Erling Haaland Norway 2022Getty

Are Norway at the World Cup 2022 in Qatar?

It's the question on every casual football fan's lips after seeing Erling Haaland destroying defences left, right and centre following his move to Manchester City earlier this year: Will his Norway be at the World Cup?

The World Cup is after all the competition where the best players in the world battle it out among each other to lift the coveted trophy.

Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple.

Article continues below

Only 32 countries have qualified for the showpiece in Qatar this November and December and that means that some of the smaller nations miss out.

And when those so-called smaller countries have some high-profile players in their ranks, the world gets deprived of those superstars.

ALSO READ: World Cup 2022: Haaland, Salah & the megastars who won't be going to Qatar

In this case, Norway failed to qualify for the World Cup 2022 after only managing to finish third in their qualification group behind Netherlands and Turkey.

Which in turns means we will not be able to see Haaland banging in the goals in Qatar, while Arsenal's gifted playmaker Martin Odegaard will also reluctantly be enjoying a bit of a break.

So should we just forget about ever seeing Haaland and Odegaard playing at a World Cup then?

Well, no, not quite.

The Norwegians did qualify for the tournament in 1994 and 1998 and the presence of the aforementioned duo could very well spark another participation in the near future, particularly with the ongoing World Cup expansion plans.

The 2026 edition of the World Cup will have 48 teams there, including 16 European teams. That means there are three additional spots to play for during the qualification process.

Norway will still have their work cut out for them as they are currently the 22nd-ranked team on Fifa's World Ranking, but football is and remains an unpredictable game!

Advertisement