Norway Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Norway
Wondering what sports the Norwegians like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in Norway in this post. ⚽️
The Most Popular Norwegian Sports
Find below Norway national sports, ranked by popularity:
| Rank | Sport |
|---|---|
| 1 | Football |
| 2 | Cross-country skiing |
| 3 | Biathlon |
| 4 | Ice hockey |
| 5 | Handball |
| 6 | Alpine skiing |
| 7 | Athletics |
So there you have them, the most popular sports in Norway! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Norway.
What is the National Sport of Norway?
The national sport of Norway is cross-country skiing. While not official, cross-country skiing is de facto the national sport of Norway. It is also one of the most popular sports in the country, and everyone loves cross-country skiing. On top of that, Norway is very good at this sport, which is part of the local culture.
Learn More About Norway Popular Sports
Norway is the westernmost and northernmost part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe, and it also has several dependencies including the Svalbard archipelago. It is bordered by Sweden, Finland, and Russia, and its capital city is Oslo, which counts more than 697,000 inhabitants (but more than 1,588,000 if you include the metropolitan area).
An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all Norway popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Football
The most popular sport in Norway is, by far and away, football. While football only comes third by television viewership (after biathlon and cross-country skiing), the sport is the most popular one in terms of active membership, with 8.5 percent of the population playing it!
Football in Norway dates back to 1883, and there are 4 football divisions in the country: Eliteserien, OBOS-ligaen, PostNord-ligaen (2 leagues), and Norsk Tipping-ligaen (6 leagues).
Recently, you must have heard of Erling Haaland, an extremely successful football player, but other famous names like Ole Gunnar Solskjær might ring a bell. Even though the national team is not that successful, the sport is still the most loved one.
Number of Football licensed players in Norway: 393,801
Famous Norwegian Football players: Erling Haaland, John Arne Riise, Tore André Flo, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Joshua King, Henning Berg, Ronny Johnsen, John Carew, Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Steffen Iversen, Rune Jarstein, Håvard Nordtveit, Morten Gamst Pedersen
Cross-country skiing
The second most popular sport in Norway is cross-country skiing. While cross-country skiing is not the most popular sport in Norway, it is still the national sport, and everyone in the country cheers for the national team during the World Cup.
There is also an annual race called the 5-mila race. It takes place in the capital city of Oslo, and numerous stars from all around the globe participate in the race. As for Norwegians, many of them take part as well, but the rest of them will definitely be watching on TV.
Famous Norwegian Cross-country skiing players: Bjørn Dæhlie, Marit Bjørgen, Petter Northug, Therese Johaug, Vibeke Skofterud, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Maiken Caspersen Falla, Kristin Størmer Steira
Biathlon
The third most popular sport in Norway is biathlon. The Norwegian Biathlon Association was founded in 1983, and it is part of the Norwegian Olympic Committee.
The reason for the sport to be so popular is definitely because of the international success of the country. The women’s team is more successful than the men’s team, and Norwegians are some of the best athletes in the world, in the discipline.
Therefore, this sport is more followed than practiced, but it definitely has a special place in Norway.
Famous Norwegian Biathlon players: Alexander Os, Ann Kristin Flatland, Anne Ingstadbjoerg, Emil Hegle Svendsen, Gro Marit Istad Kristiansen, Halvard Hanevold, Hans Martin Gjedrem
Ice hockey
The fourth most popular sport in Norway is ice hockey. Let’s be honest here, are you really surprised that so many ice and winter sports are that popular in Norway? Well, there is even more, as ice hockey is yet another very appreciated sport in the country.
While it is not the biggest one of them, it sure has a decent following. There are national leagues, the best of them being Fjordkraftligaen, and 8 Norwegians have played in the NHL. The most famous of them is surely Mats Zuccarello.
Number of Ice hockey licensed players in Norway: 10,270
Famous Norwegian Ice hockey players: Mats Zuccarello, Patrick Thoresen, Espen Knutsen, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Jonas Holøs, Anders Myrvold, Bjørn Skaare, Andreas Martinsen
Handball
The fifth most popular sport in Norway is handball. The Norwegian Handball Federation oversees anything related to the sport, and it was founded in 1937.
Handball in Norway is mostly famous due to the national women’s team, which is again more successful than the men’s. In fact, the team is considered the best women’s national handball team ever. It has been to 22 finals, and won the World Championship 3 times, the European Championship 8 times, and the gold medal at the Summer Olympics twice.
Famous Norwegian Handball players: Nora Mørk, Stine Bredal Oftedal, Katrine Lunde, Heidi Løke, Marit Malm Frafjord, Gro Hammerseng, Emilie Hegh Arntzen, Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth Koren
Alpine skiing
The sixth most popular sport in Norway is alpine skiing. Again, the national alpine skiing team is very, very successful. It looks like people are exceptional at any winter sports in Norway. In alpine skiing, Norway has appeared 23 times at the Olympic Games, winning 11 gold medals, 13 silver medals, and 12 bronze medals, and 45 times at the World Championship, winning 23 gold medals, 20 silver medals, and 16 bronze medals.
A famous Norwegian alpine skier is Lasse Kjus, who won the World Cup twice, in 1996 and 1999.
Famous Norwegian Alpine skiing players: Birger Ruud, Bjørn Dæhlie, Finn Christian Jagge, Marit Bjørgen, Sigmund Ruud, Torbjørn Falkanger, Alf Andersen, Anders Haugen, Kjetil André Aamodt
Athletics
The seventh most popular sport in Norway is athletics, another non-winter sport on this list. The Norwegian Athletics Association is very ancient, as it dates back to 1896. It governs most athletics, including track and field, cross country running, racewalking, and road running. It also used to organize orienteering but the formation of “Norges Orienteringsforbund” in 1945 changed that.
When it comes to athletics, Norwegians have won 9 gold medals, 6 silver medals, and 8 bronze medals at the Olympic Games.
Famous Norwegian Athletics players: Henrik Ingebrigtsen, Filip Ingebrigtsen, Andreas Thorkildsen, Eivind Henriksen, Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal, Jaysuma Saidy Ndure
So there you have them, these were all the most popular sports in Norway. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today.
In case you want to learn more about sports in other countries, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Norway sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?
Then check out these posts:
Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.
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