World Cup 2026: How Norway built their golden generation
Alongside the development of artificial pitches, Grottland noted that there was a “revolution” in Norwegian football during the 2010-2020 period in which “top clubs, federations and regions began to invest heavily in player development”.
The Norwegian Football Association established Landslagsskolen, known as NTS, in 2013 after failing to qualify for Euro 2012.
Of the 15 players who played in Norway’s 2-1 win against Brazil, 14 had represented the national team at youth level, with 11 of these being part of the under-15 or under-16 NTS pathway.
Grottland explained that NTS is not an academy or a central school like the famous Clairefontaine in France, but “a national development structure linking grassroots clubs, regions, senior clubs and the federation”.
“This is not a situation like in other countries where top clubs are working on talent development and grassroots clubs are just having fun,” he added.
“Everyone in Norway is in on this.”
The importance of this grassroots system was recognized by the national team ahead of the World Cup, when the team posed for a team photo wearing their first club’s jerseys.
In England many promising talents are selected by Premier League academies at the age of eight, but in Norway children stay at community clubs until they are 12.
“An important part of our philosophy is that we don’t try to close the doors too early,” Grottland said.
He used the 25-year-old Haaland as an example of why this philosophy works, adding: “He has been part of national talent camps in the National Team School (NTS) structure since the age of 14, but at that time no one thought he would be the best player in this age group.”
The only player Grottland was confident about from a young age was Odegaard, admitting that NTS’s entire philosophy was inspired by facing him at the age of 11.
The midfield genius, envied by Europe’s leading clubs, signed the 16-year-old for Real Madrid for 4 million euros (£3.4 million).
“In Norway, a talented player is a player who loves the game the most, a player who owns his own development and owns the development of the team,” Grottland added.
“We don’t measure ball handling, speed and things like that. We start with the question: ‘Does the player like this game?’
“This was inspired by Odegaard; I never saw anyone like him in my childhood.”
