EXCLUSIVE: Experts deny that Norway have overtaken Denmark before Nations League clash

While Erling Haaland and Norway's performances at the World Cup, as well as the synchronised Viking rowing chant, took the world by storm, the frustration and envy over Norway's new reputation as a growing football power reached new levels in Denmark and Sweden. 

Historically, Denmark have considered themselves the "Brazilians of Scandinavia" with their fluid, attractive style organised by the Laudrup brothers, often looking down on Norway's more direct approach. 

Bragging rights in Scandinavia

However, the reality of 2026 shows that Norway have successfully blended physical dominance with elite technical football to officially claim bragging rights in Scandinavian football. And the Norwegian success, their illustrious qualifying campaign and impressive results at the World Cup, compounded the misery in Denmark of not even qualifying for the prestigious tournament. 

While Bodo/Glimt continued their success from last season, where they reached the Round of 16 in the Champions League, by managing to qualify for the competition yet again along with Viking FK, Denmark were left to settle for four teams reaching the league phase of the much less prestigious Conference League.

At the same time, Norway are for the first time ahead of Denmark in the FIFA World Rankings, sitting two spots higher in 19th. 

This has led coaches and pundits to discuss whether Norway have indeed taken over Denmark as the football nation number one in Scandinavia. Flashscore consulted Viking sports director Erik Nevland on the subject, who rejects the analysis that Norway have surpassed Denmark.

'They used to ridicule us'

"I don't think you can generalise the subject like that", says Nevland to Flashscore. "You need to establish parameters for how you think Norway has taken over Denmark.

"But it's true that if you go six years back, the Danes were making fun of us. They were ridiculing us, calling us "Fjeldaber" (a Danish derogatory slang term used to describe Norwegian people. Translated literally into English, it means "mountain monkeys") and mocking us for our style of football."

"Of course things have turned now and perhaps Denmark are now looking to Norway for inspiration. But I am also confident that things will turn again; we just hope that we can maintain this development for some time."

Around fifteen years ago, Norway initiated a development to bring down the number of foreign players in their domestic leagues and instead build academies and allow Norwegian youngsters to get a chance to shine. Today, over half of the Danish top flight's roster consists of foreign nationals, Sweden's ranks second with nearly 44% non-Swedish players, and Norway's has the lowest representation of foreign players at roughly 32%.

"This has had the desired effect," says Nevland. "In both Sweden and Denmark there are a lot more foreigners in the league than in Norway, and I think that will benefit our national team for a long time in the future." 

PhD holder and sports business expert Kenneth Cortsen from UCN (University College of Northern Denmark) also says that he doesn't agree with the claim that Norway in general have overtaken Denmark and Sweden. 

"You can't isolate the development with football from time and context, and what we are experiencing at the moment is just a current reflection. You can't argue with the fact that Norway has generally taken major strides forward; it's there for everyone to see. But certain issues question the generalisation that Norway is suddenly superior in Scandinavia."

"While Bodo/Glimt have experienced an unprecedented financial boom driven by historic player sales and an incredibly lucrative UEFA Champions League campaign, they still operate with lower structural revenue, a much lower wage bill, and a lower total valuation than FC Midtjylland and FC Copenhagen.

"Norway also operates under the 50+1 rule, which means that Norwegian clubs can't bring in the same investors as in Denmark, and, in the future, that could pose a challenge for them."

Danish football in the midst of a stale period

Cortsen also underlines that generalisations about Norway's superiority shouldn't be made on the basis of an isolated development: "Bodo/Glimt have been the locomotive for Norwegian club football, but we still need to see if other teams (apart from Viking) can follow suit, and we should also take into regard how many of their great results are related to playing on artificial grass".

Last but not least, Cortsen also points out that Danish football is in the midst of a stale period where Denmark are searching for new stars after Christian Eriksen and Kasper Schmeichel, while clubs are struggling to live up to their financial potential.

"Denmark currently don't have an Erling Haaland or Martin Odegaard, and it's hard to see who is going to replace the stars from EURO 2021. In addition to that, Denmark are performing below par in the European club competitions. When you have an investor like Anders Holch Poulsen in FC Midtjylland, then you have higher ambitions than the Conference League.

"FC Midtjylland showed last year that they could compete with teams from the Premier League (Nottingham Forest) and FC Copenhagen have repeatedly played in the Champions League, so while Norway have certainly undergone huge improvements over the last few years, the fight for the Scandinavian football crown still hangs in the balance."

Norway will host Denmark in Oslo on Thursday evening in their first match of the Nations League. 

Svend Bertil Frandsen has been Senior News Editor for Flashscore News in Denmark since September 2022. He previously worked for UEFA and FIFA and is a former tennis pro.  He specialises in news around football, tennis, badminton and handball. You can also follow him on LinkedIn.