Martin Odegaard's Goal Sparks Hope for Norway at World Cup
Martin Odegaard walked off into the humid American night with sweat on his shirt, a goal to his name and, at long last, a sense that his body is finally starting to listen to him again.
Norway’s captain struck the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Morocco in their final World Cup warm-up in the United States, a neat finish that did more than just rescue a result. It felt like a line in the sand after months of grinding through pain.
Knee trouble, clarity at last
For the final three months of Arsenal’s season, Odegaard carried a knee problem that first flared in the 1-1 draw at Brentford in February. He kept playing, kept starting, even in the Champions League final defeat to PSG in Budapest, but every sprint and twist came with a cost.
On Sunday, speaking to TV2 after scoring against the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists, he sounded lighter.
“It felt good. I've been struggling with my knee for a while,” he said. “I feel like it's starting to ease now and I feel like it's been good for a while. My physical shape is good. It was hot out here, but I felt like I was getting better outside.”
For Arsenal, that is a reassuring bulletin. For Norway, it is a potential game-changer.
From Budapest to a World Cup return
The Champions League final is now in the rear-view mirror. Arsenal’s captain has switched fully into national-team mode, fronting a Norway side about to step onto the World Cup stage for the first time since 1998.
Group I offers a demanding but enticing mix: Iraq, Senegal and France. Norway open against Iraq next week, and Odegaard heads into that fixture with rhythm and confidence, his goal against Morocco his fifth at international level.
The celebration told its own story. After scoring, he turned to the touchline and held up four fingers towards head coach Stale Solbakken, a playful nod to the manager’s own tally of nine international goals for Norway.
“Now there are only four left. We are getting closer!” Odegaard said, smiling. The message is clear: the captain intends to close that gap.
Solbakken has long urged him to add more goals to his craft and control. Right now, the numbers are moving in the right direction.
Finding his feet on American turf
Not everything came easily in the US heat. The pitches have been a talking point all camp, and Odegaard admitted the surface caught him out.
“The one I gave away was ugly, luckily I got it fixed again,” he said of a loose moment in possession. “It was a bit loose, and I was a bit unfamiliar with the bounce on the field and such. Maybe I can blame it a bit, but I think we worked our way into the game and got better as we went along. We could have won in the end.”
That last line will linger. Norway, like Morocco, arrive at this World Cup carrying that dangerous tag: dark-horses, talented enough to unsettle the established order, unproven enough to be ignored at others’ peril.
Odegaard’s knee has been a worry for club and country for months. Now, with the World Cup finally in sight and the pain receding, the question shifts from whether he can play to how far he can drag this Norway side when the real thing starts.
