 14th RelegationPostNord-ligaenWinners in two groups12th, 13th, 14th in two groups2nd in two groups PromotionNorsk Tipping-ligaenWinners in six groups12th, 13th, 14th in six groups

LevelLeague(s)/Division(s)1Eliteserien16 clubs2OBOS-ligaen16 clubs3PostNord-ligaenGroup 114 clubsPostNord-ligaenGroup 214 clubs4Norsk Tipping-ligaenGroup 114 clubsNorsk Tipping-ligaenGroup 214 clubsNorsk Tipping-ligaenGroup 314 clubsNorsk Tipping-ligaenGroup 414 clubsNorsk Tipping-ligaenGroup 514 clubsNorsk Tipping-ligaenGroup 614 clubs5–94. divisjon through 8. divisjon are regional divisions administered by the various regional football associations.

Cup system

Seasons The national 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, when Norgesserien started with the inaugural 1937–38 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 the World War II.

1900s: 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910s: 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920s: 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930s: 1940s: 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950s: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960s: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970s: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990s: 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s: 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020s: 2020 2021 2022 2023202420252026

European competitions

UEFA Champions League The following teams have qualified for elimination rounds in the UEFA Champions League.

Rosenborg BK (1996-97 - Quarter-finals) Molde FK (1999-00 - Group stage) FK Bodø/Glimt (2025-26 - Round of 16) Rosenborg played in the Champions League on 10 further occasions.

National team Men

Women

Football stadiums in Norway

Stadiums with a capacity of 20,000 or higher are included.

#StadiumCapacityCityClubDivision1Ullevaal Stadion28,000Ullevaal Stadion Ullevaal-Stadion.noOsloNorway national football team 2Lerkendal Stadion21,405Lerkendal Stadion RBK.noTrondheimRosenborgEliteserien

Most successful clubs overall

local and lower league organizations are not included. ClubDomestic TitlesEliteserienNorwegian Football CupMesterfinalenTotalRosenborg2612341Fredrikstad912-21Viking96-15Lillestrøm57-12Odd-12-12Molde56-11Brann37-10Lyn28-10Vålerenga54-9Skeid18-9Bodø/Glimt43-7Strømsgodset25-7Sarpsborg-6-6Ørn Horten-4-4Larvik Turn3--3Stabæk1113Frigg-3-3Mjøndalen-3-3Start2--2Moss11-2Aalesund-2-2Mercantile-2-2Tromsø-2-2Fram Larvik1--1Freidig1--1Bryne-1-1Gjøvik-Lyn-1-1Grane-1-1Hødd-1-1Kvik Halden-1-1Sparta-1-1

The articles in italic indicate the defunct leagues and the defunct cups. The figures in bold indicate the most times this competition has been won by a team.

Attendances

The average attendance per top-flight football league season and the club with the highest average attendance:

Season League average Best club Best club average 2025 7,152 Brann 16,086 2024 6,969 Brann 15,759 2023 7,240 Brann 15,204 2022 5,721 Rosenborg 13,092 2021 — — — 2020 — — — 2019 5,780 Rosenborg 12,704 2018 5,864 Rosenborg 16,424 2017 6,701 Rosenborg 17,605 2016 6,970 Rosenborg 17,585 2015 6,711 Rosenborg 18,039 2014 6,961 Rosenborg 13,915 2013 6,828 Rosenborg 14,806 2012 7,010 Rosenborg 13,394 2011 7,994 Rosenborg 14,510 2010 8,117 Rosenborg 16,911 2009 8,956 Rosenborg 17,652 2008 9,812 Rosenborg 18,957 2007 10,485 Rosenborg 19,903 2006 9,100 Rosenborg 19,481 2005 9,480 Rosenborg 17,529 2004 7,966 Rosenborg 17,383 2003 6,594 Rosenborg 15,825 2002 6,201 Rosenborg 14,626 2001 5,564 Brann 12,621 2000 5,715 Rosenborg 11,944 1999 5,372 Rosenborg 13,359 1998 5,267 Rosenborg 13,164 1997 4,738 Rosenborg 11,338 1996 5,123 Brann 11,526 1995 5,013 Rosenborg 10,280 1994 5,633 Rosenborg 11,061 1993 5,972 Rosenborg 11,750 1992 5,416 Rosenborg 13,569 1991 5,656 Brann 11,556 1990 4,984 Rosenborg 11,115 1989 4,729 Rosenborg 12,065 1988 4,422 Rosenborg 12,070

Source:

See also List of Norwegian football league champions List of football stadiums in Norway

Bibliography

References