Inside Norway's youth sports model: no scores, no cuts, no bankruptcy
Yahoo Sports travelled to Oslo's Norway Cup to examine a youth sports system built on subsidised play rather than early competition — and the elite athletes it has produced.
At the Norway Cup in Oslo, children as young as 10 play football without an official scoreline being kept, according to Yahoo Sports, part of a national approach that withholds scores and standings until players turn 11.
The tournament, held at Ekebergsletta Park in suburban Oslo, describes itself as the largest youth soccer event in the world, drawing more than 2,000 teams and 30,000 participants from 25 countries, Yahoo Sports reports.
The contrast with the United States is stark. Yahoo Sports notes that American youth sports has grown into a $40 billion industry over three decades, with families often stretching their finances to cover club fees and private coaching.
Norway has taken the opposite path. Participation is heavily subsidised by government and local communities, keeping costs down for parents, while families attending tournaments can camp beside the pitches rather than pay for hotel rooms, according to the report.
Children are also encouraged to play multiple sports rather than specialise early, an approach officials credit with keeping young athletes engaged into their teenage years.
Inge Andersen, a longtime official who helped shape Norway's sports model, told Yahoo Sports the philosophy rests on universal access. "The winning formula is really not complicated," Andersen said. "It starts with our philosophy that all children should have the opportunity to participate in sports, and that they should do many sports when they are young so they are still hungry to compete when they are older."
The results have been hard to dismiss. Yahoo Sports points to Norway topping the medal table at the 2026 Winter Olympics and the men's national football team reaching the top eight at the World Cup, despite a population of 5.6 million — smaller than the state of New Jersey.
The country's roll call of elite athletes produced through this system includes Manchester City forward Erling Haaland, Olympic champion runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen and professional golfer Viktor Hovland, all cited by Yahoo Sports as products of the same youth structure.
Haaland's profile in Norway was unmistakable at the tournament even in his absence. Yahoo Sports reports that fans had hoped the striker might make a surprise appearance at the Norway Cup's opening concert, though he was never actually expected to attend. His likeness was instead available in action-figure form at the event's merchandise shop for 175 Norwegian kroner, roughly $19.
The opening night itself drew hundreds of young participants waving flags from their home nations, watching a rock concert in driving rain, a scene Yahoo Sports frames as central to the tournament's identity beyond the football itself.
Norwegians interviewed for the piece repeatedly returned to a single word to explain the culture underpinning all of this: idrettsglede, translated as the joy of sport, which Yahoo Sports says was evident at every field, gymnasium and training centre visited during the reporting trip.
The article situates the Norway Cup as one entry point into a wider system that also includes elite training centres, where Yahoo Sports notes Olympians share breakfast buffets with holidaymakers, underlining how integrated high performance and everyday participation remain within the country's sporting structure.