Norway women's national football team
| Nickname(s) | Gresshoppene (The Grasshoppers) |
|---|---|
| Association |
Football Association of Norway (Norges Fotballforbund) |
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) |
| Head coach | Martin Sjögren |
| Captain | Maren Mjelde |
| Most caps | Hege Riise (188) |
| Top scorer | Marianne Pettersen (66) |
| FIFA code | NOR |
| FIFA ranking | |
| Current | 11  (23 December 2016)
|
| Highest | 2 (July 2003) |
| Lowest | 13 (March 2012) |
| First international | |
 Sweden 2–1 Norway  (Kolding, Denmark; 7 July 1978) |
|
| Biggest win | |
Norway 17–0 Slovakia  (Ulefoss, Norway; 19 September 1995) |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
|
Sweden 5–0 Norway (Norrköping, Sweden; 22 August 1985)  China PR 5–0 Norway (Foxboro, United States; 4 July 1999) |
|
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 7 (first in 1991) |
| Best result | Champions (1995) |
| UEFA Women's Championship | |
| Appearances | 12 (first in 1984) |
| Best result | Champions (1987, 1993) |
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Medal record
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The Norway women's national football team represents Norway in international women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Norway, are former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one of the most successful national teams. The team has had less success since the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
Norway women's national football team emerged in 1978 for the Nordic Championship tournament, which was relatively early for Western Europe, but late for the Nordic countries, beating only Iceland. Having little culture for official clubs and a series system, Norway had a lot to do to catch up to especially Sweden and Denmark. Their early history therefore consisted of losing to their neighbours and eventually beating Northern Ireland for their first ever win.
Eventually, Norway marked themselves as one of the better countries in Europe, if inferior to their Nordic neighbours. They beat England, France and Switzerland. In the first qualification for the European Competition for Representative Women's Teams (later renamed UEFA Women's Championship), Norway played opposite Sweden, Finland and Iceland. Norway lost both matches against Sweden, but beat Finland over both matches. A surprising home draw against Iceland mattered little, Norway took the second spot in a qualification where only the best teams qualified. Sweden later won the Euros.
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