Artificial turf & coaching revolution - how Norway shaped golden generation

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, With their efforts at the World Cup, Norway look like a nation pulling in the same direction By Ciaran Varley BBC Sport journalist Published 53 minutes ago Norway - a country with a population almost the same size as Scotland - have become a football powerhouse at the World Cup and it's not just down to Erling Haaland. The Manchester City striker, who has seven goals under his belt at the tournament, is the poster boy for the side along with Martin Odegaard, who captains both Arsenal and the national team. However, they are not the only successful products of the Norwegian youth system. Of their 26-man World Cup squad, 17 play in Europe's top four leagues - the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A. The majority were mentored in Norway's national youth football training system, the National Team School (NTS), which was established in 2013. The comparison with Scotland is not favourable to the latter . While both countries are similar in size, there is a growing gulf in football terms. Both nations spent 28 years away from the World Cup following the 1998 finals in France. But while Steve Clarke's men failed to get past the group stage in 2026, Norway will face England on Saturday in a quarter-final, having beaten the Ivory Coast and Brazil in the knockout phase . Hakon Grottland, head of player development at the Norwegian Football Federation, said we are now witnessing a result of more than two decades of planning to transform Norway - a country synonymous with winter sports - into a football nation. "When I started with the football federation in 2010, it was my dream that Norway could compete at the World Cup because we had too many years of talking about 1998," he told BBC Sport. Grottland attributed Norway's success to two main factors - an investment in artificial pitches in the period 2000-2010 and a coaching revolution ignited by the establishment of the NTS. Gambling proceeds help provide sports facilities Since 2000, Norway has invested in a huge number of artificial pitches. Between 2016 and 2025, 539 were built, with a further 586 being renovated , external . For a country that experiences harsh winters, this had a big impact. "Football in Norway went from a summer sport to a whole year-round sport," explained Grottland. "Back in my day, we had to play on horrible pitches in the winter, on ice and things like that." During the 1990s, Norway were synonymous with an effective but workmanlike style of defensive football. Playing on predictable surfaces has led to a more technical style of football - epitomised by their skipper Odegaard, 27. "It's partly about artificial pitches, but it's also about influences," added Grottland. "Everyone wanted something a little bit different. But now, this has gone too far because we don't create enough defenders." Norway is one of the world's richest countries thanks to its significant oil reserves, the largest in Europe after Russia. The strength of