Odegaard named Norway captain as King announces World Cup squad
The symbolic moment of Norwegian football's 28-year wait took place in the gilt-framed ballroom of Oslo's Royal Palace. Federation president Lise Klaveness read out the 26-man World Cup squad in front of King Harald V, with the cameras tracking Martin Odegaard's face line by line. The Arsenal captain was formally given the Norway armband.
Norway last played at a World Cup in France 1998, where Egil Olsen's team beat Brazil 2-1 and reached the round of 16. Seven tournaments and seven failed qualifying campaigns followed, spanning a full generational change in Norwegian football. "What we lived through pushed us to develop these boys," Klaveness said, pausing.
The squad's spine is settled. Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has scored 31 goals for Norway before the age of 25, at one international goal every 78 minutes on the pitch. Under head coach Knut Tørum, who took over from Stale Solbakken in September 2026, Norway have run a 4-3-3 that widens Haaland's running channels. In qualification they scored 23 goals in 12 matches and pushed deliveries into the striker up to 14 per game.
Odegaard's captaincy is the first major institutional move since Arsenal's Premier League title win last month. Across the past 18 months he had been deployed in nine different positions for Norway; over the last eight he has been fixed as the attacking midfielder. "Martin is the conductor on the pitch," Tørum told reporters. "Erling is the soloist. The coordination between them is the story of this World Cup for us."
Twenty-two players in the squad will make their World Cup debuts. The most-watched of them is Bayer Leverkusen winger Antonio Nusa, who at 19 made his case last season with 11 goals and nine assists in the Bundesliga while still at Eindhoven. Tørum plans to use him as an impact substitute to lift the pace of attacks in the final 30 minutes. Brentford forward Yoane Wissa will not feature, as his Norwegian citizenship process is still incomplete.
The goalkeeper position carried over a debate that had hung over the previous generation. Nottingham Forest's Ørjan Nyland is 36; Strømsgodset-trained Sander Berge is 29 — but Tørum chose experience. Berge conceded just three goals across seven qualifiers; Nyland is now penciled in to start three games at the tournament. The decision crystallised after a closed-doors staff meeting in Berlin following an away leg with a contentious penalty miss.
Norway have drawn Italy, Algeria and the Czech Republic in their group. The opening match is against Italy in Montreal, followed by Algeria in Toronto and the Czech Republic in Chicago. Tørum is considering a 4-3-3 with Odegaard at the No 10 against Italy, rather than his usual 4-2-3-1. Schalke 04 centre-back Leo Skiri Østigård takes the vice-captaincy.
Klaveness also touched on the political economy of the moment. Norwegian football has built a youth-development programme over the past five years on an annual budget of around 880 million krone, with twelve regional academies established. The federation said 35 per cent of its qualifying success came from academy graduates. A joint scouting agreement with the Norwegian Olympic Committee splits the cost of nine European-based scouts.
King Harald V handed Odegaard the national crest at the end of Klaveness's speech and turned to the players. "This has been a long wait," he said. "We will do it together." Journalists in the room caught the shared expression on the players: a visible weight of responsibility. Haaland, in an off-camera comment afterwards, said: "I watched Norway-Brazil 1998 as a kid. Now I am there. This is not just my story."
Norway face Italy in Montreal on June 17. From May 19 the federation has scheduled a 16-day tactical camp at Hinkholmen. As the squad announcement video went out on social media, around 4,500 fans gathered outside Oslo's opera house. For Norwegian football, a 28-year wait is now under six weeks.