World Cup 2026: How Norway built their golden generation

Alongside the development of artificial pitches, Grotland cited a “revolution” in the 2010-2020 period, “where Norwegian football, top clubs, federations and districts began to invest heavily in player development”.

After failing to qualify for Euro 2012, the Norwegian Football Federation established Landslagsskolen, known as NTS, in 2013.

Of the 15 players who played in Norway’s 2-1 win over Brazil, 14 represented the national team at youth level and 11 of them were part of the NTS pathway from Under-15 or Under-16.

Grotland clarified that NTS is not an academy or a centralized school, like France’s famous Clairefontaine, but “a national development structure linked to grassroots clubs, districts, top clubs and federations”.

“It’s not like other countries where top clubs are working on talent development and grassroots clubs are just having fun,” he added.

“In Norway, everyone is together.”

The importance of that grassroots system was recognized by the national team before the World Cup, when the squad posed for a team photo wearing their first club kit.

In England, many promising talents are selected by the Premier League academy at the age of eight, but children in Norway stay with their grassroots club until the age of 12.

“An important part of the philosophy is that we’re not trying to close the door too early,” Grotland said.

He used the 25-year-old Haaland as an example of why this philosophy worked, adding: “He was part of the national talent camp within the framework of the National Team School (NTS) from the age of 14, but at the time no one thought he would become the best player at that age.”

One player that Grotland was sure of from a young age was Odegaard, admitting that the entire NTS philosophy was inspired by an encounter with him at the age of 11.

Having been courted by Europe’s top clubs, the midfield prodigy has signed a 16-year-old deal for Real Madrid for €4m (£3.4m).

“In Norway, a talented player is a player who loves the game the most – a player who takes ownership for his own development and who takes ownership for the development of the team,” added Grotland.

“We don’t measure ball handling and speed and things like that. We start with: ‘Does the player like this game?’

“It was inspired by Odegaard – I never saw anyone like him as a child.”