Stale Solbakken will remain coach of the Norwegian national football team until at least 2028. The 57-year-old has extended his contract, which expires after the 2026 World Cup, until the European Championships in two and a half years.
“Stale is definitely the best national coach we have ever had,” said association boss Lise Klaveness at a joint press conference on Thursday and emphasized: “We never had any doubts that we wanted to work with him for longer.”
Solbakken led Norway, led by star striker Erling Haaland, to a major tournament for the first time since 2000. In qualifying, his team won all eight games, including twice against four-time world champions Italy. In 2026 in the USA, Mexico and Canada, the Scandinavians will take part in a World Cup for the first time since 1998, and tens of thousands of fans celebrated the successful qualification on the town hall square in Oslo.
Solbakken, who worked at 1. FC Köln in the 2011/12 season, took over the “Landslaget” from Lars Lagerbäck in December 2020. Of 52 international matches under his leadership, 31 were won and only eleven lost.
He also had “other options,” said the coach. “I say yes because the association is in a really good position. We have a committed and competent president (…) and a team that is a joy to work with,” said Solbakken, who, according to Klaveness, has become the highest-paid Norwegian national coach in history with an annual salary of ten million crowns (850,000 euros).