Celtic v Norway: Every European Tie With Rosenborg, Molde and Bodø/Glimt, and the Norwegians Who Wore the Hoops

Short answer: Celtic have played Norwegian clubs 14 times in European competition. Rosenborg account for ten of those games, and Celtic won seven of them, drew two and lost one.

The other four went badly: two defeats to Molde in the 2015–16 Europa League and two to Bodø/Glimt in the 2022 Conference League play-off. Add it all up and it comes to seven wins, two draws, five defeats and 15 goals each way.

Off the pitch, Norway has given Celtic a manager in Ronny Deila and a run of players from Harald Brattbakk to Kristoffer Ajer. This summer it also supplied the club’s record signing, Kasper Høgh, even though he is a Dane…

Most Celtic supporters can name the big European nights against Barcelona, Juventus or Manchester United. The Norwegian fixtures don’t get talked about as much, but they keep turning up in the draw: a European Cup tie in 1972, a Champions League group in 2001, back-to-back qualifiers against Rosenborg and a cold February evening in Bodø that still stings. Here is the full record and the players who connect the two countries.

Every Celtic v Norwegian club tie in Europe

The table below lists every competitive European meeting, taken from the club-by-club record in Wikipedia’s history of Celtic in European football. Group-stage games have no aggregate score.

Rosenborg: the Norwegian side Celtic know best

Celtic’s first meeting with Norwegian opposition came in the 1972–73 European Cup, when Jock Stein’s side beat Rosenborg 2–1 in Glasgow and 3–1 in Trondheim. The clubs met again in Celtic’s first Champions League group in 2001. Martin O’Neill’s team won 1–0 at Parkhead and lost 2–0 in Trondheim, where both goals came from a familiar face: Harald Brattbakk, by then back at his old club, scored twice against the team he had helped to the 1998 title.

Then came a spell when the draw kept pairing the two clubs. Between the summer of 2017 and the autumn of 2018 Celtic played Rosenborg six times in three different ties without losing once. Brendan Rodgers’ side went through 1–0 on aggregate in the 2017 third qualifying round. They won 3–1 on aggregate in the 2018 second qualifying round, and a few weeks later they were drawn with Rosenborg again in the Europa League group alongside RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg. Wikipedia sums up the opening night of that group:

“Celtic secured a narrow 1–0 home victory over the Norwegian champions through a header by Leigh Griffiths in the closing minutes” – Source: Wikipedia, “Celtic F.C. in European football”

Celtic won the return in Trondheim 1–0 as well, which leaves the overall record against Rosenborg at seven wins, two draws and one defeat, with 12 goals scored and five conceded.

Molde and Bodø/Glimt: the nights that went wrong

The other Norwegian ties are harder reading. In Ronny Deila’s second season, Molde beat Celtic home and away in the 2015–16 Europa League group, 2–1 in Glasgow and 3–1 in Norway. Mohamed Elyounoussi scored twice against Celtic in that group, four years before he joined the club on loan from Southampton.

The heaviest defeat came in February 2022. Ange Postecoglou’s side lost 3–1 at Celtic Park and 2–0 in Bodø, going out of the Conference League 5–1 on aggregate. Bodø/Glimt had already beaten Roma 6–1 in the group stage, and after knocking out Celtic they went on to beat AZ Alkmaar and reach their first European quarter-final.

How a Norwegian fan backs Celtic: odds, Oddsen and the coupon

When one of these ties is played, the betting looks different on each side of the North Sea. In the UK the odds might be printed as 6/4. In Norway the same price appears as a decimal, 2.50, which shows the total return per krone with the stake included. Sports betting in Norway is a state monopoly run by Norsk Tipping, the age limit is 18, and its fixed-odds game is called Oddsen. Older fans still call it Langoddsen, the name of the pre-match product until the pre-match and live games were merged in 2021. This Norwegian-language explainer on how Norsk Tipping’s Oddsen works, from singles to combinations covers the basics. One detail will surprise a British punter: you can’t combine two selections from the same match on one Oddsen slip.

A two-legged European tie also raises a question that catches people out every season: what happens when it goes to extra time? Nearly every football market is settled on 90 minutes plus stoppage time, so a home win in the match-result market is a home win even if the tie is later lost on penalties. Qualification is usually priced as a separate market. This Norwegian guide to football betting markets from 1X2 to corners sets out the full menu: match result, double chance, over/under, handicap, cards and corners, with the 90-minute rule spelled out.

For many older Norwegians, football betting doesn’t mean odds at all. It means Tippekupongen, the Saturday coupon, which is Norway’s answer to the British football pools. You predict home, draw or away for 12 matches, built mainly on English and Norwegian fixtures, and if you guess every match at random your chance of 12 correct is 1 in 531,441. One Norwegian site shows the market’s probability for each match on the Tippekupongen pools coupon, game by game, and lets you compare it with how the public has filled in its coupons. Anyone who grew up with Littlewoods on a Saturday will recognise the idea straight away.

The Norwegians who wore the Hoops

The first Norwegian to play for Celtic remains the most famous. Harald Brattbakk arrived from Rosenborg in December 1997 and never quite settled, but he scored the goal of his career in May 1998:

“hitting the clinching goal against St Johnstone to help them win the SPL title on the final day of the 1997–1998 season” – Source: Wikipedia, “Harald Brattbakk”

That goal stopped Rangers winning ten in a row, which is reason enough for him to be remembered fondly in Glasgow. He also scored all four in a 4–0 win over Kilmarnock. After he retired he became an airline pilot.

Johansen was the fourth Norwegian to play for the club, after Brattbakk, Riseth and Rogne. His story ties back to the north of Norway, because he joined Bodø/Glimt at 14 and made his debut there before moving to Strømsgodset. Deila signed Ajer from Start in 2016, and both men are still followed closely from Glasgow. Deila came back for the club’s 2024 awards night, as we covered in Ronny Deila’s Celtic comeback for the POTY Awards. Ajer, now at Brentford, hit the crossbar with a header before Norway went out of this summer’s World Cup to England in the quarter-finals, as told in World Cup heartbreak for former Celt Kristoffer Ajer.

Kasper Høgh and the Bodø/Glimt connection

The newest link with Norway isn’t Norwegian at all. Kasper Høgh is a Denmark international, but he made his name in Bodø under Kjetil Knutsen, and Celtic paid a reported £11 million to bring him to Glasgow this summer. That made him the club’s record signing. He opened with a first-half hat-trick at Rugby Park, and he has spoken about bringing the Bodø/Glimt dressing-room culture with him, as covered in Kasper Høgh aims to bring Bodø/Glimt winning mentality to Celtic. His old club are in the Champions League league phase again in 2026–27, while Celtic play in the Europa League after the play-off defeat to LASK.

Following Celtic from Norway

Celtic have a real supporters’ club in Norway, and many of its members are Norwegians rather than Scots abroad. Founded in 1991 as the Scandinavian Supporters of Celtic FC, it has had between 200 and 300 members in recent years, according to a profile in The Celtic Star:

“CSC Norway is a national organisation, but a lot of members are Oslo-based and get together regularly for the matches.” – Source: The Celtic Star, “Football Without Fans – Norway CSC”

Kick-off times: Norway is one hour ahead of the UK all year, so a 3pm Saturday kick-off at Parkhead starts at 4pm in Oslo.

Where to watch: the CSC meets in Oslo, and members also get together in larger towns such as Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim.

Going to Norway for a European tie: Trondheim and Molde are easy to reach, but Bodø sits north of the Arctic Circle, so check flight connections before the draw is even made.

The rules: money games in Norway are 18+ and run by the state operator Norsk Tipping.

FAQ

How many times have Celtic played Rosenborg?

Ten times in European competition: in 1972–73, 2001–02, 2017–18 and twice in 2018–19. Celtic won seven, drew two and lost one, with a goal difference of 12–5.

Have Celtic ever beaten Bodø/Glimt?

No. The only tie was the 2021–22 Conference League knockout play-off, which Bodø/Glimt won 3–1 in Glasgow and 2–0 in Bodø, 5–1 on aggregate.

Who was the first Norwegian to play for Celtic?

Harald Brattbakk, signed from Rosenborg in December 1997. He scored the goal against St Johnstone that clinched the 1997–98 title.

Is Kasper Høgh Norwegian?

No, he is Danish. He joined Celtic from Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt in summer 2026 as the club’s record signing.

How do Norwegians bet on Celtic matches?

Through Norsk Tipping, the state operator, mainly via its fixed-odds game Oddsen, with prices shown as decimal odds. The age limit is 18.