Norway Greatest All-Time Team

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

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Norway World Cup 1998

Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Sweden
Denmark

Iceland
Finland
Finland/Iceland

Norway's performances in international football have usually been weaker than those of their Scandinavian neighbours Sweden and Denmark, but they did have a golden age in the late 1930s. An Olympic team achieved third place in the 1936 Olympics, after beating the hosts Germany earlier in the tournament. Norway also qualified for the 1938 FIFA World Cup, where they lost 2–1 after extra time against eventual champions Italy. This turned out to be Norway's last World Cup finals appearance in 56 years.

Norway has always made headlines by making upset wins. They beat England in 1981, which led to the famous rant by commentator Bjørge Lillelien. They qualified for the World Cup Finals in 1994 and 1998.  In 1998, they beat Brazil 2-1 in the final group game and advanced to the second round.  

If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament.

Olympic 1936 Bronze medalist

Team
GK: Erik Thorstvedt 
Erik Thorstvedt has played for Viking, Eik-Tønsberg, Borussia Mönchengladbach,  IFK Göteborg and Tottenham Hotspur.  He was one of the top goalkeepers in the Premiership during the 1990's.   He spent 6 seasons with Tottenham Hotspurs, where he was the first Norwegian to win the FA Cup. He was capped 97 times and went to the World Cup in 1994.

GK: Rune Jarstein

In Norway, Jarstein played Odd Grenland, Rosenberg and Vikings.  In 2014, he joined Hertha Berlin, where he established himself as a top goalkeeper in the Bundesliga.  The German newspaper Bild selected him as the best goalkeeper of the year in the Bundesliga for the 2016/2017 season. Since 2007, he played over 70 times for Norway.  He won the Gullballen award in 2018.

GK: Henry Johnsen
Henry Johansen made his debut for the national team in 1926 and played his last match in 1938. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, where Norway won a surprising bronze medal. He was also the Norwegian goalkeeper at the 1938 FIFA World Cup.  At club level, he played for Vålerenga from 1923–46.  He was called one of the best in Europe at his time.

CM/ST/RB:  Jorgen Juve 
Jorgen Juve is considered Norway's greatest footballer.  He scored 33 goals in 45 games for Norway between 1928 and 1934.  With 33 goals, he is still the all-time top scorer for Norway. He was captain of the Norwegian team which won the Olympic bronze medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.  He played as a striker, center-half and a rightback.  For his club career, he played for Lyn at home and Basel in Switzerland.  In Basel, he played 12 games scoring 10 goals.

Jorgen Juve 

CB/RB:  Henning Berg 
Henning Berg earned 100 caps, playing in 1994 and 1998 World Cup Finals.  He also went to Euro 2000.  He was one of three playwers who went to all three tournaments for Norway. He spent 12 seasons in England, playing for Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers, winning the Premiership three times for both clubs.  He was a part of Manchester United that won the Champions' League in 1999, but missed the Final through an injury.

CB: Ronny Johnsen 
In 1996, Ronny Johnsen became the most expensive Norwegian defender when he signed for Manchester United.  He also played for Sem, Stokke, Eik-Tønsberg, Lyn, Lillestrøm, Beşiktaş, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Vålerenga. With the Red Devils, he played for 6 seasons and he won the 1999 Champions' League with them. He was capped 62 times for Norway. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1998.

SW: Rune Bratseth
Rune Bratseth is one of the best defenders in Norway's football history.  He went to the World Cup in 1994.  Bratseth started his career at local club Rosenborg BK. He was best remembered for his career with Werder Bremen.  He was voted into Kickers' Team of the Season three times and also won the Kniksen award three times. Bratseth was named Norway's Golden Player – the best Norwegian footballer of the past 50 years by the Norwegian Football Association, in November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee.

Rune Bratseth

CB: Thorbjørn Svenssen
Svenssen played a then record 104 international games for Norway, and captained the side 93 times between 1947 and 1966. He was one of the first footballers who played 100 international games for their country.  At the time, Svenssen was only the second player in the history of football to reach 100 international appearances. At club level, Svenssen played 22 seasons for Sandefjord, but never won any major trophies.

CB: Brede Hangeland 
Hangeland began his career with Viking. In 2006, he moved to Copenghagen. From 2008 to 2014 he played for Fulham, helping the team to the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final, but was released in 2014 after the club's relegation, subsequently joining Crystal Palace. Hangeland was capped 91 times, 48 of them as captain, and scored four goals for the Norway national team.  He was born in the United States when his parents worked in Houston.

LB: Stig Inge Bjørnebye 

Stig Inge Bjørnebye was capped 76 times between 1989 to 2000.  He represented the Norwegian national team in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup and the Euro 2000 and was capped 75 times, scoring once. For his club career, he played in England from 1992 to 2003, with both Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers.  He also played for clubs in Denmark and Norway. 

LB: John Arne Riise 
John Arne Riise was one of the top fullback in the Premiership during his years with Liverpool.  He spent 7 seasons with Liverpool, winning the Champions' League in 2005.  He also had stints with Roma in Italy and Monaco in France.  For Norway, he was their all-time cap leader.  He only went one major tournament, namely Euro 2000, but he made no appearance. He won Kniksen Award in 2006 for the best Norwegian player of the year.

John Arne Riise 

DM/CB: Asbjørn Halvorsen

Asbjørn Halvorsen represented Norway at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, where the Norwegian team reached the quarter finals. The team beat England (amateur side). Between 1922 and 1934, Halvorsen played in Germany for Hamburger SV. The club won 5 Northern German Champions in a row with him as a star player.  He also managed Norway at the 1938 World Cup Finals.

CM/DM: Kjetil Rekdal

Rekdal began his playing career in Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Belgian Pro League. Playing as a midfielder during his time as a player, his 83 caps with the Norway national team makes him the seventh most capped player in the team's history.  He scored for Norway at both 1994 and 1998 World Cup Finals, including the winning goal against Brazil in 1998.

CM: Erik Mykland 
Erik Mykland played professionally in six different countries, mainly representing IK Start, and earned 78 caps for the Norwegian national team, having appeared in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups as well as Euro 2000. . He was nicknamed Myggen (mosquito) during his career, as he used to flap his arms and hands like one when celebrating his goals. He was also known for his Bohemian lifestyle

AM: Hallvar Thoresen
Thoresen started his career in Larvik Turn, but at the age of seventeen, he joined FC Twente. Thoresen was bought by PSV Eindhoven, where he formed a dynamic tandem with Jurrie Koolhof in the 1980s. He was a key player for seven years, serving as captain from 1983–1986. PSV won the European Cup in his last year, but an injury kept him off the field. He played 50 matches for the Norway national football team, and scored 9 goals, one of which secured the historic victory over England in 1981.

Hallvar Thoresen

RW: Roald Jensen
Jensen made his Brann senior-team debut in 1960, while still only 17. He made his debut on the national team the same year. After Brann's relegation in 1964, Jensen transferred to professional football in Scotland as Heart of Midlothian's first non-British player. While he was in Scotland, Jensen was unable to play for Norway, as the national team did not allow professional players at that time.  He was capped 31 times.

LW: Arne Brustad 
Arne Brustad is regarded as one of Norway's greatest players. He made his international debut in 1935 and was one of the star players of the Berlin Olympics, where he scored five goals in four matches, including all three goals in Norway's 3-2 win against Poland in the third-place match.  Norway won the Bronze medal. He was probably the biggest star at the Olympics. He also went to the 1938 World Cup Finals nearly beating Italy in their only game of the Finals.

Arne Brustad 

FW: Tom Lund 

Tom Lund is regarded as one of Norway's greatest players. He spent his entire career with Lillestrom.  Ajax tried to sign him as a replacement for Johan Cruyff in 1973, but he stayed at home.  He was capped 47 times between 1972 and 1982. Lund has aviophobia, fear of flying, and traveled by car to away games in Norway and Europe. It has been speculated that this is one of the reasons why he turned down offers from abroad.

FW/RW: Per Bredesen
Bredesen began his career at his hometown team Ørn-Horten in 1947 – only 16 years old. In 1952, Bredesen became a professional when he was signed by Italian side Lazio. Bredesen played three years at Lazio, and later played for Udinese, AC Milan, Bari and Messina. In 1957, as a member of Milan, he became the first – and to this date, the only – Norwegian to win the Scudetto. He was only capped 18 times because Norwegian FA did not select professional players.

ST: Erling Haaland

Haaland started his career at his hometown club Bryne in 2016, and moved to Molde the following year. He then joined Red Bull Salzburg in 2019. At Salzburg, he won two Austrian Bundesliga titles and one Austrian Cup.  In 2019, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he is considered one of the best players in the world.  He joined Manchester City in 2022.  Since 2019, he has played for the senior national team.  His father also played for Norway.

Erling Haaland

ST: Einar Gundersen
Einar Gundersen is regarded as one of Norwegian football's first star players. He played 33 internationals for Norway, and his 26 international goals puts him second on the national team's all-time scoring list. He was also a member of the Norwegian team that played in the 1920 Olympics, and scored twice in the 3-1 win against England's amateur side. It was a monumental win for Norway at the time.

ST:  Ole Gunnar Solskjær 

Solskjaer started with Clausenengen FK and Molde in Norway.  Between 1996 and 2007, he played for Manchester United.  Most of his career there was playing as their "super sub".  In 1999, he helped the club to win the treble.  He scored the winning goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions' League Final.  For Norway, he played 67 times between 1995 and 2007.  He played in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

ST: Tore Andre Flo 
He came from the Flo football family in Norway. During his professional career, he played for Sogndal, Tromsø and Brann in Tippeligaen, before he moved abroad and played for Chelsea. After a successful spell with the English club, he was sold to Rangers for £12 million and became the most expensive Norwegian player. Flo later had spells at Sunderland, Siena, Vålerenga and Leeds United before he announced his retirement in March 2008. He went to the WC in 1998 and Euro 2000.  

Tore Andre Flo

Honorable Mention

Frode Grodas, Thomas Myhre, Ørjan Nyland, Sverre Andersen, Nils Eriksen, Einar Jan Aas, Anders Gisk, Øyvind Leonhardsen, Asbjorn Halvorsen, Kristian Henriksen, André Bergdølmo, Gunnar Halle, Roar Johnsen, Havard Flo, Steffen Iversen, John Carew, Odd Iversen,  Harald Hennum, Harald Berg, Gunnar Andersen, Per Skou and Asbjørn Halvorsen, Magnar Isaksen, Martin Ødegaard, Erik Hofturn,  Jorn Andersen, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Gunnar Andersen, Per Skou, Harald Hennum, Reidar Kvammen.

Squad Explanation

-- In 2017, I created this team.  I went through a comprehensive review of the team in August, 2022.  I did not like my 2017 version. I redid the entire team.

-- Before I started my research, I thought this team would consist of mainly players from the Golden Generation from the 1990's. Instead, I discovered many greats from the early generation. I actually never heard of the older players before researching on the team.

-- During my research, I kept hearing different players being named as the greatest ever footballers from Norway.  Jorgen Juve, Hallvar Thoresen or Gunnar Solskjær all were mentioned.   Erling Haaland at this point probably can lay claim for the title.  Rune Bratseth was named as Norway Jubilee Player for the 50th anniversary of UEFA. So I do not know who is the greatest of them all.  
-- In 1936, Norway won the Bronze medal at the Olympics.  They knocked out the host Germany in front of Adolf Hitler. The core of the team nearly beat Italy in the World Cup Finals two years later. Arne Brustad and Jorgen Juve made this all-time team. Brustad scored five goals in four matches in Berlin, including a hat trick in the Bronze medal match against Poland. Two years later, Norway went to the World Cup Finals.  They pushed defending World Cup holder Italy to the limit.  The game remained 1-1 until the very end. It took Italy a 94th minute goal to beat them.  Brustad also had a winning goal disallowed before that.  Not many people remembered that match because it was a round of 16 match where it was Norway's only game in the Finals.

-- Norway enjoyed their second Golden period in the 1990's.  It qualified for two World Cup Finals (1994 and 1998), and then, an European Championship in 2000.   In 1994, Norway was eliminated in the first round after a four-way tie on points in the group stage.  They earned 4 points, which was usually the "magic number" to qualify for the second round as one of the third place team in the old 24 team format. Four years later, they beat Brazil in the group stage and qualified for the second round. In 1997, Norway also beat Brazil at home.  They were Brazil's jinx team around that time.  Erik Mykland, Stig Inge Bjørnebye and Henning Berg played in all three tournaments.  Rune Bratseth, Kjetil Rekdal, Tore Andre Flo, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ronny Johnsen belonged to this generation.

-- At the time of writing (2022), Norway is entering their third Golden Generation.  Erling Haaland reached a level of stardom no other Norwegian footballers has ever seen. Martin Ødegaard might one day replace Erik Mykland on the team.  He has almost outdone Mykland at the club level, but Norway has not achieved anything with him.  I gave credit for Mykland as the best Norwegian player at Euro 2000. Kristoffer Ajer and Jens Petter Hauge are also players to watch.

-- I came across a book called "A-Laget" by Svein Sæter and Johan Øiestad.  It talked about the top 25 footballers in Norway's history.  I would like to see the list one day.

Goalkeepers

-- In 2017, Erik Thorstvedt and Frode Grodas were the obviously choices for the top two goalkeeper position.  With 97 caps and 8 seasons with Tottenham Hotspurs, no other Norwegian goalkeepers could match Thorstvedt's career.  

Erik Thorstvedt 

-- Since 2017, Rune Jarstein has found himself with Hertha Berlin.  He had been their starters for 5 years.  The German newspaper Bild selected him as the best goalkeeper of the year in the Bundesliga for the 2016/2017 season.  He also won the Gullballen.  Several newspapers already talked about him as if he was the greatest ever after Thorstvedt.  So in 2022, I replaced Frode Grodås with him.  Grodås on the other hand did not play much club football outside Norway.  He won the English FA Cup in 1997 with Chelsea as their starter in the Final, but his career over there was limited to 27 games in a single season. He followed Thorstvedt to Tottenham, but he did not settle there.  He played behind another Norwegian goalkeeper Espen Baardsen in White Hart Lane in the 1997-1998 season, but that summer, Grodås was the starting goalkeeper for Norway at the World Cup Finals while Baardsen was his backup.

-- I also looked into Thomas Myhre and Ørjan Nyland.  Sverre Andersen was a legend with Vikings in the 1960's.  An article I found on the internet suggested that he was greatest ever for the club.

-- The third keeper spot went to Henry Johnsen who helped Norway to win an Olympic medal in 1936.  Several Norwegian newspaper described him one of Europe's best in his time.  I was not sure about that.  Nonetheless, he achieved a medal in international football for Norway.  No other goalkeeper could claim that.

Defenders

-- The defense consisted mainly of players from the 1990's generation. 

-- In my opinion, John Arne Riise is Norway's greatest defender.  However, many experts viewed Rune Bratseth as the greatest defenders in Norway's football history. Bratseth did not have the same exposure as Henning Berg, Ronny Johnsen and John Arne Riise who played for bigger clubs in Europe. Bratseth was a long time player for Werder Bremen.  He was nominated for Ballon d'Or two years in a row (1992 and 1993).  He was also Norway's choice for the UEFA's Jubilee player.

-- Einar Jan Aas was also rated very highly. After Norway best West Germany (amateur side) in the Olympic qualifiers, he joined Bayern Munich in 1980, but he did not play much there.  He then joined Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest, but a broken leg early in his first season would eventually end his career in England.   Anders Giske who played with him on the national team had a better career in Germany.  He was selected into 1986–87 kicker Bundesliga Team of the Season, but I did not see his name mentioned anywhere for Norway's all-time greatest ever footballers.  He was also a leftback and a midfielder.  I put both of them on Honorable Mentions.  Instead,  I selected Ronny Johnsen and Brede Hangeland.  Their names were always mentioned on various sources.

-- Ronny Johnsen might not always on Manchester United's starting lineup during his 6 seasons there, but he played in some of Manchester United's most important games.  Most Norwegian source rated him very high.  Brede Hangeland played nearly 300 games in the Premiership.  He was solid with Fulham.

-- The fourth and last central defender went to Thorbjørn Svenssen who became the second player in history to earn 100 caps after Billy Wright.  He was captain in 93 of those games.

Thorbjørn Svenssen

-- Kristoffer Ajer was great in Celtic, but at time of writing, he is only 24 years old, and still has a long way to go.  

-- One Norwegian source called CB Erik Hoftun one of the best centrebacks Norway has produced in the last couple of decades, but he never played outside Norway.  His club team Rosenborg however was featured regularly in the Champions' League during his time there. He was only a backup at the 1998 World Cup Finals, and just played 30 times for Norway.

-- Henning Berg  played all games in both 1994 and 1998 World Cup games and once in Euro 2000. He was also one of the few Premier league players to have won the league with two different clubs. For the second rightback, I took André Bergdølmo in 2017, but I looked into Gunnar Halle and Roar Johansen during the review in 2022.  Johansen played 54 matches in row for Norway which remains a record. I could not decide. Ultimately, I probably surprised everyone by putting Jørgen Juve over here. He was considered by many to be Norway's greatest footballer.  He is their all-time leading scorer.  In his national team career, he played in many positions.  He debuted as rightback, and moved to the center forward.  His crowning moment however was playing in the 1936 Olympics as centre-half (centreback or midfielder).  I placed him in the back so that I could use another spot for a forward.  It was the same reason I put John Charles as a defender for my Wales All-Time team.

-- Norway only participated in two World Cup Finals and one European Championship. Stig Inge Bjørnebye was the only player to play all the minutes for Norway in both 1994 and 1998 World Cups, and he played in two of the three matches in Euro 2000.  As mentioned I rated Riise very high, the leftback position was set effortlessly.

-- Kristian Henriksen was a wing-half (fullback)from 1920's. Another Nowegian source said that he also played centreback.  He did not play in the 1936 Olympics, but played in the World Cup in 1938.  I did not know much about him.

Midfielder

-- Norway was short of defensive or central midfielders.  I almost had to take Kjetil Rekdal. I did not question his inclusion, but the lack of other suitable candidates helped him. He was a two way central midfielder.  He scored the most iconic goal in Norwegian national team's history when he gave Norway the lead against Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Finals.  With 80 caps, he was a standout player in the 1990's generation.  

Kjetil Rekdal , Ronny Johnsen and Stig Inge Bjornebye

-- Asbjørn Halvorsen's name was brought up several times.  He was a centre-half or wing-half by most Norwegian sources, but I was not sure if he was a midfielder.  He represented Norway at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, where the Norwegian team reached the quarter finals. Between 1922 and 1934, Halvorsen played in Germany for Hamburger SV. The club won 5 Northern German Champions in a row with him as a star player.  

-- During the War, Asbjørn Halvorsen was imprisoned in a concentration camp.  He was considered a war hero.  However, his Hamburger teammate Otto Harder became a SS officer and later, charged for war crimes.  They were reported to be friends while playing in Hamburger, but their stories ended in a different path.

-- Form his description, Ragnar Larsen seemed to be a box-to-box midfielders who switched to become a defender late in his career.  He was the first Norwegian player to become a professional in Italy when he joined Lazio in 1951. A year later, forward Per Bredesen joined him at there.  I also looked into Roar Strand.  Since Jørgen Juve could also play here, I did not need a third central midfielder.  In the end, I stayed with Halvorsen and Rekdal.

-- NRK's ​​football experts Arne Scheie and Knut Nesbø named Hallvar Thoresen as the greatest ever player in Norway.  He was a star with PSV, being named their captain ahead Ruud Gullit and Ronald Koeman in the 1980's. Because of an injury, he did not participate much in the 1988 European Cup winning campaign.  He played a single match in the knockout stage scoring a goal against Rapid Wien. He also had a historical role in beating England in the 1981 World Cup Qualifier. Tom Lund scored the other goal in the match.  The game was considered Norway's greatest victory in the modern era.  It was made famous by the Norwegian commentary.  Transferfmarkt listed him as a left winger, but most other source said that he was an attack midfielder.

-- Erik Mykland was probably the most technical-gifted player in Norway's history (at least in the 1990's).  He played in all three of Norway's important tournaments.  He participated in 1994 and 1998 World Cup.  He was clearly Norway's best player in Euro 2000. His club career was overshadowed by players from his generations of Norwegian players.  Off the field, Mykland was controversial at times.  His lifestyle was not liked a top athlete. He was full of potential, but he could have been better.  Nevertheless, I kept him on the team.  Martin Ødegaard is now a good candidate to replace him one day.

-- I also looked into another playmaker Harald Berg.  He was used as a forward, winger and playmaker.  He had the qualities to dominate in all roles. He played professionally for Ado Den Haag in the 1970's.  I put him on honorable mention.  

-- RW Roald Jensen earned 25 caps before he was 20 years old, but he was restricted a total of 31 caps due to playing professional football in Scotland.  In Scotland, he only played 74 games in six years for Heart of Midlothian.  Some critics counted that against him.  At his given era, playing in Scotland as a Norwegian footballer meant much more. I was willing to overlook that part of his career.  He was ranked very high among most people.  At the time of writing, Per Bredesen remained the only Norwegian to have won the Serie A title.  He did it in 1957 with AC Milan.  He played 212 games, and scored 50 goals in Italy.  He was a secondary striker or a right winger.  Both were frequently mentioned as Norway's greatest footballers.

Thorbjørn Svenssen and Roald Jensen

-- In the 1936 Olympic tournament in Berlin , Arne Brustad scored five goals in four games, including all of Norway's three goals in the bronze final match against Poland.  He was considered by many as the tournament's best player.  He was an outside left, a position I needed on the team.

-- In 2017, I selected RM/LM/CM: Morten Gamst Pedersen.  I actually had no idea why I did that.

Forwards

-- I already put Jørgen Juve as a rightback.  He must be a better forward than a defender.  He could also operate in the midfield, it seemed.

-- Norway has too many good strikers.  John Carew, Havard Flo and Steffen Iversen deserved a spot, but I selected a few old-timers.  They got selected as pioneers of Norwegian football. However, I left out Odd Iversen, Harald Hennum and Harald Berg.

-- Tore André Flo also had an "off the bench" role in Chelsea.  Chelsea at that point in history was not as glamorous as Manchester United or  Roman Abramovich's Chelsea.  So people tended to rate Ole Gunnar Solskjær ahead of him.  He was a more important player in the 1998 World Cup Finals.  His performance against Brazil spoke for itself. He combined size and technical ability. The Flo family is the biggest football family in the region.  Tore Andre Flo is the only player selected from that family.  His cousin Havard Flo, as mentioned, was selected as the honourable mention. Tore Andre's older brother Jostein Flo represented Norway in two World Cup Finals.  

-- In 2017, Tore André Flo was usually rated ahead of  Ole Gunnar Solskjær, but by 2022, Solskjær was ranked much higher by many people.  I found that the memories of players who played for a higher profile clubs usually lasted longer as times went by.  Everyone remembered Solskjær scoring the winning goal against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions' League Final. I also did that with Reidar Kvammen (see below).  It happened in other sports too. 

-- Einar Gundersen is also the 2nd all-time leading scorer for Norway.  He scored two goals in the upset win over England in the 1920 Olympics.  The victory is sometimes considered Norway's greatest win. Over the passage of time, the victory might not seem a great deal as it happened nearly 100 years ago against an English amateur side.  England in football 100 years ago was liked Americans in basketball today.  They rarely lost to a side outside the United Kingdom.  It was still a historical milestone for Norway.  Gunnar Andersen, Per Skou and Asbjørn Halvorsen were also stars of that team. They made honorable mention.

-- When Johan Cruyff left Ajax for Barcelona, ​​Ajax turned to Tom Lund for the replacement, but Lund himself turned down the offer. 

Tom Lund

-- Odd Iversen scored 30 goals in one season with just 18 games.  

He suffered a knee injury while playing club football in Belgium, and  he never maximized his full potential because of the injury. That injury perhaps kept him off the team.  He was the father of Steffen Iverson. In Tottenham Hotspur, Steffen Iversen was their top scorers for two seasons, but he came after the Golden Generation.  The lack of success in international level did count against him.  Both only made honorable mention.

-- Jorn Andersen was the first foreign player to win the Bundesliga's top scorer award with 18 goals.  I did not hear much about him being one of the best ever forwards from Norway.

-- In August, 2020, I added both Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard to honorable mention. Then, in 2021, I replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjær with Haaland (see below). Haaland wrapped up enough individual honors to be included on this team.  While Solskjær was very famous because he played for Norway and won plenty of clun trophies, he was not the best Norwegian striker of his generation.  I ranked John Carew almost on the same level as him, but in 2017, I took Solskjær because of his contributions to Norwegian football, putting Norway on the map by scoring important goals in the club football. He was more famous than Carew due to exposure in Manchester.  In 2021, Haaland has suppressed him for the same reason.  No other Norwegian footballer has been considered among the best in the world. 

-- At the end of review in 2022, I thought deeply about John Carew and Ole Gunnar Solskjær.  Both players normally ranked very high on Norway's all-time list.  At least, one of them should be on the team, but I had too many forwards.  So I decided to drop Reidar Kvammen.  He was a star player on Norway's bronze-medal winning team in the 1936 Olympics as well as the 1938 World Cup  team.  At club level, he scored 202 goals, which to this date is still a Viking club record.   In end, I returned to my opinion in 2017.  I took Solskjær ahead of Carew.

-- Ole Gunnar Solskjær was often placed as one of Norway's greatest players.  In his time, he was mainly used as a backup in Manchester United., but he was probably the greatest "super sub" in history.  He scored some famous goals over there.  But for national team, he was often behind John Carew and Tore André Flo. Carew was a main player as Valencia reached the Champions' League in 2001.  He actually had more caps than both Flo and Solskjær, but his national team career began after the 1998 World Cup.  That extra exposure put the other two strikers ahead of him.

Gunnar Solskjær

-- Reider Kvammen was the first Norwegian footballer to reach 50 caps. Overall, he played 51 internationals and scored 17 goals for Norway. Kvammen was a prominent member of the Norwegian bronze-medal winning team in the 1936 Olympics, and also played in the World Cup two years later. At club level, he scored 202 goals,  which to this date is still a Viking club record. During the Second World War,  Kvammen was sent to a concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.

Formation