Norway are the wildcard team of the tournament. With Erling Haaland, arguably the world’s best striker at the moment, every opponent is in danger. Norway’s first World Cup match since 1998 is a historic moment – and Group I, featuring France, Senegal and Iraq, offers a realistic chance of progressing.

Manager Ståle Solbakken has named three goalkeepers for the Vikings: Ørjan Nyland, Egil Selvik and Sander Tangvik. Norway is returning to the biggest stage in football after 28 years – the country last appeared at the tournament in France in 1998. In Group I, they face Iraq, Senegal and France. Solbakken announced the squad at a historic moment for Norway: King Harald V himself appeared in the association’s official announcement video.

At 35 years of age and with over 65 international caps to his name, Nyland is the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper and the most experienced player in the goalkeeping trio. His career has taken him from the small club IL Hødd in western Norway, via Molde FK, FC Ingolstadt and Aston Villa – where he was part of the team that secured promotion to the Premier League in 2019 – to short-term spells at Norwich, Bournemouth and Reading, before moving to RB Leipzig for nine months in 2022. He has been under contract with Sevilla in La Liga since August 2023. He has made four appearances there this season following the return of first-choice goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos – his contract runs until the summer of 2026. He has represented Norway since 2013, has played in all major qualifying campaigns and is Solbakken’s clear first-choice goalkeeper.

Selvik has made the strongest impression of all three goalkeepers at club level this season. After four years as first-choice goalkeeper at FK Haugesund in the Eliteserien and a brief spell at Udinese in Serie A, he moved to Watford in the English Championship in January 2025 – and immediately took over the number one spot there. With 34 league appearances, seven clean sheets and a FotMob season rating of 7.04, he is one of the better goalkeepers in the English second tier. Internationally, he is still a young player: he made his international debut only in 2023 and has played six international matches to date. A shoulder injury interrupted his season from November to December 2025 – but he was back to full fitness in time for the World Cup. Selvik is Solbakken’s number two and a realistic candidate for the starting spot in the future.

Tangvik is Norway’s youngest goalkeeping prospect and, in January 2026, took the biggest step of his career to date: moving from Rosenborg BK to Hamburger SV in the 2. Bundesliga. Prior to that, he had been the first-choice goalkeeper and captain in Trondheim for years, making appearances in the Eliteserien and gaining his first experience in European qualifiers. Internationally, he has yet to make a senior international appearance – his World Cup nomination is his first ever call-up to the senior squad and a clear sign of Solbakken’s confidence in his potential for development.