The perennial underachievement of the Norway women’s national team is one of football’s great mysteries. How can a side packed with some of the world’s finest players continually make early exits at tournaments, fail to look cohesive and even endure a chastening 8-0 defeat against England at Euro 2022? How can great talents such as Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen, Chelsea’s Guro Reiten and the Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg not thrive together in their national-team kit?
Stop there. Hold that thought. Something is stirring. Norway topped Group A at Euro 2025 with three wins from three and face Italy on Wednesday in the quarter-finals. Is this the summer when Norway will deliver on their potential, offered not just by Graham Hansen, Reiten and Hegerberg but Arsenal’s Frida Maanum and players from Manchester United, Atlético Madrid and Lyon? And with an English head coach in the former Wales manager Gemma Grainger.
