Elite club and national team
Goals
Quadruple attendance in women's football.
A-women should regularly reach the knockout rounds in championships.
The top league is one of Europe's six best leagues.
The Toppserien is a fully professional league in 2030.
Fivefold commercial revenue in 2030.
Insights and our strategic initiatives
With increased international competition and rapid growth in European women's football, the need for increased investment in top clubs and national teams is greater than ever.
Toppserien is our core product and offers continuity, frequency and proximity throughout the season. The league has climbed from 12th to 9th place in the UEFA rankings. At the same time, international women's football is developing faster than Norwegian football in several areas. Norwegian clubs struggle to retain and attract players of high-performance age, and the league is characterized by a low average and debut age. This creates an imbalance between import and export and weakens the league's competitiveness.
To meet this challenge, the Toppserien must take the step from a semi-professional to a fully professional league. As part of this, the league's licensing requirements are being introduced and strengthened. The licensing scheme will be used as a strategic tool to raise the quality of Norwegian women's football. Experience from men's football shows that clear licensing requirements contribute to more robust and sustainable clubs, both sportingly, organizationally and commercially. Equally important is a strengthening of the follow-up of these requirements from the NFF centrally.
In international top football, the development is largely driven by established men's clubs that invest heavily in women's football. This provides increased resources, better facilities, higher professionalism and stronger commercial frameworks. We also see this development in Norway, and several top Norwegian men's clubs have established or strengthened their women's initiatives. To further strengthen this work, a minimum requirement (license) will be introduced from 2027 for all clubs in the Eliteserien and the OBOS league to also invest in women's football. In addition, incentives will be introduced to encourage more NTF clubs to increase their investment in women's football, including through NTF clubs that offer academies (AK).
The Norwegian women's national team has qualified for every World Cup and European Championship in every year. In Euro 2025, the team secured full points in the group stage for the first time in history and reached the first quarter-finals in twelve years. After the championship, the Norwegian Football Federation, in collaboration with Olympiatoppen, conducted an evaluation among players and support staff. International benchmark analyses have also been carried out to compare the total offer given to the women’s national team with the level of leading nations. The evaluation shows that the offer to the women's national team today is good, which gives the team good conditions for success. At the same time, there are certain areas that can be further strengthened in the pursuit of margins.
To strengthen Norwegian women's football internationally, we are working in close collaboration with UEFA and FIFA. NFF will be represented in UEFA's and FIFA's Women's Committee, and with football president Lise Klaveness in the UEFA ExCo, Norwegian women's football will have a clear voice in international decision-making processes. Toppserien is included in UEFA's "Professional Leagues Programme", together with the largest European women's leagues. FIFA offers both expertise and financial investments in Norwegian women's football through the FIFA Women's Development Programme.
Attack
Tightened licensing requirements for top clubs
As recommended in the selection report, stricter licensing requirements will be introduced in the Toppserien starting in 2026. This includes, among other things:
- Requirements for stadiums with valid FIFA Quality Pro certification for artificial turf, sufficient irrigation, underfloor heating and changing room facilities on par with the top two divisions of men's football.
- Minimum 18 players on professional contracts in the Toppserien from the 2026 season.
- Gradual phasing in of a full license for the 1st division women, with requirements that strengthen professionalization and prepare the clubs for promotion to the Toppserien by 2030.
- In the long term, requirements for female coaches in the support staff will be introduced as part of the licensing system, in line with the goal of better gender balance in top-flight football by 2030.
We will also consider investigating the following new licensing requirements:
- Increase the number of seats in the main arena, for example from 300 to 800, with at least a third under cover, in line with the goal of quadrupling the number of spectators.
- A possible future requirement for floodlights from 2030.
- To establish minimum standards for matchday production (lights, sound, speakers, merch, fan zone, etc.). This will be investigated in consultation with TFK and the top clubs.
The goal is to ensure a sustainable and professional club structure that raises the level of Norwegian women's football and creates better development environments for players, coaches and managers.
Licensing requirements and incentive schemes for women's football in top men's clubs
We will encourage the top clubs on the men's side of Norwegian football to also invest in top women's football in the coming period. This will be done through a combination of licensing requirements and financial incentives.
Starting in 2027, a licensing requirement will be introduced that ensures that all clubs in the Eliteserien and the OBOS league focus on women's football. This means that the clubs, either in their own club or through a formalized cooperation agreement, must have an A-team for women and three youth teams (12-21 years old). Cooperation agreements must provide real sporting and organizational added value for the girls' and women's initiative.
NFF will also earmark funds to be used as incentives for NTF clubs that invest, and increase their investment, in women's football. We aim to earmark funds through the cooperation agreement between NFF, NTF and TFK, including for clubs that offer joint academies.
To support the clubs in their work, information will be collected on how the clubs can create synergies for women and men, both sportingly and commercially.
Midfield
Strengthen the resources of the women's national team
To ensure that the women's national team has the best possible conditions, we are implementing the following measures:
- Strengthening the support staff, through several key appointments.
- Olympiatoppen is following the team closely until 2027 to further develop a high-performance environment.
- The planned national training facility will give the national teams a big boost when they gather in Norway.
- The possibility of taking more players out for training camps between championships to build a broader pool of relevant players.
- We strive to offer better arrangements for matches played at arenas other than Ullevaal, through closer dialogue and follow-up with the host clubs.
Strengthened player logistics and recruitment
In recent years, the top league has had significantly lower imports of foreign players and high exports of Norwegian talents, which weakens the league's quality and attractiveness.
To reverse this development, a national player logistics program is being established in collaboration between the Norwegian Football Federation, Toppfotball Kvinner (TFK) and Norsk Toppfotball (NTF). The program involves:
- Joint player logistics and scouting tool for clubs in the Toppserien and 1st division, modeled after the men's side.
- A joint insight platform is being established where NFF, TFK and NTF collaborate on data, resource use and technical solutions for analysis and reporting.
The goal is to increase the quality of players brought into Norwegian football, and contribute to a more sustainable player economy where transfers generate increased income that can be reinvested in development and professionalization.
Women’s Top Division in Futsal
In cooperation with the Futsal League Association, the NFF has assessed the establishment of a national top division in women’s futsal. The assessment concludes that a top division would be an important and necessary next step to strengthen development, recruitment, and gender equality in Norwegian women’s futsal, as well as to provide players, coaches, and referees with a clear and sustainable elite platform. The league is planned to launch in the 2026/27 season, as a national competition consisting of eight teams, based on a model that is sporting fair, financially sustainable, and administratively feasible. The league will be evaluated annually during the first seasons.
Defense
The level between the top and the grassroots: 2nd division women
The 2nd division for women should be a defined development arena and a clear bridge to top football. The 2nd division is today an important arena for many of our most promising youth players, as there is no national age-specific series for girls like there is on the boys' side. In order to strengthen the levels and ensure development both towards the top and across the board, there is a need for closer cooperation between the federation, the regions and the interest organizations.
The level currently faces challenges related to a lack of national support, uneven sporting quality, limited club structures and the absence of a comprehensive commercial focus. Follow-up is currently carried out through regional structures, with great variation in practice.
To strengthen the level, the NFF must have coordinators centrally responsible for sporting and commercial follow-up. In the long term, it may be appropriate for the 2nd division clubs to be integrated into an interest organization. This requires investigation and anchoring.
The report "Bridge 2.0" can be read on the NFF website.
International cooperation and influence
Norway has a strong position internationally, which is why we have succeeded in getting the UEFA Women's Champions League final at Ullevaal in 2026. We are also considering applying for other women's events in the coming years.
The top league is part of UEFA's "Professional Leagues Programme", together with the largest European women's leagues. The programme focuses on sporting, economic, organisational and commercial development. We are also entering into strategic cooperation agreements (MoUs) with Germany and up to two additional nations to ensure knowledge sharing and development for women's football.
In the work of developing this Game Plan, the NFF has entered into close collaboration with FIFA, which through the FIFA Women's Development Programme has also contributed significant investments in our initiatives and the provision of expert expertise.
International work with girls and women
NFF has been involved in international development work for 25 years, with the goal of giving groups that have limited access to grassroots football the opportunity to participate. Norway has one of the world's highest percentages of girls in grassroots football and NFF has solid experience in developing football opportunities for girls. NFF has both a solidarity responsibility and an opportunity to share this knowledge.
In the period 2025-2027, NFF will receive NOK 29 million in support from Norad to strengthen girls' football in the Middle East and North Africa. The work is aimed at educating female coaches and managers, as well as developing lasting structures for girls' football. NFF also wants to expand its portfolio to Eastern Europe through EEA-funded projects. The goal is to apply for funding for five countries during 2026.
Toppserien league rank
A-women FIFA ranking
Priority tasks from the NFF's strategy
Encourage more top men's clubs to invest in top women's football, and consider introducing licensing requirements for such investments.
Work purposefully to ensure that the facilities in top women's football have a standard that meets the goals of professionalism and good audience experiences.
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