Norway begin League A era against depleted Denmark
Norway host Denmark at a sold-out Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo on Thursday, 24 September 2026, in their first ever match in League A of the UEFA Nations League. Kick-off is at 20:45 CEST. Ståle Solbakken’s side come off a World Cup quarter-final and a summer that made Erling Haaland’s team the story of the tournament, while Denmark missed the finals altogether and have spent the last 48 hours losing players. Portugal and Wales complete Group A4.
Denmark have lost three starters since the squad was named: Andreas Christensen, Kasper Dolberg and Alexander Bah all left camp injured between Saturday and Tuesday.
Predicted lineups: Norway vs Denmark
Norway cancelled Monday’s session because too many players needed treatment after the weekend, and no names were released, so the eleven below is the World Cup quarter-final side with Oscar Bobb in for the injured Sørloth. Solbakken has confirmed that Ørjan Nyland keeps the gloves despite his bench role at Leipzig. Denmark’s picture is clearer in outfield terms – Solbakken himself read out most of Riemer’s expected team at his press conference – but Bah’s withdrawal pushes Rasmus Kristensen to right-back and the goalkeeper has not been announced. Mads Hermansen started the play-off final and the Ukraine friendly and is my guess.
Norway Team News & Preview
The most striking thing about Norway’s build-up is how hard Solbakken is working to lower the temperature. „Vi må dempe oss,“ he told the press on Monday – we have to calm ourselves down – before pointing out that Denmark’s squad is drawn from Porto, Benfica, the Premier League and La Liga and that four games in ten days punish smaller nations when injuries hit. That last point was not theoretical: Monday’s training in Lillestrøm was cancelled because so many players needed recovery work, Alexander Sørloth is out for both windows with a muscle injury, and Fredrik Bjørkan has stepped away from the national team. Erik Botheim of Viking came in as the third striker and Solbakken openly said he had been „a bit lucky“ to get the call.
None of that changes the core of the team. Haaland flew in on Sunday night after scoring in City’s 5-3 win over Sunderland, his fifth Premier League goal in five games, and the World Cup showed what this version of Norway looks like: 4-1 against Iraq, 3-2 against Senegal, 2-1 against Ivory Coast and then the 2-1 win over Brazil at MetLife, where Haaland scored twice from Andreas Schjelderup’s passes. Schjelderup also scored in the quarter-final, a 1-2 defeat to England after extra time in which Norway were the better side for long spells. The weakness is at the other end. Norway have not kept a clean sheet in eight games, Nyland’s rating against England was the lowest in the team, and Brazil generated 2.61 expected goals against them. Solbakken wants more end product from Bobb, who steps into Sørloth’s slot, and has Antonio Nusa and Jørgen Strand Larsen in reserve.
What works for or against Norway
- Haaland has 62 goals in 55 caps and scored seven times at the World Cup, and Schjelderup has three goal involvements in Norway's last two knockout games.
- No clean sheet in the last eight matches, a goalkeeper on the bench at his club, and a cancelled training session because of the number of players needing treatment.
- Sold-out Ullevaal and a first League A campaign give Norway a clear incentive; the World Cup run included wins over Senegal, Ivory Coast and Brazil.
- Sørloth's absence means Bobb or Nusa starts on the wing, and Solbakken has publicly asked Bobb for more goals and assists.
Denmark Team News & Preview
Brian Riemer said he „hammered my head into the pillow four times“ when Andreas Christensen withdrew with a thigh strain on Saturday, and the week got worse on Tuesday when Kasper Dolberg injured his knee in training and Alexander Bah’s shoulder ruled him out too. Lucas Høgsberg, Anton Gaaei and Mohamed Daramy came in as replacements. Christensen’s absence is the one that matters most: Danish pundits described him as one of the few Danes who would walk into Norway’s team, and his partner Joachim Andersen now needs a new man alongside him after scoring in the play-off final against Czechia. Christian Eriksen is not in the squad after collapsing during the June friendly against Ukraine, Riemer calling his future a private matter, and Kasper Schmeichel has retired, so the goalkeeping group of Hermansen, Filip Jørgensen and Andreas Jungdal has five caps combined. Riemer’s own description was the most inexperienced keeper group in the world.
Denmark are not a weak side for all that. The squad value of €425m is built on Rasmus Højlund, Victor Froholdt, Morten Hjulmand, Patrick Dorgu and Mikkel Damsgaard, and Riemer’s team had 77 per cent possession and 22 shots in the play-off final they lost on penalties in Prague. Damsgaard is being moved into the central role Eriksen used to fill, and the manager has promised a team with „Revanchelust“ after the missed World Cup. Riemer also knows the opposition manager better than most: he was Solbakken’s assistant at FC Copenhagen from 2012 to 2015 and said this week that when he watches Norway he can see what Solbakken is thinking, calling it a small advantage. Højlund has two goals for Napoli this season and 13 in 35 for Denmark, and the record against Norway – unbeaten in five, 3-1 winners at home in June 2024 – is the strongest card Denmark hold.
What works for or against Denmark
- Christensen, Dolberg and Bah are fresh absentees, Eriksen is not in the squad and Schmeichel has retired – the spine of the 2024 team is gone.
- Whoever starts in goal has at most three caps, and Riemer has described his keepers as the least experienced group in the world.
- Unbeaten in the last five meetings with Norway, and Riemer knows Solbakken's methods from three years as his assistant at FC Copenhagen.
- Højlund, Damsgaard, Isaksen and Dorgu give Denmark enough to score against a Norway defence that has conceded in eight straight games.
Norway vs Denmark Odds
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Norway Form, Stats & Data
Norway’s squad value is inflated by one man, but Haaland is precisely why the numbers matter here: he is worth more than Denmark’s entire squad on his own and arrives in the form of his life. Around him, Ødegaard, Schjelderup, Berge and Ajer are all established at high-level clubs, and the World Cup showed a team that scores in bunches – 13 goals in six games. What the tournament also showed is a defence that concedes in every match. Against Brazil the expected goals were 1.05 for and 2.61 against, and against England 0.68 against 1.04. Norway win by outscoring opponents, not by shutting them out, and that shapes how I approach every bet in this game.
Denmark Form, Stats & Data
Riemer’s record of seven wins, five draws and three defeats reads better than the outcome – a first missed tournament since 2016 – and the play-off final numbers show a team that dominated the ball without finishing the job. The €425m squad is younger and deeper than it was, with Froholdt (€50m) and Hjulmand (€45m) behind Højlund, but the three withdrawals this week have removed the best defender, the most experienced right-back and a striker, and there is no Eriksen to slow the game down. An inexperienced goalkeeper behind a reshaped back four, against Haaland at Ullevaal, is the duel I keep coming back to.
Norway vs Denmark: Prediction & Betting Tip
I see this as a game between a settled attacking side at home and a good team that has been dismantled at the worst possible moment. Norway have their full front line bar Sørloth, Haaland is scoring every week, and the World Cup proved they can beat far better defences than the one Denmark will field without Christensen and Bah. Denmark, by contrast, are breaking in a new right-back, a new centre-back partner for Joachim Andersen and a goalkeeper with a handful of caps, and Damsgaard is being asked to do Eriksen’s job for the first time in a competitive match.
The strongest argument against Norway is their own defence. Eight games without a clean sheet, a keeper Solbakken is publicly tired of being asked about, and a Danish attack with Højlund, Isaksen and Dorgu are reasons to expect Denmark to score – and the H2H, five games unbeaten with a 3-1 win last time, says Denmark know how to play this opponent. That is why I am not touching handicaps. I simply expect Norway to score more, and a 2-1 or 3-1 fits the profile of both teams.
My main bet is **Norway to win at 1.78 with MyStake**. My correct-score pick is 3-1.