Norway’s World Cup journey came to an end with a 2-1 extra-time defeat to England in the quarter-finals, but that did little to dampen the mood on the streets of Oslo, where thousands of fans turned their final tournament night into a celebration of a historic campaign.
Despite the match in Miami finishing in the early hours of Sunday local time, supporters dressed in red, white and blue gathered outside the Royal Palace for one last rendition of the Viking row, the thunderous chant and arm movement that had made Norway’s fans one of the standout stories of the tournament.
One supporter, speaking to public broadcaster NRK, said the country remained proud of the team and thanked the players for the memories they had created, reflecting on a run that would have seemed far-fetched only four years ago given Norway had never previously won a knockout match at a World Cup.
There was little outward sign that the team had actually lost. The celebrations carried on well into the night, with fans expressing confidence about what lies ahead rather than dwelling on the defeat. Chants adapted from Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” reworked to declare Norway would win the next European Championship, rang out across the crowd as brown cheese, a Norwegian delicacy, was passed around among supporters.
Another fan at the palace square said the gathering was about shared national pride rather than the result itself, describing it as a moment for Norwegians to celebrate something achieved together. As the national anthem played and fireworks lit up the sky above Karl Johan, the capital’s main thoroughfare, tens of thousands packed the streets in a display of unity around the team’s achievements.
A further supporter reflected on how far the Viking row had travelled during the tournament, saying the celebration had been seen around the world and that the team had exceeded anything fans could reasonably have hoped for at the start of the campaign.
