Norway is heading into Saturday’s decisive match against Wales with a weather watch already hanging over Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo. Heavy snow and sleet are forecast before kickoff, and stadium staff are preparing to keep the pitch playable while Norway tries to avoid last place in Group A of the Nations League.
The timing matters because Norway still has final sessions to complete at Ullevaal on Thursday and Friday after training in Lillestrom on Tuesday. Carl Bernhard Svenke said in an interview with TV 2 that the stadium is on alert and that workers will clear snow from the pitch continuously, a sign that the venue is treating the forecast as more than a routine nuisance.
Ingrid Bentsen said Thursday will bring large amounts of precipitation, starting during the night and lasting through the day. She said both snow and sleet are expected, with a few centimeters of wet, heavy snow likely to remain on the ground, which could be harder to manage because temperatures are not expected to rise above four degrees Celsius.
That is where the confidence from Ullevaal meets the forecast head-on. Svenke said the under-soil heating should be enough if air temperatures stay above zero, and Solbakken said he does not think the snow will stay for long if the heating is turned on. The problem is not whether the stadium has a plan; it is whether that plan has to work against several hours of fresh precipitation before Norway even gets to its final training days.
No precipitation is expected on Saturday, so the match itself may escape the worst of the weather. But Norway still needs a positive result to avoid finishing last in Group A and being relegated, which makes the condition of the pitch on Thursday and Friday part of the story, not a side note. If the heating and the cleanup crew do their jobs, the teams should still get the training they need. If not, the buildup to Wales becomes another test Norway has to pass before the real one.
