Nordic Football Championship
The Nordic Football Championship 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, Norwegian and Swedish Football Association 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 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.
Summary
Source: https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nordic.html| Rank | Team | Part | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| 1 | 14 | 147 | 89 | 26 | 32 | 382 | 198 | +184 | 293 | |
| 2 | 14 | 147 | 75 | 23 | 49 | 323 | 218 | +105 | 248 | |
| 3 | 14 | 145 | 52 | 31 | 62 | 265 | 300 | –35 | 187 | |
| 4 | 13 | 137 | 21 | 24 | 92 | 150 | 401 | –251 | 66 | |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 10 | |
| 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | –4 | 1 |
All-time top scorers
| Player | Team | Goals | Tournaments | |
| 1 | Pauli Jørgensen | 30 | , 1929-32, 1933-36 and 1937-47) | |
| 2 | Jørgen Juve | 20 | and 1933-36) | |
| 3 | Ole Madsen | 18 | , 1960-63 and 1964-67) | |
| 4 | Sven Rydell | 17 | and 1929-32) | |
| 5 | Harald Hennum | 14 | , 1952-55, 1956-59, 1960-63) | |
| 6 | Gunnar Nordahl | 12 | and 1948-51) | |
| 6 | Rune Börjesson | 12 | and 1960-63) | |
| 8 | Erik Persson | 11 | and 1937-47) | |
| 8 | Nils-Åke Sandell | 11 | and 1956-59) | |
| 10 | Agne Simonsson | 10 | , 1960-63 and 1964-67) | |
| 11 | Jens Peder Hansen | 9 | , 1952-55, 1956-59) | |
| 11 | Kaj Uldaler | 9 | and 1933-36) | |
| 11 | Gunnar Thoresen | 9 | , 1948-51, 1952-55 and 1956-59) | |
| 14 | Finn Berstad | 8 | ||
| 14 | Bertil Ericsson | 8 | ||
| 14 | Michael Rohde | 8 | and 1929-32) | |
| 14 | Gunnar Gren | 8 | and 1956-59) | |
| 14 | Henning Enoksen | 8 | and 1960-63) | |
| 14 | Knut Kroon | 8 | , 1929-32, 1933-36) | |
| 14 | Harry Bild | 8 | , 1960-63 and 1964-67) | |
| 14 | Odd Iversen | 8 | , 1968-71, 1972-77) |