 | ||
The Norway Cup is an international youth football tournament which has been held annually since 1972 (except 1976) in Oslo, Norway. It is one of the world's largest football tournaments and sees a typical 1400 to 1700 participating teams per year - in 2016 Norway Cup hit an all-time record with 2199 teams, of which 450 teams played the new 3v3 tournament for 6-10 year olds. The Norway Cup consists of tournaments for ages 10 through 19 for both genders, with over 53,049 teams having participated during its history. The tournament takes place at Ekebergsletta.
Contents
The tournament is organized by Bækkelagets Sportsklub with Tony Isaksen as its general secretary. Participants come from 50 to 60 counties. Amazon Grimstad won the first Norway Cup tournament for women, winning 2–1 over Vestar, after a penalty shoot-out.
The world's biggest tournament
From 1972 to 2016, 53,049 teams have participated in the tournament. In recent years around 1600-2200 teams participated each year and the tournament is therefore referred to often as "the world's biggest football tournament." The participants in the tournament come from around 50-60 different nations. In 1972 the first edition of the Norway Cup played with women's teams, while the NFF did not recognize women's football officially until 1976. Amazon Grimstad Grimstad won the first Norway Cup for women. The team won 2-1 against IL Vestar after a penalty shootout.
Colourful friendship
In 1979 got the Norway Cup visit of Brazilian Pequeninos from São Paulo. The first team that came to Oslo consisted of children from the slums. For them, the trip to Norway Cup and the encouragement was a relief from the misery they experienced at home. Meanwhile, conquered these youngsters throughout Ekebergsletta and were the tournament's favourites.
Several players who have participated in the Norway Cup has subsequently made football their profession, including Erik Mykland, John Carew, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Steffen Iversen.