Association football
Association football, more known as football or soccer, is a team sport played with a spherical ball between two teams of eleven players. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport; the game is played on a rectangular field called a pitch with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by moving the ball beyond the goal line into the opposing goal. Association football is one of a family of football codes, which emerged from various ball games played worldwide since antiquity; the modern game traces its origins to 1863 when the Laws of the Game were codified in England by The Football Association. Players are not allowed to touch the ball with hands or arms while it is in play, except for the goalkeepers within the penalty area. Other players use their feet to strike or pass the ball, but may use any other part of their body except the hands and the arms; the team that scores most goals by the end of the match wins.
If the score is level at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shootout depending on the format of the competition. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, which organises World Cups for both men and women every four years; the rules of association football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time rugby football. The first written "reference to the inflated ball used in the game" was in the mid-14th century: "Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe"; the Online Etymology Dictionary states that the "rules of the game" were made in 1848, before the "split off in 1863". The term soccer comes from a slang or jocular abbreviation of the word "association", with the suffix "-er" appended to it; the word soccer was first recorded in 1889 in the earlier form of socca.
Within the English-speaking world, association football is now called "football" in the United Kingdom and "soccer" in Canada and the United States. People in countries where other codes of football are prevalent may use either term, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now use "football" for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is evidence. Cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net, it was remarkably similar to modern football. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established. Phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup. Athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda and harpastum were played involving hands and violence.
They all appear to have resembled rugby football and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified "mob football", the antecedent of all modern football codes, these three games involved more handling the ball than kicking. Other games included kemari in chuk-guk in Korea. Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other ball games played around the world FIFA has recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe; the modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the varying forms of football played in the public schools of England. The history of football in England dates back to at least the eighth century AD; the Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Rugby and Shrewsbury schools.
They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football; some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School devised an influential set of rules; these ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London. The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse; the Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand.
Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are positioned on the field between their team's defenders and forwards; some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role, breaking up attacks, are otherwise known as defensive midfielders. Others blur the boundaries, being more mobile and efficient in passing: they are referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box, or holding midfielders; the number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the team's formation. Most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing team's attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who travel the greatest distance during a match; because midfielders arguably have the most possession during a game they are among the fittest players on the pitch. Central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided equally between attack and defence and to dominate the play around the centre of the pitch.
These players will try to pass the ball to the team's attacking midfielders and forwards and may help their team's attacks by making runs into the opposition's penalty area and attempting shots on goal themselves. When the opposing team has the ball, a central midfielder may drop back to protect the goal or move forward and press the opposition ball-carrier to recover the ball. A centre midfielder defending their goal will move in front of their centre-backs in order to block long shots by the opposition and track opposition midfielders making runs towards the goal; the 4–3–3 and 4–5–1 formations each use three central midfielders. The 4−4−2 formation may use two central midfielders, in the 4–2–3–1 formation one of the two deeper midfielders may be a central midfielder; the term box-to-box midfielder refers to central midfielders who are hard-working and who have good all-round abilities, which makes them skilled at both defending and attacking. These players can therefore track back to their own box to make tackles and block shots and run to the opponents' box to try to score.
The change of trends and the deviation from the standard 4–4–2 formation to the 4–2–3–1 formation imposed restrictions on the typical box-to-box midfielders of the 80s, as teams' two midfield roles were now divided into "holders" or "creators". Notable examples of box-to-box midfielders are Bastian Schweinsteiger, Yaya Touré, Radja Nainggolan. Left and right midfielders have a role balanced between attack and defence, similar to that of central midfielders, but they are positioned closer to the touchlines of the pitch, they may be asked to cross the ball into the opponents' penalty area to make scoring chances for their teammates, when defending they may put pressure on opponents who are trying to cross. Common modern formations that include left and right midfielders are the 4−4−2, the 4−4−1−1, the 4–2–3–1 and the 4−5−1 formations. Jonathan Wilson describes the development of the 4−4−2 formation: "…the winger became a wide midfielder, a shuttler, somebody who might be expected to cross a ball but was meant to put in a defensive shift."
Notable examples of wide midfielders are Ryan Giggs. The historic position of wing-half was given to midfielders, it became obsolete as wide players with defensive duties have tended to become more a part of the defence as full-backs. Defensive midfielders are midfield players; these players may defend a zone in front of their team's defence, or man mark specific opposition attackers. Defensive midfielders may move to the full-back or centre-back positions if those players move forward to join in an attack. Sergio Busquets described his attitude: "The coach knows that I am an obedient player who likes to help out and if I have to run to the wing to cover someone's position, great." A good defensive midfielder needs good positional awareness, anticipation of opponent's play, tackling, interceptions and great stamina and strength. A holding or deep-lying midfielder stays close to their team's defence, while other midfielders may move forward to attack; the holding midfielder may have responsibilities when their team has the ball.
This player will make short and simple passes to more attacking members of their team but may try some more difficult passes depending on the team's strategy. Marcelo Bielsa is considered as a pioneer for the use of a holding midfielder in defence; this position may be seen in the 4 -- 2 -- 3 -- 4 -- 4 -- 2 diamond formations. A defensive midfielder, or "destroyer", a playmaker, or "creator", were fielded alongside each other as a team's two holding central midfielders; the destroyer was responsible for making tackles, regaining possession, distributing the ball to the creator, while the creator was responsible for retaining possession and keeping the ball moving with long passes out to the flanks, in the manner of a more old-fashioned deep-lying playmaker or "regista". Early examples of a destroyer are Nobby Stiles, Herbert Wimmer, Marco Tardelli, while examples include Claude Makélélé and Javier Mascherano, although several of these players possessed qualities of other types of midfielders, were therefore not confined to a single role.
Early examples of a creator would be Gérson, Glenn Hoddle, Sunday Oliseh, while more recent examples Xabi Alonso, Michael Carrick. The latest and third type of holding midfielder developed as a box-to-box midfielder, or "carrier", neither destructive nor creative, capable of winning b
Norway
Norway the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the kingdom. Norway lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land. Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres and a population of 5,312,300; the country shares a long eastern border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, the Skagerrak strait to the south, with Denmark on the other side. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the Barents Sea. Harald V of the House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway. Erna Solberg has been prime minister since 2013. A unitary sovereign state with a constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the parliament, the cabinet and the supreme court, as determined by the 1814 constitution; the kingdom was established in 872 as a merger of a large number of petty kingdoms and has existed continuously for 1,147 years.
From 1537 to 1814, Norway was a part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway, from 1814 to 1905, it was in a personal union with the Kingdom of Sweden. Norway was neutral during the First World War. Norway remained neutral until April 1940 when the country was invaded and occupied by Germany until the end of Second World War. Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels: counties and municipalities; the Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act. Norway maintains close ties with both the United States. Norway is a founding member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Free Trade Association, the Council of Europe, the Antarctic Treaty, the Nordic Council. Norway maintains the Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system, its values are rooted in egalitarian ideals; the Norwegian state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, having extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, lumber and fresh water.
The petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside of the Middle East; the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World IMF lists. On the CIA's GDP per capita list which includes autonomous territories and regions, Norway ranks as number eleven, it has the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, with a value of US$1 trillion. Norway has had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world since 2009, a position held between 2001 and 2006, it had the highest inequality-adjusted ranking until 2018 when Iceland moved to the top of the list. Norway ranked first on the World Happiness Report for 2017 and ranks first on the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity, the Democracy Index. Norway has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Norway has two official names: Norge in Noreg in Nynorsk; the English name Norway comes from the Old English word Norþweg mentioned in 880, meaning "northern way" or "way leading to the north", how the Anglo-Saxons referred to the coastline of Atlantic Norway similar to scientific consensus about the origin of the Norwegian language name.
The Anglo-Saxons of Britain referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. There is some disagreement about whether the native name of Norway had the same etymology as the English form. According to the traditional dominant view, the first component was norðr, a cognate of English north, so the full name was Norðr vegr, "the way northwards", referring to the sailing route along the Norwegian coast, contrasting with suðrvegar "southern way" for, austrvegr "eastern way" for the Baltic. In the translation of Orosius for Alfred, the name is Norðweg, while in younger Old English sources the ð is gone. In the 10th century many Norsemen settled in Northern France, according to the sagas, in the area, called Normandy from norðmann, although not a Norwegian possession. In France normanni or northmanni referred to people of Sweden or Denmark; until around 1800 inhabitants of Western Norway where referred to as nordmenn while inhabitants of Eastern Norway where referred to as austmenn. According to another theory, the first component was a word nór, meaning "narrow" or "northern", referring to the inner-archipelago sailing route through the land.
The interpretation as "northern", as reflected in the English and Latin forms of the name, would have been due to folk etymology. This latter view originated with philologist Niels Halvorsen Trønnes in 1847; the form Nore is still used in placenames such as the village of Nore and lake Norefjorden in Buskerud county, still has the same meaning. Among other arguments in favour of the theor
Eliteserien
Eliteserien is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 1. Divisjon. Seasons run from March to November with each team playing 30 matches. Most games are played on Sunday evenings. Eliteserien was founded in 1937 as Norgesserien, the first season was the 1937–38 season; the structure and organisation of Eliteserien along with Norway's other football leagues have undergone frequent changes right up to the present day. Starting with the 2017 season the league is called Eliteserien after NFF decided to drop the sponsor name from the name of the league after the 2016 season; the broadcasting rights were in December 2015 secured by Discovery Networks who signed a six-year deal giving them rights to broadcast all the 240 games in Eliteserien from 2017 to 2023. The deal was worth; the league generates NOK 400 million per year in domestic television rights.
Sixteen clubs have won the title since the inception of the league in 1937: Rosenborg, Viking, Lillestrøm, Vålerenga, Larvik Turn, Lyn, Strømsgodset, Fram Larvik, Moss and Stabæk. In 2010, Rosenborg became, still remain, the only club to complete an Eliteserien campaign without losing a single game; the record of most points in a season is 71 by Molde in 2014. Since its establishment as a one-group top flight in 1963, forty-seven clubs have competed in Eliteserien. Before 1937, there was no national league competition in Norway. Starting in 1937–38, the various regional leagues in Southern Norway were aligned into eight districts, with a championship playoff between the winners to crown a national champion; this competition was called Norgesserien. In the early years, the top flight teams were divided into eleven groups from eight districts; the league champion was decided in either a knockout tournament or a final between the winners of these groups. Fredrikstad was the first champions of the league, winning the 1937–38 season.
They won the two-legged final against Lyn 4–0 on aggregate. Fredrikstad defended their title in the 1938–39 season. From the 1937–38 season and until the beginning of World War II, the teams were divided into eight district groups. There were plans at the time to merge the district leagues into a national competition, but because of World War II, this process was delayed until after the war, although the first post-war season in 1947–48 had eleven district-based groups. In 1948, Hovedserien was created, consisting of the 16 top teams from the district leagues, who were placed into two groups of eight, with the group winners playing a two-legged final for the national championship at the end of the season; this format was in place from the 1948–49 season until 1960–61, when it was decided to merge the two groups into a single top division, have the season follow the calendar year from 1963 onwards. The 1950s were dominated by Larvik Turn. Fredrikstad won their latest league title in 1960–61, which secured their ninth title out of sixteen possible.
Larvik Turn won Hovedserien three times in four seasons from 1955–56. The 1961–62 season was played during 15 months; the teams from the two groups in the 1960–61 top division were put in one group consisting of 16 teams. The 1961–62 season became a transitional season, where the 16 top-flight teams were placed in a single group, playing a season that went on for 15 months and one half of its teams were relegated. Still known as Hovedserien, the 1961–62 season is referred to as Maratonserien due to its unusual length, and was won by Brann. In 1963, a single top division containing ten teams was introduced, the league was renamed 1. Divisjon; the first regular one-league season was played spring-autumn and was won by title defenders Brann in 1963. The league was expanded to 12 teams in 1972. Teams from Northern Norway were not allowed to gain promotion to the top division before 1972, were subject to stricter promotion rules than teams from the rest of Norway until 1979. Viking won the league four consecutive seasons beginning in 1972.
Lillestrøm won back-to-back titles in 1976 and 1977. In 1979 teams from Northern Norway were given the same promotion rights as the rest of the country. In the beginning of the 1980s, Vålerengen were the dominant team, with their titles from 1981, 1983 and 1984. In 1990, the league was renamed Tippeligaen, after Norsk Tipping, the main sponsor of the league since then. However, unofficially the league was still known as 1. Divisjon by most people, and ahead of the 1991-season it was decided to let the second level league of Norwegian football "inherit" the name 1. Divisjon to help Tippeligaen establish as a brand. Rosenborg of Trondheim won the first year the league bore the name Tippeligaen in 1990. Followed by a win by Viking of Stavanger in 1991. In 1992, Rosenborg started a run of 13 consecutive titles. During the first years of Rosenborg's thirteen-year run, they won the league with substantial margins, only challenged by Bodø/Glimt, Lillestrøm and Brann. However, this was narrowing down towards a dramatic finish in 2004, where the Trondheim team tied with Vålerenga of Oslo in game points and on goal difference, but finished ahead on number of goals scored.
However, in 2005 the winning streak came to an end as
FK Bodø/Glimt
FK Bodø/Glimt is a Norwegian football club from the town of Bodø that plays in Eliteserien, the Norwegian top division. The club was founded in 1916, its nickname is the original club name: Glimt. Bodø/Glimt have won the Northern Norwegian Cup nine times, Norwegian Cup twice and finished second in the Norwegian top division in 1977, 1993 and 2003. Glimt is known for the yellow kits and the huge yellow toothbrushes that the supporters carry to the matches — a supporter symbol from the 1970s. In the beginning of the 2000s, Bodø/Glimt was one of the top teams in Norway, but was relegated at the end of the 2005 season. After two years, on 12 November 2007, the team returned to the top division again, following a 4–2 aggregate victory over Odd Grenland in a promotion playoff, their supporters are known as "Den Gule Horde". While other towns in Nordland county like Narvik, Mo i Rana and Mosjøen had started their football clubs earlier, the larger town of Bodø was without a major football club until the latter part of 1916.
The new club was founded as Football Club Glimt. One of the founders was Erling Tjærandsen, who became the club's first club president and an honorary club member. Glimt's first match was against Bodø Highschool. In 1919 Glimt won their first title: County Champions of Nordland. In the 1920s, Glimt suffered from poor finances. At one point, there were talks about merging Glimt into the Ski Club B. & O. I, but following discussions, the intentions were not carried through; the club received an infusion of new encouragement through visiting footballing stars and coaches from southern Norway such as Jørgen Juve in 1929. In the 1930s Glimt began training indoors in order to reduce the impact of the severe arctic winters; this new approach in the late 1920s and early 1930s yielded some positive results, Glimt have since been a top club in Northern Norway and in Norway overall since the 1970s. Teams from Northern Norway were not allowed to compete in the Norwegian cup-competition until 1963. In their first appearance in the Norwegian FA cup in 1963, Bodø/Glimt managed to get as far as the fourth round after a home win 7–1 over Nordil, two away wins.
The first beating Nidelv and a mighty win over Rosenborg. In the fourth round, Glimt had to play this time against Frigg from Oslo. Frigg won Glimt was out of the Cup. However, Bodø/Glimt had proven that teams from Northern Norway could play at the same level as the southern teams, it was not until 1972 that northern teams had the right to gain promotion to the Norwegian top division. This was due to the old belief that the teams from Nordland and Finnmark could not compete at the same level as the southern teams. Bodø/Glimt is one of three teams from Northern Norway that have played in the Norwegian top division, the others being Tromsø and Mjølner. From 1973 Norway had three second divisions: two divisions for the southern teams and one for the northern teams. Bodø/Glimt took three years to gain due to the promotion rules; the first place holders in the two southern divisions gained instant promotion, but the first place holder in the northern second division had to compete in play-off matches against the two second place holders from the south.
The league-system made a lot of bitterness in the north. This bitterness worsened in 1975 when Bodø/Glimt, as the first club form Northern-Norway, won the Norwegian Cup, but did not gain promotion due to the special play-off rules for the North-Norwegian clubs. In the 1974 and 1975 season, Bodø/Glimt still lost in the play-offs. In 1976, Bodø/Glimt managed at last to beat the league-system with a 4–0 win over Odd and a 1–1 draw against Lyn, making Glimt the second North-Norwegian team to gain promotion to the top division, after FK Mjølner's promotion in 1971. Not until the late 1970s the Norwegian Football Association changed the promotion rules, the play-off matches for Northern clubs were dropped. From on there was no difference where a club had its home-ground. After a glorious top-division debut in 1977 — second place in the league and the cup, both against Lillestrøm — Bodø/Glimt played four seasons at the top level before relegation in 1980, finishing last at 12th place; the 1980s were the darkest hours in the club history, with Bodø/Glimt playing in the 2nd division and the regional 3rd division.
For a couple of years in the mid-1980s, they weren't the best team in Bodø, with rivals Grand Bodø surpassing them in the standings. But the tide turned in 1991. With coach Jan Muri in charge, Glimt was promoted to 1st division; the following season they hired Trond Sollied as coach, the team won the 1st division in the 1992 season. At last, in 1993, Bodø/Glimt was back in the top-division, as in the debut season of 1977 they took second place in the league; this time they managed to win the cup final. The Cup-Championship was the crowning of three remarkable seasons, going from 2nd division to 2nd place in the top-division in only three years — an achievement seen in the Norwegian league system. Since the reentering in the top-division Bodø/Glimt have had a rather strange performance-chart. A good league performance one season have been followed with nearly relegation the next season is illustrated with the 1993 and 1994 seasons when Glimt won the cup and became league runners-up, in 1994 a better goal-difference allowed Bodø/Glimt to stay in the top division.
Another example of the rollercoaster ride of Bodø/Glimt league performan
Norwegian Football Cup
The Norwegian Football Cup is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country; the tournament is known as Cupen or NM, an acronym formed from Norgesmesterskap. These terms are used to describe women's competitions; the equivalent competition for women's teams is the Norwegian Women's Football Cup. The Norwegian Football Cup is a national championship, meaning that while the Eliteserien may be the most prestigious competition to win, it is the winners of the Cup who are awarded the title "Norwegian football champions"; this differs from, for example, English football, where the winners of the FA Premier League are the ones who become English champions. Winners receive the King's trophy. Winners qualify for the Europa League second qualifying round and a place in the Mesterfinalen, the Norwegian super cup match; the current Norwegian champions and holders of the cup are Rosenborg, who defeated Strømsgodset 4–1 in the 2018 final.
Odd and Rosenborg are the most successful clubs with 12 titles each. The first cup was played in 1902, Oscar II presented the King's Cup to the inaugural tournament; this was an invitation tournament organised by Kristiania IF and the Norwegian Football Association, given official status. Five teams joined the competition, Odd reached the final without playing a match. Grane won the first Norwegian Cup after they defeated Odd 2 -- 0 at Kristiania; the first tournament who had official status at the time of the events was the 1904 Norwegian Cup and was won by Odd. In the beginning, the cup was open for county champions only; this continued until 1933. Due to the outbreak of World War II, the competition was not played between the 1940 and 1945 editions; the competition was not nationwide until 1963. 1963 was the first year clubs from Northern Norway were allowed to participate, this was due to a poor communication system in the northern parts of Norway and to the belief that the clubs in the three northern counties could not compete on the same level as the southern clubs.
Until 1963, teams from Northern Norway their own Northern Norwegian Championships. Before the 2004 cup final, NRK awarded the 1986 final between Tromsø and Lillestrøm with the title Tidenes Cupfinale, ex-Rosenborg striker Gøran Sørloth with Tidenes Cuphelt; the final has been played at Ullevaal Stadion since the 1948 cup final. Before the proper rounds take place, two qualifying rounds are played in April. 176 clubs from tier 4 and 5 enter the first qualifying round and 44 of these advance to the first round where they are joined by 84 teams from tiers 1, 2 and 3. The first round of the cup are played in April, around the same time as the Eliteserien season starts; the first two rounds are set up by the Norwegian Football Association, the top flight teams are pitted against weak amateur teams in rural areas, on the amateur team's home pitch. Early upsets, where an amateur team knocks a professional team out of the tournament do happen occasionally. For example, in 2012 the Eliteserien teams Sandnes Ulf and Sogndal were knocked out in the first round by the third division teams Staal Jørpeland IL and Florø SK respectively.
If the amateur team loses, squaring off against a professional team may well be the highlight of their season. From the third round to the semi-final, matchups are drawn at random, the teams face off once, the winner goes on to the next round; the final match is played at Ullevaal Stadium in November or December, takes place near the end of the Norwegian football season. The cup is popular in Norway, tickets for the final match are hard to get hold of, as the game sells out quickly; the supporters of the two teams playing in the final match are seated at the two short-ends of the pitch, while the more neutral supporters are seated by the long-ends. The match is televised on national television. Most entrants from level 4 and all entrants from level 5 have to play to qualifying rounds to join the competition proper. Reserve teams of Eliteserien clubs, who are eligible to play in 2. Divisjon can not enter. Depending of the number of reserve teams, the first round proper will be filled with the best clubs from level 4 until the number of teams from levels 1–4 is 84.
Clubs from higher levels are added in the first round, as per the table below. The months in which rounds are played are traditional, with exact dates subject to each year's calendar. In all rounds, if a fixture result in a draw after normal time, the winner is settled by a period of extra time, if still necessary, a penalty shootout. Earlier, fixtures resulting in a draw would go to a replay, played at the venue of the away team; the first Cup Final to go to a replay was the 1945 final, between Fredrikstad. The initial tie finished 1–1 and the first replay finished 1–1. Lyn won the second replay 4–0; the only other time the final has taken three matches to settle was the 1965 final between Oslo rivals Skeid and Frigg. The last replayed final was the 1995 Cup Final, when Brann fought a 1 -- 1 draw; the replay saw Rosenborg win the Cup, with the score 3–1. The first final to be decided by a penalty shootout was the 2009 final between Aalesund; the score ended 1 -- 1 after 2 -- 2 after extra time. Aalesund w
