Norway men's national basketball team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Norway women's national basketball team.

Norway

FIBA ranking	79 5 (15 August 2024) [1]
Joined FIBA	1968
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	NBBF
Coach	Matthias Eckhoff
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	None
Championship for Small Countries
Appearances	2
Medals	Silver: (1996, 2018)
Home Away
First international
Norway 50–63 Denmark   (Oslo, Norway; 11 February 1967)
Biggest win
San Marino 48–88 Norway   (Serravalle, San Marino; 26 June 2018)
Biggest defeat
Iceland 123–59 Norway   (Reykjavík, Iceland; 15 April 1968)

The Norway men's national basketball team (Norwegian : Norges herrelandslag i basketball) represents Norway in international basketball tournaments. The national team is administered by the Norwegian Basketball Federation.

Norway has never had great success on the international stage in the past. They are one of the few European countries to date to have never qualified for one of the top international basketball competitions, such as the EuroBasket or the FIBA World Cup.

History

Norway's first international match was played on 11 February 1967 in Oslo, where the team lost 50–63 to Denmark. ^[2] The most capped player is Torgeir Bryn, with 111 caps.

In the past, Norway has attempted to qualify for the EuroBasket several times, but have yet to reach the tournament. They have only entered the Olympic basketball qualification twice, for the 1980, and 1988 Olympic Games. Norway is one of Europe's most populous nations to have never qualified for a major international basketball competition. However, they have competed at smaller events such as the European Championship for Small Countries.

The Road to Revival (2012–2017)

In 2012, financial troubles led the Norwegian Basketball Federation to shut down both the men's and women's national teams. The federation simply did not have the funds to keep either the men's or women's teams afloat. Since then, however, the federation has come to realize just how many people from the athletes and teams, to individuals and companies care about the Norwegian basketball community and are willing to provide financial support. The federation also worked to raise money through sponsorships, and eventually signed a major sponsorship agreement with Circle K, in addition to a few smaller sponsors. ^[3]

Norway's return (2018–present)

In 2018, Norway made its return to FIBA competition by playing at the European Championship for Small Countries. The national team finished as the runners-up after losing 75–59 in the final against Malta. ^[4]

In 2021, Norway joined the EuroBasket 2025 qualification.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup World Cup Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1970 Did not enter Did not enter 1974 1978 1982 Did not qualify Did not qualify 1986 Did not enter Did not enter 1990 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 1994 1998 2002 2006 Did not enter Did not enter 2010 2014 2019 2023 2027 To be determined To be determined Total 0/14 Olympic Games Olympic Games Qualifying Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1968 Did not enter Did not enter 1972 1976 1980 Did not qualify 4 0 4 1984 Did not enter Did not enter 1988 Did not qualify 3 0 3 1992 Did not enter Did not enter 1996 to 2024 2028 To be determined To be determined Total 0/15 7 0 7 Championship for Small Countries FIBA European Championship for Small Countries Year Position Pld W L 1996 5 4 1 2018 5 4 1 Total 10 8 2

EuroBasket EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1969 Did not enter Did not enter 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 Did not qualify 3 0 3 1981 4 1 3 1983 Did not enter Did not enter 1985 Did not qualify 9 5 4 1987 4 3 1 1989 3 0 3 1991 4 1 3 1993 4 0 4 1995 Did not enter Did not enter 1997 Did not qualify 5 0 5 1999 3 0 3 2001 9 3 6 2003 Did not enter Did not enter 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2022 2025 Did not qualify 14 6 8 Total 0/27 62 19 43

Results and fixtures

  Win  Loss

2023

Norway   v   Bulgaria

19 July 2023 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 3rd round	Norway	86–80	Bulgaria	Asker, Norway
19:00 (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter:22–21, 27–18, 19–8, 18–33
	Pts: Frey 27 Rebs: Ndow 8 Asts: Frey 4	Boxscore	Pts: Miller-McIntyre 20 Rebs: Alipiev 7 Asts: P. Ivanov 9	Arena: Varner Arena Attendance: 1,950 Referees: Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Michał Proc (POL), Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU)

Austria   v   Norway

26 July 2023 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 3rd round	Austria	85–66	Norway	Schwechat, Austria
18:30 (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter:25–15, 24–12, 21–15, 15–24
	Pts: Vujošević 21 Rebs:four players 6 Asts: Güttl 5	Boxscore	Pts: Ndow 21 Rebs: Kolstad 7 Asts: Espe 5	Arena: Multiversum Attendance: 1,350 Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Martin Vulić (CRO), Ariadna Chueca (ESP)

Bulgaria   v   Norway

29 July 2023 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 3rd round	Bulgaria	91–69	Norway	Botevgrad, Bulgaria
18:00 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter:20–14, 30–20, 24–17, 17–18
	Pts: Kostadinov 19 Rebs: Kostadinov 9 Asts: Miller-McIntyre 13	Boxscore	Pts: Kolstad 12 Rebs: Sjölund 6 Asts: Frey 8	Arena: Arena Botevgrad Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Josip Jurčević (CRO), Vladimir Jevtović (SRB)

Norway   v   Austria

5 August 2023 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 3rd round	Norway	84–74	Austria	Asker, Norway
18:00 (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter:22–17, 19–23, 22–18, 21–16
	Pts: Ndow 29 Rebs: Berg, Ndow 9 Asts: Kolstad 4	Boxscore	Pts: Güttl 15 Rebs: Lohr 8 Asts: Ersek, Vujošević 5	Arena: Varner Arena Attendance: 2,100 Referees: Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Gintaras Vitkauskas (LTU), Armin Mutapčić (GER)

2024

Luxembourg   v   Norway

25 February 2024 2027 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Luxembourg	58–72	Norway	Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
17:00 (UTC+1)	Scoring by quarter: 9–24, 23–19, 20–8, 6–21
	Pts: Rugg 22 Rebs: Vujaković 10 Asts: Rugg 3	Boxscore	Pts: Frey 23 Rebs: Berg 10 Asts: Frey 6	Arena: d'Coque Attendance: 1,800 Referees: Łukasz Jankowski (POL), Armin Mutapcic (GER), Martin van Hoye (BEL)

Norway   v   Romania

21 November 2024 2027 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Norway	vs.	Romania	Norway
		Boxscore

2025

Norway   v   Luxembourg

20 February 2025 2027 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Norway	vs.	Luxembourg	Norway
		Boxscore

Romania   v   Norway

23 February 2025 2027 FIBA World Cup pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Romania	vs.	Norway	Romania
		Boxscore

Team

Current roster

Roster for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Pre-Qualifiers match on 25 February 2024 against Luxembourg. ^{[5] [6]}

Norway men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 4 Johan Flaa 24 – (1999-07-19)19 July 1999 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Centrum Tigers F 5 Chris-Ebou Ndow 30 – (1993-12-10)10 December 1993 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Mitteldeutscher BC PG 7 Harald Frey 26 – (1997-05-27)27 May 1997 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Bonn G 11 Stian Mjøs  (C) 34 – (1989-02-27)27 February 1989 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Bærum G 12 Mikkel Kolstad 28 – (1995-05-03)3 May 1995 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Gimle F/C 20 Ludvik Bergseng 17 – (2006-09-28)28 September 2006 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Sandvika C 21 Emil Grosse 20 – (2003-09-03)3 September 2003 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Nidaros Jets F 22 Sjur Berg 27 – (1996-01-10)10 January 1996 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) Bærum F 25 Hallvard Staff 21 – (2002-06-18)18 June 2002 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Gimle G/F 33 Tobias Rotegård 23 – (2000-05-08)8 May 2000 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Kongsberg Miners F 40 Axel Borg 19 – (2004-04-10)10 April 2004 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Bærum F/C 42 Erik Borg 22 – (2001-10-06)6 October 2001 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) Cantbasket	Head coach Matthias Eckhoff Assistant coach(es) Milovan Savić Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 25 February 2024

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Sjur Berg	Erik Borg	Marcus Larsson
PF	Karamo Jawara	Johannes Dolven	Axel Borg
SF	Chris-Ebou Ndow	Kristian Sjølund	Jørgen Odfjell
SG	Bouna Ndiaye	Mikkel Kolstad	Tobias Rotegård
PG	Harald Frey	Stian Mjøs	Lars Espe

Head coach position

• Matthias Eckhoff – (2018–present)

Notable players

• Torgeir Bryn – the first Scandinavian, and the only Norwegian who has played in the NBA; and the most capped player for the Norway national basketball team with 111 matches.

Past rosters

2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries: finished 2nd among 7 teams ^[7]

Norway men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 4 Magnus Midtvedt 28 – (1990-04-07)7 April 1990 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Centrum PG 5 Harald Frey 21 – (1997-05-27)27 May 1997 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Montana State G 6 Stian Berg 27 – (1991-04-04)4 April 1991 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Asker PG 7 Lars Espe 19 – (1998-09-26)26 September 1998 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Barry Buccaneers G/F 8 Bouna Ndiaye 25 – (1992-10-20)20 October 1992 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) GET Vosges G 9 Nikolas Skouen 28 – (1990-01-29)29 January 1990 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Frøya F 10 Karamo Jawara 27 – (1991-06-25)25 June 1991 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Palma G 11 Stian Mjøs 29 – (1989-02-27)27 February 1989 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Bærum G/F 12 Eivind Lamo 21 – (1996-10-23)23 October 1996 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Gimle G/F 13 Alex Dakin 25 – (1993-01-02)2 January 1993 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Bærum F 14 Sjur Berg 22 – (1996-01-10)10 January 1996 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Alaska Anchorage F/C 15 Johannes Dolven 22 – (1996-05-11)11 May 1996 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Barry Buccaneers	Head coach Matthias Eckhoff Assistant coach(es) Audun Eskeland Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 26 June 2018

See also

• Sports portal
• Norway portal

• Norway women's national basketball team
• Norway men's national under-20 basketball team
• Norway men's national under-18 basketball team
• Norway men's national under-16 basketball team

References

1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
2. "55-årsjubileum mot Danmark". basket.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 3 July 2022.
3. "Norway returns to international basketball". norwegianamerican.com. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
4. "Norway at the 2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries" . Retrieved 1 July 2018.
5. "Ny kval-start i Luxembourg". basket.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 21 February 2024.
6. "Norway during the 2027 FIBA World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers in February 2024". 25 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
7. "Norway at the 2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries" . Retrieved 1 July 2018.

External links

• Official website (in Norwegian)
• Norway FIBA profile
• Norway National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com