Morten Thorsby

Morten Thorsby is a 30-year-old defensive/central midfielder for Serie A side Cremonese and a squad player for Norway, prized for his energy and ball-winning in front of the back four behind stars like Martin Ødegaard. After breaking through at Stabæk he built his career in the Netherlands (Heerenveen) and Italy (Sampdoria, Genoa) plus a spell at Union Berlin, and is now at his first World Cup as Norway return to the finals for the first time since 1998. Off the pitch he is one of football's most outspoken environmentalists: he founded the We Play Green foundation, switched his shirt number from 18 to 2 to highlight the Paris Agreement's climate target, and was named Young Athlete of the Year at the 2022 BBC Green Sport Awards. Notably, he wrote a VG op-ed calling it "a great paradox" to play a World Cup given the climate cost of the tournament, and argued that flights, especially private jets, should be made far more expensive.