Our Way-Too Early 'Dark Horse' Pick For The World Cup

Our Way-Too Early 'Dark Horse' Pick For The World Cup

The 2026 World Cup is approaching scarily fast and we are reaching the end of the deciding group stages to see who will and won't make the trip to North America.

Many teams already have - some have dragged themselves over the line whilst others have been absolutely dominant in their qualification groups. As with every international tournament, there has to be a 'dark horse', and our, admittedly very early, pick for filling that role in 2026 is none other than Norway.

The Scandinavian side are hardly giants on the international footballing stage, but have absolutely dominated in their group to gain themselves a spot at their first World Cup in 28 years.

This is simply a brief overview as to why we think they're going to make their 28-year-long-awaited return very special indeed.

Norway are going to a @FIFAWorldCup for the first time in 28 years! 🇳🇴👏 pic.twitter.com/W2MGfsQJtD

— FIFA (@FIFAcom) November 16, 2025

Utterly Ridiculous Form:

The World Cup European Qualifiers:

When talking about the form Norway has shown recently, there is simply no other way to describe it than 'ridiculous'.

In 8 group stage games they have only conceded 5 goals; that in itself is impressive, as are the 4 clean sheets that go along with it, but in fairness it's not quite what you might call ridiculous.

Part of what has made Norway's qualification run so incredible has been that at the other end of the pitch, they have produced statistics so good it genuinely almost seems fake.

In 8 games the side have scored 37 goals. That is an average of 4.625 per game in a group that also contained Euro 2021 champions Italy. Genuinely incredible stuff.

To add to all of this, they just pulled off one of the nation's greatest ever evenings by beating Italy 4-1 at the San Siro to confirm that they would get 1st place in their group and automatic qualification.

Another Haaland double inspires a famous night for Norway in Italy 🇳🇴#WCQ pic.twitter.com/Jw0agPIh0C

— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) November 16, 2025

Over a Year Unbeaten:

Ok, I admit this would be a significantly more impressive stat for a club, seeing as international football is not as frequent; however, it is still 12 games unbeaten, including their phenomenal World Cup qualifying campaign.

During this time some of the results have been top tier; to show it, I'll list some of the notable ones below.

1. Italy 1-4 Norway
2. Norway 5-0 Israel
3. Norway 11-1 Moldova
4. Norway 4-1 Estonia
5. Norway 5-0 Kazakhstan

Norway WTF pic.twitter.com/OL1Ma4IVyX

— ¹⁰ (@SxrgioSZN) November 16, 2025

The side's last defeat came over a year ago on 13/10/24 in a 5-1 defeat to Austria, an absolute battering really; however, the manner in which they have turned it around is the main takeaway.

Incredible Talent At Their Disposal:

Erling Haaland:

At this point there's not much more that anyone can say about Haaland that isn't known; the man is absolutely incredible, and he reflected this in the qualifying campaign for his national team.

In eight qualifying games Haaland alone contributed 18, specifically 16 goals and 2 assists. It's genuinely tough to put into words how phenomenal of a return that is; it's the kind of run that will put him as a frontrunner for the Ballon d'Or, assuming other things fall his way.

It's not just internationally that Haaland is showing why we all think he's secretly a cyborg. Back in the Premier League, he's leading the race for the Golden Boot with an almost just as absurd 14 goals.

🇳🇴 | The robot has done it

• Objective: send Norway to the World Cup
• Result: Mission accomplished

🤖 pic.twitter.com/RHNO6ROLu0

— Sofascore Football (@SofascoreINT) November 16, 2025

Martin Odegaard:

The captain of both his national team and club, Odegaard is a leader through and through. It also helps that he's a world-class footballer who, despite being injured for some of the games, had a huge influence over Norway's road to the 2026 World Cup.

He was only available for 5 games in the group stage, and yet he contributed 8 goals and assists. He only scored once, but as with his game domestically, Odegaard's main focus is his creativity, which he definitely showed with his whopping 7 assists.

In the Premier League, Odegaard isn't having his finest season; however, it is very, very important to consider that, unlike Haaland, he isn't necessarily the focal point of the club. His game at the domestic level is less focused on output and more so on dictating the tempo and attacking patterns. This is the element that he has done successfully so far this season and will be crucial to Norway fulfilling their 'dark horse' status in 2026.

Antonio Nusa:

Young winger Antonio Nusa has really come into his own during the group stages for qualification and shown the levels of talent that have had clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal circling for his potential future signature. As of right now he's plying his trade in Germany for RB Leipzig, and with how well he's playing, who knows how long before he moves to a European giant?

In the group stages Nusa, unsurprisingly, was also dominant. He bagged 2 and assisted a further 3, showing phenomenal linkup with his fellow attacking talent like Haaland and Odegaard. In this run he also netted in the crucial fixture against Italy, having a direct influence on his nation's greatest night in nearly 30 years.

One of the standout features of Nusa's game is his dribbling and take-on capabilities. The game against Italy was a fantastic example of this, in which he recorded 5 successful dribbles. Expect to see a lot more of this in 2026 as he matures even further to become an even better prospect; even without this, he is displaying a top tier of ability.

Conclusion:

There is always a danger in labelling a side as a 'dark horse'. I mean, look at Albania in the 2024 Euros: lots of promise, lots of talent, but ultimately fell flat, being knocked out in the group stage.

REDEMPTION! 🇦🇱

Klaus Gjasula with the LATE equaliser for Albania after his own goal put them behind #Euro2024 | #CROALB pic.twitter.com/5OBkfWjbZx

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 19, 2024

Norway feels different, however; this has been a genuinely near unheard-of display for World Cup qualification, and the level of talent on display is genuinely world-class.

And the cherry on top is the confidence boost this will give them. This is the end of a 28-year-long wait for Norway to get back to the World Cup, and that night in Milan will go down in legend for Norwegians.

All the signs point to success for the side, but will they really fulfil their status as 'dark horses'? Only time will tell, but we certainly think yes.