Rakel Norheim, 50, and Lars Harald Norheim, 53, watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Lars Sandsdalen plays a drum while fans perform a Norwegian chant during a watch party for the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Lars Sandsdalen watches the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Fans watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026.
Houston Chronicle
Rakel Norheim, 50, and Lars Harald Norheim, 53, watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Lars Sandsdalen and Mats Daniel Willoch watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Fans watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Fans watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Fans watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Fans watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Lars Sandsdalen and Mats Daniel Willoch watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Fans perform a rowing chant during a watch party for the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Fans watch the FIFA World Cup Group I match between Norway and France during a watch party at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Kristian Kvalvaag walked to the front of the room during Tuesday’s World Cup match between Norway and Ivory Coast, picked up a mallet and pounded the bass drum twice. The Norwegian fans sitting behind him rowed in response. Then they did it again and again.
The rowing celebration has become a recurring sight at the 2026 FIFA World Cup thanks to the enthusiastic Norwegian fanbase traveling across the country to watch the team play.
But Kvalvaag didn’t lead the charge at the game or at a bar. He led it inside the Norwegian Seamen’s Church of Houston, which is hosting watch parties for all of Norway’s matches during the World Cup.
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“We thought we have to do something,” said Kvalvaag, who works at the church and whose wife is the pastor. “It’s a great way to make people come up and be together.”
Seamen’s Churches, or Sjømannskirkens in Norwegian, are a collection of churches around the world that were originally created as outposts for Norwegians who worked on ships, Kvalvaag said. The system started in 1864, and there are currently 28 churches around the world, per the Sjømannskirkens website.
It is under the Norwegian Lutheran Church, Kvalvaag said, although its purpose goes beyond religion. A Seamen’s Church is meant to serve as a religious, social and cultural meeting place for Norwegians who are living or staying in a foreign area.
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“It’s like a little piece of home,” said Hege Levett, who has lived on and off in the Houston area since 1999.
The church has been in Houston for about 60 years but only in this new location near the Energy Corridor for about one year, Kvalvaag said. The former location used to be in Pasadena closer to the ship channel. But with more Norwegians — there are around 3,000 to 5,000 in the area — working in oil and gas, the church moved to a more central location.
More people are coming to their events because of the new location, which is structured around one main room where church services are held in addition to cultural and social events such as the World Cup watch parties.
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“We are in the church, but it’s not only a church,” said Lars Sandsdalen, a former sea captain and former board chair of the Seamen’s Church in Houston. “This is just a social place.”
Fans watched on a projector screen in the front right corner of the room. To the screen’s right was a hymn board and to the left was a tapestry featuring a cross. In front of the room were the altar and pulpit. Hanging from the ceiling is a large wooden ship, which is a tradition in Norwegian churches, Sandsdalen and Kvalvaag said.
Tuesday’s watch party wasn’t as well attended as others due to the game kicking off at noon during the work week and some fans making the trip up to Arlington to watch the match but previous watch parties reached around 75 people.
Hot dogs and freshly-made waffles were available for fans to nibble on while other Norwegian and Swedish food such as candies and chocolates were available in the adjoining room, which serves as a little store.
“You can’t go a week without a waffle,” Sandsdalen said.
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Most of the fans focused intensely on the match. This is Norway’s first World Cup since 1998, and the team features one of the best players in the world in striker Erling Haaland
Every once in a while, a loud bang could be heard from the children’s play area where a little boy in a Norwegian shirt played with toys. But the loudest moment came in the 86th minute of the match when Haaland tapped in a goal to put Norway up 2-1. The fans jumped and erupted in cheers.
Haaland’s goal not only sent the team through to the round of 16 and secured Norway its first knockout stage victory but it also gave the fans in Houston at least one more Norwegian watch party at the church to attend this summer — a 3 p.m.match on Sunday against Brazil — and at least one more chance to row as a group.
“It’s fun to be Norwegian these days,” Sandsdalen said.
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