Artificial turf & coaching revolution - how Norway shaped golden generation

With their efforts at the World Cup, Norway look like a nation pulling in the same direction [Getty Images]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 facilitiesSince 2000, Norway has invested in a huge number of artificial pitches. Between 2016 and 2025, 539 we