‘It’s very relaxed and we’re good friends – and that’s how it should be. Whatever happens during the game stays out on the pitch’ Martin Odegaard on his relationship with international team-mate and club rival Erling Haaland

Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard in conversation during Norway's UEFA Nations League game against Serbia in June 2022.

When Norway sealed their spot at this summer’s World Cup, it marked the end of a 28-year exile from the planet’s biggest tournament.

The 1998 Norwegian squad, managed by Egil Olsen, featured the likes of Premier League stars Ronny Johnsen, Henning Berg, Tore Andre Flo and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The team that will head over to North America this summer is also built around players currently plying their trade in England, headlined by Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard and Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.

Odegaard on his relationship with Haaland

Haaland's Manchester City are chasing down Odegaard's Arsenal in the Premier League (Image credit: Getty Images)

Odegaard and Haaland will be key to coach Stale Solbakken’s plans this summer, but before the Norwegian skipper and chief goal getter can turn their attention to the World Cup, they have the no-so-insignificant matter of a Premier League title race to settle.

Odegaard’s Arsenal have set the early pace this season, but the Gunners will be only too aware of City’s penchant for late-season runs ahead of the season’s climax on Sunday, May 24.

But while the pair will spend the next three months as rivals, Odegaard insists this will not impact the pair’s friendship off the pitch.

“We’re really relaxed about it,” Odegaard tells FourFourTwo. “He knows, I know, everyone knows that we’re competing against each other.

“That’s just the way it is. But when it comes to the national team, or even outside of football, we don’t really talk about it at all.

“We’re just normal friends. We talk about other things, or about the national team when we’re together. We don’t really speak about football that much.

Odegaard is captain for club and country (Image credit: Alamy)

“It’s very relaxed and we’re good friends – and that’s how it should be. Whatever happens during the game stays out on the pitch. That’s one of the nice things about football.

“You give everything, you leave everything out there, then you move on. We focus on ourselves, on the things that we can control.”

Norway kick off their Group I campaign with a match against a to-be-determined play-off winner on June 16, before matches against AFCON champions Senegal and 2022 World Cup runners-up France.