Norway sets new course for women's football
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
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The Football Association of Norway (NFF) has unveiled its first dedicated women's football strategy, setting out an ambitious plan to grow the game across participation, performance and commercial development.
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The strategy, titled Time for Action, shares its name with UEFA's first women's football strategy. It outlines how the NFF intends to strengthen the women's game between now and 2030, backed by targeted investment and new development pathways.
"We must acknowledge that Norwegian football has a bias towards men's football, and that we need extra focus on girls' and women's football," said NFF president and UEFA Executive Committee member Lise Klaveness. "We are doing something about that."
Developed through an extensive consultation process, the strategy aims to bring together players, clubs, regional associations and supporters to move Norwegian women's football forward as one team.
"The game plan has been developed through input from the entire football family," said Klaveness and NFF secretary general Karl-Petter Løken in their introduction to the strategy. "The NFF will take clear responsibility and work broadly and concretely to create a new era of success for Norwegian girls' and women's football in the years to come. But we cannot achieve the goals alone."
A three-part approach
The strategy is built around three pillars – sporting, commercial and recruitment – each with measurable goals. The NFF has set aside 20 million Norwegian kroner (nearly €1.8m) for the first year of implementation alone.
The sporting model sets out a plan to boost participation while developing players and teams capable of competing at the highest levels of national and international football. Recognising that boys and girls have historically followed the same pathways, the NFF is introducing a bespoke player development framework tailored for women and girls.
Maren Mjelde, who has 183 caps for Norway, believes that increasing opportunities for girls to play football has been fundamental to the sport's growth.
"When I was young, I played with my friends at school, but that was only boys; we didn’t have many girls who wanted to play football at the time," she said.
"Football is now the biggest sport for girls in the country, so it’s quite natural for girls to choose playing football. But when I was growing up, we didn’t really have a girls’ team. I’m glad that has changed. Girls now do have an option to play with girls. It just shows the growth of the game."
Financial sustainability is central to the commercial model. The strategy identifies boosting audiences – both in stadiums and on television – as a key driver of growth. By 2030, the NFF aims to quadruple attendance at women's football matches and increase the commercial revenues of Norwegian women's teams fivefold.
The recruitment model addresses another key challenge identified by the federation – Norwegian football needs more women as coaches, referees and leaders. The strategy outlines enhanced professional development opportunities for women, alongside measures designed to make football workplaces more inclusive and accessible.
NFF establishes national women's futsal league
The NFF has also approved the creation of the country's first women's futsal league, reflecting growing participation in the game. The national competition is expected to strengthen elite clubs, provide better development pathways and improve preparation for international futsal matches, benefitting both players and the Norwegian women's national team.
Making their debut at the tournament, Norway have qualified for the elite round of UEFA Women's Futsal EURO 2027, winning all three of their main-round group games.
UEFA Playmakers in Norway
The launch of Time for Action comes at a moment of growing visibility for women's football in Norway.
In May, Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo hosted the UEFA Women's Champions League final, bringing the most prestigious match in the women's club calendar to the country for the first time.
In the run up to the final, around 350 girls took part in a UEFA Playmakers festival at Oslo's City Hall Square.
UEFA Playmakers gives girls across Europe a fun and safe introduction to football through movement, play and the magic of Disney storytelling. The programme has been a successful tool in encouraging girls to play football in Norway – by the end of the year, 31 clubs in Oslo are expected to be running the programme, with a target of reaching 45 clubs by 2030.
"The girls can really start building up confidence and an understanding that they can believe and dream big," said Sweden's all-time top scorer and UEFA Playmakers ambassador Lotta Schelin, who was at the festival in Oslo. "That's the most important thing."