Norway have exceeded expectations at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and captain Martin Ødegaard has been key to their success.
Norway have reached the quarter-finals of a men’s major tournament for the first time in their history.
Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, they were tipped by many to be one of the tournament’s ‘dark horses’, though surely nobody expected them to be making quite such easy work of things.
In fact, Norway have had the toughest route to the quarter-finals at this tournament according to the Opta Power Ratings.
World Cup 2026 toughest routes to quarter-finals - Opta
Of course, it helps when you have 6-foot-5 generational goal scorer Erling Haaland leading the line, but football is a team sport – and behind every strong team is an influential captain.
Enter, Martin Ødegaard: the quiet architect behind Norway’s rise.
It was always expected that Ødegaard would become a star. In 2014, aged just 15, he made his senior international debut for Norway.
His club career started at Strømsgodset, where he first trained with the first team at the ridiculous age of 13, and quickly began making a name for himself as one of the most exciting youngsters in world football.
It wasn’t long before someone snapped him up, and that someone was Real Madrid, who reached an agreement for a fee of around £2.7 million in 2015.
At this point in his career, Ødegaard had a huge amount of pressure on his young shoulders, and he struggled to live up to the heights that Los Blancos had envisioned for him.
A search for stability and first-team football resulted in loan spells at Heerenveen, Vitesse, Real Sociedad and Arsenal – and it was in north London where Ødegaard finally found a place he could call home.
Mikel Arteta took Ødegaard under his wing and helped fulfil his journey from a struggling wonderkid to a top-class captain.
Now, alongside Manchester City star Haaland, the two Norway stars have guided their country to a first-ever World Cup quarter-final.
Unsurprisingly, it’s Haaland – currently third in the World Cup Golden Boot race – who has stolen the Norwegian headlines at the 2026 World Cup so far.
But we need to give Ødegaard his flowers.
He leads the way for Norway in several different metrics at the tournament so far and has been a key cog in Ståle Solbakken’s system.
Ødegaard is an integral part of their ball progression and has completed more carries than any other Norway player (104). He is an extremely positive footballer who will always try and take the ball up the pitch wherever possible.
Martin Ødegaard carries World Cup 2026 - Opta
No room to carry? No problem. Ødegaard’s progressive passing numbers for Norway are also the highest of the entire squad.
He leads the way for passes ending in the final third (102), successful passes in the opposition half (139), successful passes into the opposition box (20), and through balls (2).
Ødegaard has also played a big role in the direct penetration of opposition defences, having played the most passes breaking the defensive line of any Norway player (seven). In fact, no player at the entire tournament can better that tally.
Martin Ødegaard defensive line-breaking passes 2026 World Cup - Opta
His impact hasn’t gone unnoticed by those in the game. Following Norway’s 2-1 win over Brazil, Vinícius Júnior highlighted Ødegaard’s impact, saying: “Was our tactical plan to let Norway dominate possession and try to do counter-attacks? No, that wasn’t our plan at all.
“Norway surprised us. They moved very well, they controlled the game, as Ødegaard always does, and we couldn’t figure out the timing to press them and win the ball back.”
Ødegaard finished the Brazil game with 101 successful passes – only teammate Sander Berge (117) made more, while his tally was almost three times higher than any Brazilian in the match.
Martin Ødegaard Passes vs Brazil
It’s not just worthless passes being made, either: Ødegaard’s three assists at the 2026 World Cup are the joint-most by a Norwegian player alongside Andreas Schjelderup.
Against Ivory Coast, he became only the third player on record (from 1966) to assist a goal in each of his first three World Cup appearances after Igor Belanov for USSR in 1986 and Michael Ballack for Germany in 2002.
And removing the context of this being his debut World Cup tournament, Ødegaard also became the first player to assist a goal in three consecutive World Cup games for 16 years (Dirk Kuijt in 2010).
Ødegaard is more than just an elite passer, though – he works very hard out of possession, too.
At the 2026 World Cup, he has led the Norway press, applying more high-intensity pressures in the opposition half (83) and more high-intensity counter-pressures (24) than any other teammate.
Martin Ødegaard opposition half pressures 2026 World Cup - Opta
His off-the-ball work is something that manager Solbakken greatly appreciates.
Speaking to the press, he said: “He’s never been a number 10 with Norway, he’s always been a two-way player, being influential in all phases.
“He’s always working hardest, covering ground and sprints. He’s the first defender. He’s the trigger. He decides if we’re playing a 4-1-4-1 in defence, or if we’re playing 4-4-2. He reads the play and sets the tone.”
Ødegaard is the captain of both Norway and Arsenal, and while he isn’t your traditional vocal skipper who shouts at and riles up his players, he’s a perfect example of a modern-day leader and the closest a team can get to having a manager on the football pitch.
An injury-riddled domestic campaign, coupled with some muted performances when he has been available, has led to a section of the Arsenal fanbase seemingly becoming open to the idea of selling their captain.
Despite this, he still produced the joint-most assists for the Gunners in the Premier League last season with six, level with Leandro Trossard.
Arsenal Assist Table 2025-29 Premier League - Opta
He only played 1,370 minutes in the 2025-26 Premier League season, the 13th-most in the Arsenal squad, but his per-90 numbers still shine.
Per 90, Ødegaard created the most chances (2.6), completed the second-most carries (21.4, behind only Max Dowman), and averaged the most successful passes ending in the final third (26.2).
He wasn’t always available, but when he did play, he made an impact, ending the season by lifting the Premier League trophy.
The next test for Ødegaard and his side at the 2026 World Cup is a date in the quarter-finals with England.
According to the Opta supercomputer’s 25,000 pre-match simulations, they could be packing their bags. Norway were eliminated by the Three Lions on 62.3% of occasions.
Though unlikely, far stranger things have happened in football, and if Ødegaard keeps performing the way he has been, an upset could be on the cards at the Miami Stadium on Saturday.
FIFA World Cup Stats Opta
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