Our Story
Where the journey began
India created history in Norway in the summer of 2025.
Minerva Academy’s U14 team arrived in Oslo after already winning the World Youth Cup in Sweden and the Dana Cup in Denmark. At Norway Cup, they completed an extraordinary European treble – scoring 130 goals during the tournament and taking the trophy back to India.
The results were remarkable, but so was what they represented. A group of young Indian players had travelled across Scandinavia and demonstrated that Indian youth football could compete – and win – on an international stage.
During their time in Oslo, Minerva founder Ranjit Bajaj and the young players connected with Jens Naas-Bibow of Bækkelagets SK. That meeting became part of a developing dialogue about what India and Norway could learn from each other – and whether football could become a new bridge between the two countries.
The conversation soon moved from the football pitch to New Delhi. In November 2025, Det Moderne India and the Royal Norwegian Embassy brought together Indian and Norwegian voices at the Norwegian Embassy to discuss grassroots football, talent development and the lessons emerging from Minerva’s journey.
The story continued through conversations with Ranjit Bajaj, young Minerva player Chetan Tiwari, and Sara Abdullah Pilot of CEQUIN, bringing different perspectives into the discussion – from identifying talent and developing young players to creating opportunities for girls through football.
Then Norway made history
By 2026, something remarkable was happening in Norwegian sport.
Norway returned to the FIFA World Cup after 28 years and delivered a historic tournament. A new generation of Norwegian footballers – including Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard and Ørjan Nyland – put a country of just over five million people back on the world football map.
But football was only part of the story. Norwegian rowing was also producing performances that attracted international attention, continuing a remarkable tradition of Norwegian athletes competing at the highest level despite the country’s small population.
It sharpened the question at the heart of our initiative:
How does a country of just over five million people continue to produce athletes capable of competing with the world’s best – and what can India learn from that experience?
At the same time, India offered the opposite perspective: enormous scale, millions of young people, growing football ambitions and a vast pool of talent waiting to be identified and developed.
The two stories began to meet
At Gothia Cup 2026 in Sweden, Indian and Norwegian youth football met on the pitch again when Minerva Academy faced Lillestrøm SK.
Then, at Arendalsuka 2026, Det Moderne India brought Ranjit Bajaj and Jens Naas-Bibow together with Norwegian sporting leaders for What Makes a Football Nation? Lessons from Norway and India.
The conversation was no longer simply about individual matches or tournaments. It was about systems, grassroots participation, talent identification, coaching, international exposure and how sporting cultures are built over generations.
Two countries with very different starting points had something potentially valuable to offer each other.
Norway has experience, structures and a remarkable record of developing world-class sporting talent from a small population. India has scale, ambition and an extraordinary reservoir of young talent.
From Norway Cup to New Delhi, from podcasts and Gothia Cup to Arendalsuka – a series of encounters had gradually become a larger idea.
Road to FIFA 2034 was taking shape.
Milestones
Explore the Journey
From Norway Cup triumph to India–Norway collaboration
In New Delhi, Det Moderne India and the Royal Norwegian Embassy brought together voices from India and Norway to discuss youth football, lessons from Minerva Academy’s success and closer India–Norway collaboration. Read the story