Sander Berge

Sander Berge is Norway's towering 1.95m defensive midfielder and the engine room of Ståle Solbakken's side, shielding the back four and breaking up play behind captain Martin Ødegaard at Norway's first World Cup since 1998. Born in Bærum in 1998, he rose through Vålerenga (Norwegian league young player of the year in 2016) before moving to Genk, where he won the Belgian title, then to Sheffield United as a club-record signing, Burnley, and finally Fulham, who paid £20m plus add-ons in 2024. The juicy detail: Berge comes from a basketball dynasty — his father, mother and older brother all played international basketball — and Solbakken has joked about his "basketball body," saying that when you have a basketball frame and have to move around a Premier League midfield, "it's important you keep the machinery running the whole time." He occasionally captains Norway when Ødegaard and Haaland are absent.