Official retailers in Europe have sold out of the Norwegian national football team's jerseys ahead of Saturday's World Cup quarter-final between England and Norway.
The report indicates that official retailers in Europe have sold out of the Norwegian national football team’s jerseys ahead of Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final between England and Norway.
It further notes that the Norwegian Football Association (NFF) says it has severely underestimated demand for the kits, which have been consistently out of stock at Nike and other outlets since they launched in March.
Feverish interest in players like Erling Haaland, boosted by Norway’s victory over Brazil, means shops have been swamped as soon as fresh kits drop.
Some fans have resorted to camping outside overnight to be first in line to buy.
Demand from fans is “well beyond the forecasts”, commercial director Runar Pahr Andresen said, adding that orders were at a record high this year.
Around 250,000 jerseys were ordered by retailers this year, compared with approximately 50,000 during the same period last year, Andresen told the BBC.
Torshov Sport in Oslo received a new batch of Norwegian national team jerseys on Tuesday, which prompted round-the-block queues ahead of Wednesday’s trading.
Local reporters estimated the queue was around 600 metres in length, and snaked around several streets. Some dedicated fans had brought chairs to wait in line for 12 hours.
Store manager Anders Lilleberg told local Norwegian outlet VG their energy was off the charts.
“I’ve been here for many years, but I’ve never encountered the kind of atmosphere that is there now. It’s absolutely wild,” he said.
The shop is now inviting fans to register for its next kit drop, but can’t guarantee all jerseys will be received in time for Saturday’s big match.
Runar Pahr Andresen stated while they would have liked more jerseys to be available, the amount produced is planned “long in advance”.
“It is challenging to scale up manufacturing significantly during an ongoing World Cup,” he added.
Andresen told Norwegian outlet TV2 the association had “never made more money” from jersey sales than it is currently.
