Norway brings 1,000 kg of food to Greensboro World Cup camp

Norway’s World Cup camp in Greensboro arrived with its own freight problem: more than 1,000 kilograms of food, including 300 kilograms of fish, 116 kilograms of brunost cheese and 6,000 oranges. For a national team headed to its first FIFA World Cup since 1998, the shipment shows how much planning it takes to turn Greensboro into a temporary international base, from diet and lodging to field access and airport proximity.

Chef Aron Espeland, who has cooked for Norway’s national team for 35 years, is helping keep the squad on its preferred menu during the tournament’s critical stretch. Norway will stay in Greensboro before and during the group stage, with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro serving as the official training facility and base camp. Team officials said the hotel choice leaned toward nature and fresh air rather than a city-center setting, and Truls Dæhli said Greensboro’s location, about 20 minutes from both the airport and the training site, helped seal the choice after the team visited eight candidate cities.

At UNCG, the soccer stadium has become the team’s most visible local asset. The $3.6 million facility, which opened in 1991, seats 3,540 spectators and has Bermuda-style grass. UNCG had already hosted SE Palmeiras during FIFA’s 2025 Club World Cup, a sign that Greensboro’s soccer infrastructure is being used for more than college matches. The local organizing effort brought together the Greensboro Sports Foundation, the City of Greensboro, UNCG and the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

City leaders have put a dollar figure on that work. Greensboro officials estimated Norway’s presence could add $4.2 million to the local economy, a potential boost that would flow through hotels, transportation, training support and vendors tied to the team’s stay. The bigger payoff may be harder to quantify: international visibility for Guilford County as one of the places trusted to stage a World Cup base camp.

Norway’s U.S. program began with departure on June 2, 2026, and included training sessions and media access at UNCG. A public community training session for fans was scheduled for June 10 at UNCG Soccer Stadium, giving Greensboro residents a rare chance to see Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard and a squad that qualified emphatically by winning all eight matches and scoring 37 goals. In a 48-team World Cup spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico, Greensboro is not hosting a match, but it is hosting the machinery that helps one of Europe’s top teams prepare for it.