Norway

Norway last appeared at a World Cup in 1998, when a team built on grit and organised brilliance knocked Brazil off their stride in the group stage — a 2-1 win that still gets replayed in Oslo bars like a treasured old vinyl record. They reached the Round of 16 that summer, then fell off the edge of the world entirely, spending 28 long years watching the tournament on television while the rest of Europe strutted its stuff. Now they're back, and the wait has only sharpened the hunger.

Løvene — the Lions — carry an identity forged in cold northern nights and the kind of collective spirit that makes Scandinavian football quietly dangerous. They're not here to admire the scenery. Ståle Solbakken has built a side that presses with purpose and creates for its striker with almost religious devotion, and when your striker is Erling Haaland, that devotion makes perfect sense. Around him, Martin Ødegaard pulls the strings with the composure of someone who has spent years at Arsenal learning what actually matters.

The 2026 hope isn't just cautious optimism wrapped in a flag — it feels earned. Antonio Nusa offers the kind of direct, unpredictable width that defenders genuinely dread, and Norway arrive ranked 24th in the world but playing with the conviction of a team that knows this moment may not come again for a generation. They won't be tidying up in the group stage. They're coming to make noise.