Nordic Football Championship

Template:Short description The Nordic Football Championship (Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx, commonly abbreviated NM or PM) was an international football competition contested by the men's national football teams of the Nordic countries. In the first tournament played 1924–1928, only Denmark, Norway and Sweden competed, but Finland joined for the second tournament, and at the last tournament played in 2000–2001, Iceland and the Faroe Islands also competed.

History

The tournament was created on Danish initiative to replace a contract, ended in 1919, between the Danish (DBU), Norwegian (NFF) and Swedish Football Association (SvFF) that stated that the national teams of the three associations should play two annual matches against each other. However, the idea was not realised until four years later, when the Danish association celebrated its 35th anniversary, and the first tournament was started. It was arranged by the DBU and was played as a single group where the three teams met each other five times for a total of ten matches each. DBU also provided the trophy of the first edition, a trophy that Denmark won when the tournament ended in 1928.

The second tournament was arranged by SvFF which celebrated its 25th anniversary, and this time the Football Association of Finland (SPF) was invited. It was also decided to play the tournaments over four years, with each team playing 12 matches, four against each other team, two at home and two away. The tournament was won by Norway, but the following nine tournaments, played between 1933 and 1977, were completely dominated by Sweden which won all of them. The fourth tournament was interrupted by the Second World War, and thus was played over eleven years, from 1937 to 1947.

The tournament gained popularity after the war and the matches were important for the Nordic national teams as preparation for larger tournaments such as the World Cup and the Olympics. But the tournament lost significance in the 1970s, partially due to the increased number of matches played against other international opponents, and thus the last three tournaments played in the 1970s and 1980s varied in length and format. The last match of the 1981-1983 tournament, between Sweden and Norway, was not even played as Denmark had already won. But the match was then played in 1985 after all.

A non-recurrent edition of the tournament was played in 2000–01, to which the Football Association of Iceland and the Faroe Islands Football Association were invited. Some of the matches were played during a joint training camp in La Manga Club, Spain, and the rest were played at home, some in indoor arenas. One match, between Norway and the Faroe Islands, was never played. The tournament was won by Finland for the first time.

Results

Year	Trophy		Winner	Runner-up	3rd Place	4th Place
1924–28 Details	Jubilæumspokal		Denmark	Sweden	Norway	Only three participants
1929–32 Details	Guldkrus		Norway	Sweden	Denmark	Finland
1933–36 Details	Nordiske Pokal		Sweden	Denmark	Norway	Finland
1937–47 Details	Suomen Karhut		Sweden (2)	Denmark	Norway	Finland
1948–51 Details	DBU's Vase		Sweden (3)	Denmark	Norway	Finland
1952–55 Details	SvFF:s pokal		Sweden (4)	Norway	Denmark	Finland
1956–59 Details	Eventyr og Lek		Sweden (5)	Norway	Denmark	Finland
1960–63 Details	SPL's Pokal		Sweden (6)	Denmark	Norway	Finland
1964–67 Details	Fodboldspillere		Sweden (7)	Denmark	Finland	Norway
1968–71 Details	SvFF:s pokal		Sweden (8)	Denmark	Norway	Finland
1972–77 Details	—		Sweden (9)	Denmark	Norway	Finland
1978–80 Details	—		Denmark (2)	Sweden	Norway	Finland
1981–85 Details	—		Denmark (3)	Sweden	Norway	Finland
2000–01 Details	—		Finland	Iceland	Denmark	Norway

Summary

Source: https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nordic.html

Rank	Team	Part	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Sweden	14	147	89	26	32	382	198	+184	293
2	Denmark	14	147	75	23	49	323	218	+105	248
3	Norway	14	145	52	31	62	265	300	–35	187
4	Finland	13	137	21	24	92	150	401	–251	66
5	Iceland	1	5	3	1	1	7	5	+2	10
6	Template:Country data FAR	1	4	0	1	3	2	6	–4	1

Top scorers per tournament

Tournament	Name	Team	Goals
1924–1928	Template:Flagicon Sven Rydell	Sweden	15
1929–1932	Template:Flagicon Jørgen Juve	Norway	17
1933–1936	Template:Flagicon Pauli Jørgensen	Denmark	8
	Template:Flagicon Bertil Ericsson	Sweden
1937–1947	Template:Flagicon Gunnar Nordahl	Sweden	7
1948–1951	Template:Flagicon Egon Jönsson	Sweden	7
1952–1955	Template:Flagicon Nils-Åke Sandell	Sweden	10
1956–1959	Template:Flagicon Agne Simonsson	Sweden	7
1960–1963	Template:Flagicon Ole Madsen	Denmark	11
1964–67	Template:Flagicon Erik Dyreborg	Denmark	5
	Template:Flagicon Ole Madsen (2)	Denmark
	Template:Flagicon Tom Turesson	Sweden
1968–71	Template:Flagicon Odd Iversen	Norway	6
1972–77	Template:Flagicon Conny Torstensson	Sweden	4
1978–80	Template:Flagicon Pål Jacobsen	Norway	4
1981–85	Seven different players	Various	2
2000–01	Template:Flagicon Ríkharður Daðason	Iceland	4

All-time top scorers

	Player	Team	Goals	Tournaments
1	Pauli Jørgensen	Denmark	30	(1924-28(3), 1929-32(15), 1933-36(8) and 1937-47(4))
2	Jørgen Juve	Norway	20	(1929-32(17) and 1933-36(3))
3	Ole Madsen	Denmark	18	(1956-59(2), 1960-63(11) and 1964-67(5))
4	Sven Rydell	Sweden	17	(1924-28(15) and 1929-32(2))
5	Harald Hennum	Norway	14	(1948-51(1), 1952-55(5), 1956-59(6), 1960-63(2))
6	Gunnar Nordahl	Sweden	12	(1937-47(7) and 1948-51(5))
	Rune Börjesson			(1956-59(6) and 1960-63(6))
8	Erik Persson		11	(1933-36(5) and 1937-47(6))
	Nils-Åke Sandell			(1952-55(10) and 1956-59(1))
10	Agne Simonsson		10	(1956-59(7), 1960-63(1) and 1964-67(2))
11	Jens Peder Hansen	Denmark	9	(1948-51(2), 1952-55(5), 1956-59(2))
	Kaj Uldaler			(1929-32(5) and 1933-36(4))
	Gunnar Thoresen	Norway		(1937-47(1), 1948-51(3), 1952-55(4) and 1956-59(1))
14	Finn Berstad	Norway	8	(1924-28(8))
	Bertil Ericsson	Sweden		(1933-36(8))
	Michael Rohde	Denmark		(1924-28(7) and 1929-32(1))
	Gunnar Gren	Sweden		(1937-47(2) and 1956-59(6))
	Henning Enoksen	Denmark		(1956-59(3) and 1960-63(5))
	Knut Kroon	Sweden		(1924-28(2), 1929-32(5), 1933-36(1))
	Harry Bild			(1956-59(3), 1960-63(3) and 1964-67(2))
	Odd Iversen	Norway		(1964-67(1), 1968-71(6), 1972-77(1))

Hat-tricks

Since the first official tournament in 1924–28, 41 hat-tricks have been scored in over 100 matches of the 14 editions of the tournament. The first hat-trick was scored by Sven Rydell of Sweden, playing against Norway on 21 September 1924; and the last was by Pål Jacobsen of Norway, playing against Finland on 21 August 1980. The record number of hat-tricks in a single Nordic Football Championship is ten, during the 1929-32 edition. The only player to have scored four hat-tricks is Jørgen Juve, three in 1929-32 (in which he was the top goal scorer with 17 goals) and one in 1933–36. He is closely followed by Sven Rydell who has three (all of whom came in the inaugural edition of the competition), and the next closest are Pauli Jørgensen, Erik Persson and Gunnar Nordahl with two hat-tricks each. The record for the most goals scored in a single Nordic Championship game is 5, which has been achieved on two occasion: by Gunnar Nordahl when he scored 5 for Sweden in a 5–3 win over Norway and by Erik Dyreborg when he scored his side's 5 goals in a 5–0 win over Norway. Sweden holds the record for most hat-tricks scored with 23, which is more than half of all hat-tricks. Finland holds the record for most hat-tricks conceded with 26, having conceded more than half of all the hat-tricks scored in the competition.

List

Nordic Football Championship hat-tricks

#	Player	G	Time of goals	For	Result	Against	Tournament	Date	FIFA report
Template:Nts.	Sven Rydell	3	Template:Nts', 78', 89'	Sweden	6–1	Norway	1924–28 Nordic Football Championship	21 September 1924	Report
Template:Nts.	Sven Rydell (2)	4	Template:Nts', 42', 44', 62'		7–3			23 August 1925	Report
Template:Nts.	Sven Rydell (3)	3	Template:Nts', 23', 65'		5–3			26 June 1927	Report
Template:Nts.	Jørgen Juve	3	Template:Nts', 15', 73'	Norway	4–0	Finland	1929–32 Nordic Football Championship	18 June 1929	Report
Template:Nts.	Pauli Jørgensen	3	Template:Nts', 41', 73'	Denmark	8–0			13 October 1929	Report
Template:Nts.	Jørgen Juve (2)	3	Template:Nts', 42', 66'	Norway	6–2			1 June 1930	Report
Template:Nts.	Pauli Jørgensen (2)	3	Template:Nts', 65', 88'	Denmark	6–1	Sweden		22 June 1930	Report
Template:Nts.	Jørgen Juve (3)	3	Template:Nts', 42', 47'	Norway	3–6			6 July 1930	Report
Template:Nts.	Harry Lundahl	3	Template:Nts', 13', 48'	Sweden	6–3	Norway
Template:Nts.	Lauri Lehtinen	3	Template:Nts', 40', 41'	Finland	4–4	Sweden		28 September 1930	Report
Template:Nts.	Bertil Karlsson	3	Template:Nts', 53', 64'	Sweden	4–4	Finland
Template:Nts.	Sune Zetterberg	4	Template:Nts', 25', 30', 55'		8–2			3 July 1931	Report
Template:Nts.	Evert Hansson	3	Template:Nts', 65', 73'		8–2
Template:Nts.	Jørgen Juve (4)	3	Template:Nts', 36', 46'	Norway	5–1		1933–36 Nordic Football Championship	3 September 1933	Report
Template:Nts.	Bertil Ericsson	4	Template:Nts', 34', 61', 62'	Sweden	5–3	Denmark		17 June 1934	Report
Template:Nts.	Erik Persson	3	Template:Nts', 42', 87'		4–5	Finland		23 September 1934	Report
Template:Nts.	Odd Hoel	3	Template:Nts', 52', 62'	Norway	5-1			8 September 1935	Report
Template:Nts.	Arne Brustad	4	Template:Nts', 22', 25', 33'		9–0		1937–47 Nordic Football Championship	17 June 1938	Report
Template:Nts.	Erik Persson (2)	3	Template:Nts', 64', 67'	Sweden	5–1			9 June 1939	Report
Template:Nts.	Oskar Theisen	3	Template:Nts', 57', 89'	Denmark	8–1			17 September 1939	Report
Template:Nts.	Gunnar Nordahl	3	Template:Nts', 57', 89'	Sweden	7–0			24 August 1947	Report
Template:Nts.	Gunnar Nordahl (2)	5	Template:Nts', 44', 62', 74', 80'		5–3	Norway	1948–51 Nordic Football Championship	19 September 1948	Report
Template:Nts.	Egon Jönsson	3	Template:Nts', 9', 17'		8–1	Finland		2 October 1949	Report
Template:Nts.	Ingvar Rydell	3	Template:Nts', 75', 83'		8–1
Template:Nts.	Kjell Kristiansen	3	Template:Nts', 47', 75'	Norway	7–2		1952–55 Nordic Football Championship	31 August 1952	Report
Template:Nts.	Lars Råberg	3	Template:Nts', 48', 58'	Sweden	8–1			21 September 1952	Report
Template:Nts.	Hasse Persson	3	Template:Nts', 50', 83'		8–1
Template:Nts.	Birger Eklund	3	Template:Nts', 30', 48'		10–1			15 August 1954	Report
Template:Nts.	Kurt Hamrin	3	Template:Nts', 71', 80'		10–1
Template:Nts.	Nils-Åke Sandell	3	Template:Nts', 38', 60'		5–2	Norway		10 October 1954	Report
Template:Nts.	Gunnar Gren	3	Template:Nts', 50', 77'		5–1	Finland	1956–59 Nordic Football Championship	22 September 1957	Report
Template:Nts.	Torbjörn Jonsson	3	Template:Nts', 50', 69'		7–1			20 August 1958	Report
Template:Nts.	Harald Nielsen	3	Template:Nts', 22', 53'	Denmark	4–0			4 October 1959	Report
Template:Nts.	Rune Börjesson	3	Template:Nts', 48', 75'	Sweden	6–2	Norway		18 October 1959	Report
Template:Nts.	Jørn Sørensen	3	Template:Nts', 52', 85'	Denmark	9–1	Finland	1960–63 Nordic Football Championship	15 October 1961	Report
Template:Nts.	Ole Madsen	3	Template:Nts', 44', 87'		6–1	Norway		11 June 1962	Report
Template:Nts.	Tom Turesson	3	Template:Nts', 63', 70'	Sweden	4–2		1964–67 Nordic Football Championship	18 September 1966	Report
Template:Nts.	Erik Dyreborg	5	Template:Nts', 41', 57', 60', 63'	Denmark	5–0			24 September 1967	Report
Template:Nts.	Tommy Troelsen	3	Template:Nts', 24', 77'		5–1		1968–71 Nordic Football Championship	23 June 1968	Report
Template:Nts.	Bent Jensen	3	Template:Nts', 14', 43'		5–2	Finland		10 September 1969	Report
Template:Nts.	Pål Jacobsen	4	Template:Nts', 39', 73', 83'	Norway	6–1		1978–80 Nordic Football Championship	21 August 1980	Report

Other Competencies

Competition	Year	Champions	Runners-up	Next edition
National teams (Men's)
Nordic Football Championship	2020-21	Finland	Iceland	TBD
Nordic Under-17 Championship	2024	Sweden	Denmark	TBD
Nordic Futsal Cup	2023	Denmark	Latvia	TBD
National teams (Women's)
Women's Nordic Football Championship	1982			TBD
Women's Nordic U20 - U21 - U23 Football	2009	Template:Fbwu	Template:Fbwu	TBD
Nordic U16 - U17 Women's Football	2024	Template:Fbwu	Template:Fbwu	TBD

See also

• Women's Nordic Football Championship
• Nordic Under-20, Under-21 and Under-23 Women's Football Championship
• Nordic Under-17 Football Championship
• Nordic Under-17 Women's Football Championship
• Nordic Futsal Cup
• Royal League

References

Cited sources

Further reading

External links

• Nordic Championships at RSSSF