Norway’s 2026 World Cup campaign has become a family story as much as a football one. On Tuesday in Boston, three players in Norway’s starting lineup, Erling Haaland, Alexander Sorloth and Kristian Thorstvedt, took the field while their fathers watched from the stands. The article says this is a rare World Cup moment, with the sons of three former teammates playing together in the same tournament, in the same country, 32 years after their fathers did so at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
The fathers, Alf-Inge Haaland, Goran Sorloth and Erik Thorstvedt, are described as sharing a painful memory from 1994, when Norway was eliminated in the group stage. Ireland, Italy and Mexico each finished with 4 points and advanced, while Norway ended last because it had scored only one goal. The current team, the article says, is trying to close that emotional circle for the families.
Erik Thorstvedt said he struggled not to cry when Kristian came on. “It’s a moment of enormous pride, but also great anxiety,” he said. “As a former goalkeeper, you always think of the negative side, what if he gives away a penalty in the last minute? Luckily, this time it ended in a moving success story.” Kristian’s path was the most dramatic, the article says. He nearly quit football after no Norwegian club wanted him, had already enrolled for university studies in New Hampshire, and only got a week-long trial at Viking Stavanger after his father phoned the coach. That trial became a professional contract and later an international career.
The piece says Norway’s broader sporting success is no coincidence, pointing to a youth culture that encourages children to try multiple sports without early pressure for results. Sorloth, for example, was a speed skater for the national team until age 12 before switching fully to football. Haaland is presented as the team’s biggest star, with his “Nordic god” aura and scoring rate of more than one goal per national-team game making Norway a tournament dark horse. Goran Sorloth summed up the mood: “We just hope they fulfill their dreams. If not, we’ll come back here in the future, but this time as grandfathers.”
