Then, the violence of the Viking Age shaped large parts of Britain for centuries to come, as early English kings fought and forged peace with Scandinavian raiders and settlers. (Norwegian influence can still be seen in the language and culture in regions like the Orkney Islands.)<\/p>\n
In the modern age, relations grew \u2014 again through trade, as Norwegians brought British luxury goods, but also as Britain supported Norway\u2019s bid for independence from Sweden in 1905. The links included each country\u2019s royal family: Maud Alexandria, the youngest daughter of King Edward VII of England, became queen of Norway, ruling alongside King Haakon VII.<\/p>\n
The two countries were allies during World War II, with Norwegian royals exiled in London as Nazi forces occupied Norway. As a token of thanks, Norway sends a Christmas tree to London each year, and the city holds it in pride of place in Trafalgar Square.<\/p>\n
In soccer, fans frequently cross the North Sea to watch a game on home soil, and Norway\u2019s greatest players have made their mark<\/a> in the English leagues.<\/p>\n The magnetic Norwegian player Erling Haaland plays for Manchester City and was born in Leeds, where his father, Alf-Inge Haaland, played in the 1990s. Just this spring, Norway\u2019s team captain, Martin Odegaard, lifted the Premier League trophy for London club Arsenal, where he is also the captain.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve supported England as if I were English ever since the 1990 World Cup,\u201d said Martin Molden, a psychologist and a supporter of Sheffield United Football Club. \u201cBut I\u2019m Norwegian, and this Saturday I\u2019m 100 percent behind Norway.\u201d<\/p>\n The rivalry this week has so far mostly stayed friendly. On the side of a NATO summit in Turkey, the prime ministers of each country posed in their team jerseys<\/a>, and the British Embassy in Norway replied drolly to an open letter in the Norwegian press predicting England\u2019s failure.<\/p>\n \u201cShould Norway win, we shall congratulate you graciously. Shortly afterward, we reserve the right to blame the weather. Nothing personal. Merely tradition,\u201d the embassy said in a Facebook post<\/a>. \u201cShould England win, we trust you will remember that football is, after all, coming home. It simply has a habit of taking the scenic route.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFootball\u2019s Coming Home\u201d is a refrain England has repeated<\/a> since it won the World Cup for the first and only time in 1966. Each generation has yearned to realize the phrase \u2014 piling pressure on the national team and breaking many fans\u2019 hearts.<\/p>\n \u201cEngland are very good at letting the fans down, aren\u2019t they?\u201d he said Terry Milnes, who heads the Arsenal North West Supporters Club. Mr. Milnes, 70, said he cannot help but hope that the national team wins on Saturday, but that its decades of failure had made him cautious.<\/p>\n Norway, meanwhile, is enjoying its most successful run at the World Cup ever. Its players and its fans\u2019 Viking Row<\/a> have become a sensation, winning new admirers.<\/p>\n \u201cI am rooting for Norway\u2019s team,\u201d said Owen Cross, 27, who moved from England to Norway three years ago. \u201cEngland had a lot of shots to win the title and it\u2019s time for Norway to get a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n Skiing, not soccer, is Norway\u2019s unofficial national sport, while in England football is the common language. Analysts can\u2019t decide whether Norway\u2019s winning team is an exceptional case, like the squad that beat Germany at the 1936 Olympics, or the result of extensive investment in sports development fueled by the wealth that followed the discovery of oil<\/a> in 1967.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve gone from being an amateur football nation to becoming a professional one,\u201d said Arne Scheie, 82, a football commentator who has followed decades of World Cup play.<\/p>\n Some of England\u2019s closest neighbors \u2014 with their own histories of conflict \u2014 have thrown their lot with Norway, too.<\/p>\n Scotland\u2019s supporters, known as the Tartan Army, have rowed with Norway\u2019s plastic-helmeted Vikings. Many Welsh and Irish fans have also joined in.<\/p>\n One of them, Maeve Brereton, an Irish citizen, rushed around London this week trying to find a Norway jersey. She found the Women\u2019s Team jersey in a size for 13- to 15-year-old boys. If that doesn\u2019t fit, she has a red T-shirt she plans to customize with the letters NORGE, spelling Norway in Norwegian.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of them is going to fit me on Saturday,\u201d said Ms. Brereton, who has lived in England for more than six years. (Ireland didn\u2019t qualify for the World Cup.)<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone seems nice, and it seemed like a wholesome thing to get involved in,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes, especially with England football fans, it\u2019s not that inclusive as an environment.\u201d<\/p>\n But the rivalry promises to remain friendly. Fans of club soccer are already looking beyond Saturday and beyond the World Cup. Mr. Milnes will still go to regular Arsenal games with a Norwegian friend who lives in England. Mr. Martinsen and Mr. Stott plan to meet up to dissect the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever happens,\u201d Mr. Stott said, \u201cwe\u2019re not going to fall out.\u201d<\/p>\n
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