Norway concluded its preparations for the World Cup on home soil on Monday with a resounding 3-1 victory over neighboring Sweden, as the country rides the crest of a sporting wave not normally seen outside the Winter Olympics.
With striker Erling Haaland watching from the stands, Jorgen Strand Larsen scored either side of winger Antonio Nusa’s cracker to race into a 3-0 first-half lead, and a second-half goal for the Swedes from Alexander Isak did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the Norwegian fans as they look forward to their first Men’s World Cup in 28 years.
“I feel like we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing for a long time, just keep enjoying it and it will be fun soon,” said a beaming Nusa after the final whistle.
On Sunday, sports-mad Norwegians watched as their ice hockey team stunned Canada to secure the bronze medal at the Ice Hockey World Championships in Zurich for the country’s best-ever finish in the tournament, and were honored at halftime on a gray Oslo evening still sparkling with sporting joy.
Before the match, the Norwegian players were shown a video message from cross-country skiing legend Petter Northug, whose entire glittering career was one long rivalry with the Swedes, with the Norwegian more often than not emerging victorious.
“Make me proud. Make them humble. Encourage them. It’s okay to be a little on the edge,” Northug said in the video, and the players took him at his word.
“When the king speaks, he who has defeated Sweden so many times, all you have to do is follow,” said defender Leo Ostigard.
The Norwegians have brushed aside the stumbling Swedes and will take on Morocco in a friendly match in New Jersey on Sunday before starting their World Cup campaign in Group I, taking on Iraq, Senegal and France.
For Graham Potter’s Sweden, who will face Tunisia, Japan and the Netherlands in Group F, the match was a forgettable one as the lines were repeatedly blurred, but still received some consolation from an unlikely source.
«Nobody will remember this match if Sweden goes further than Norway in the World Cup. This was a friendly match,» skier Northug told the Swedish newspaper. Sportbladetbecause for once he refused to turn the knife on his Swedish rivals.
Published on June 2, 2026
