Half a ton of Norwegian food crossed the Atlantic to reach Greensboro, North Carolina. It was not a commercial shipment: it was the culinary luggage of Norway’s national team for the 2026 World Cup. 🐟
The shipment includes 300 kg of red fish, 116 kg of brunost — the distinctive Norwegian brown cheese — 6,000 oranges and, as the finishing touch, a special griddle for making waffles. Three chefs are traveling with the team, among them Aron Espeland, winner of the Culinary Olympics with Norway in 2020. The menu is all-you-can-eat buffet style, four times a day, with dinners centered on fish and chicken. Espeland summed it up bluntly to the newspaper VG: “It is not easy to fly to the United States with half a ton of fish. We are also a little strange”.
Behind the eccentric gesture there is solid nutritional logic: maintaining the usual eating habits reduces stress and stabilizes physical performance in high-demand competitions. For Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, and the rest of the squad, eating what they always eat is not a whim — it is part of the preparation. Norway makes its debut on June 16 against Iraq in Boston, in its first World Cup in 28 years.
