Indian Youth Football Makes Its Mark in Norway

In the summer of 2025, a group of young footballers from India arrived in Oslo and delivered an extraordinary performance. Minerva Academy U14 won the Norway Cup, completing a remarkable European treble after also winning the Gothia Cup in Sweden and the Dana Cup in Denmark.

About Norway Cup

Founded in Oslo in 1972, Norway Cup is the world’s largest football tournament for children and young people. The tournament brings together thousands of young players from around the world and has welcomed participants, players and referees from 127 nations throughout its history.

For more than five decades, Norway Cup has been about much more than football. Its vision is to create an international arena for sporting joy and friendship, bringing young people together across countries and cultures.

A historic performance from India

Minerva’s Norway Cup campaign was exceptional. The team scored 130 goals during the tournament, demonstrating the technical ability, confidence and ambition developing within Indian youth football.

But the significance goes beyond the results. For an Indian academy to succeed on this international stage demonstrates what can happen when talent identification, long-term development, international exposure and ambition come together.

Behind Minerva Academy is its founder, Ranjit Bajaj, who has spent years identifying and developing young football talent across India. The academy, based in Punjab, has built its reputation around scouting young players and giving them the training and international exposure needed to compete beyond India.

The 2025 European campaign was a powerful demonstration of that approach, with Minerva’s young players competing – and winning – across Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

For Road to FIFA 2034, Minerva’s journey represents exactly the kind of connection we want to build upon: bringing India and Norway closer through football and creating opportunities for young players, academies, coaches and football communities to learn from one another.

Jens Naas-Bibow met Ranjit Bajaj and the Minerva players during their historic visit to Oslo.

The road to 2034 has already begun.