After World Cup fairytale, Norway are facing their worst defensive crisis in 43 years

Stale Solbakken led Norway to an inspiring quarter-final run at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, ending a 28-year tournament drought and sparking a massive wave of national football fever.

Norway also got their Nations League campaign off to a promising start against Scandinavian rivals Denmark. Still, since then the smile has disappeared from the Norwegian camp with successive defeats against Portugal and Wales.

"We’ve conceded an average of two goals per game over three matches. Clearly, that won’t cut it in international football. It goes without saying," says former Norwegian international Kjetil Rekdal, who scored the famous winning goal against Brazil at the 1998 World Cup, to vg.no.

Orjan Nyland has had to pick the ball out of his own net six times during the Nations League openers against Wales, Portugal, and Denmark. On Sunday evening, another huge challenge awaits against Portugal in Porto (at 20:45 CET).

Norway haven't kept a clean sheet since the 0-0 draw against Switzerland on a dreadful Ullevaal pitch in March. Along with the Netherlands, Norway, who are ranked 19th in the world, are the only team among the top 30 nations in the FIFA rankings to have conceded goals in 11 consecutive international matches.

However, Virgil van Dijk and his teammates have conceded significantly fewer goals than Kristoffer Ajer’s defensive line. Among the top 30 teams in the FIFA rankings, only Croatia and the USA - both having conceded 22 goals - have let in more goals than Norway's 19 in their last 11 international matches. 

World champions Spain have kept clean sheets in seven of their last 12 matches - and have conceded the fewest goals of all the top nations during that period. By comparison, Norway has conceded 19 goals.

Norway's current grassroots development system has successfully produced elite, technical, attacking talent. However, as former national player Lars Bohinen noted, the country has essentially stopped producing natural, elite defenders.

Because the modern system incentivises youth players to become creative 'ball players', Norway has been left with an alarming lack of high-level, physical, or specialised centre-backs. While Norway's attack features superstars from elite clubs like Manchester City and Arsenal, their backline is largely composed of players from lower-tier European leagues or rotation options.

Their core centre-backs (like Kristoffer Ajer and Torbjorn Heggem) lack the elite line-breaking passing capabilities and raw athletic pace found in top-tier international defences. Coach Stale Solbakken believes that this national team aren't not built to keep clean sheets, but to score goals.

"I’m a bit wary of taking away the bit of freedom that some of the players need. You might be positioned one, two, or three meters 'wrong,' and it becomes a question of what you gain one way versus what you lose the other," Solbakken said last week to vg.no.

Former Manchester United defender Henning Berg isn't certain if it would be beneficial to play with less risk behind. "I’m not sure that will result in Norway winning any more matches. If we don’t manage to get (Antonio) Nusa, (Andreas) Schjelderup, (Oscar) Bobb, and (Martin) Odegaard into good positions, I think it will be difficult. They need to receive the ball at the right time, and often enough,” replies Henning Berg.

It has been 43 years since Norway experienced a worse run without keeping a clean sheet. The national team conceded goals in 18 consecutive matches between 1980 and 1982. And on the back of the disappointing defensive performances, Solbakken has already announced that he will replace goalkeeper Orjan Nyland with Egil Selvik for the fixture against Portugal in Porto.

In Norwegian media, Nyland has been made the scapegoat of Norway's defeats. His critical mistakes completely undid the momentum Norway built after Erling Haaland's equaliser against Portugal and cost Norway their 14-match home unbeaten streak.

Again on Thursday against Wales, Nyland was again at fault for the match-winning goal as he failed to anticipate a free kick from Neco Williams, taking a fatal initial step to his left before the ball flew into the net to his right.

Now, it remains to be seen whether Selvik can keep a clean sheet against a high-flying Portuguese outfit determined to test the Scandinavians' defensive organisation again. Portugal will face Norway at 20.45 on Sunday night.

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.