"Alt for Norge", written by TONO members Torstein Flakne and Ivar Dyrhaug, has become Norway's truly great national football anthem. Here Jørn Lande performs the song before the World Cup qualifier between Norway and Estonia at Ullevaal Stadium in November 2025. Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / NTB
This is how the song came about:
When Norway qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 56 years, Torstein Flakne and Ivar Dyrhaug wrote a song to capture the pride, hope and community of the moment. Decades later, "Alt for Norge" still lives on as one of the country's most beloved football anthems.
/ 26/06/2026 / Helene RognøyTONO is sometimes for the music creators, and every now and then we take a deep dive into the works database and bring out our gold. In these times of the World Cup, we thought it was natural to find out a little more about how "Alt for Norge" came about, so we asked Torstein Flakne, who wrote the song together with Ivar Dyrhaug, a few questions.
"Alt for Norge", the Norwegian men's national team's official football song for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, was written at a time when Norwegian football was experiencing something many had thought was unthinkable. The national team had qualified for the World Cup, Drillos had united the nation, and a new type of football pride was emerging. The song has been named by VG as “the championship song of all time”.
– How did the idea for “Everything for Norway” come about?
– It's been quite a while so it's a bit difficult to answer, but I can say it like this: Both Ivar and I were, and are, big football enthusiasts and made the song from the heart.
– Do you remember the very first starting point for the song – was it a lyric, a melody or a mood?
– The national team had achieved the incredible, to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 56 years. It was so unthinkable for us Norwegians that little Norway would suddenly be competing with the best nations, hard to explain today. Drillos played modern football and was probably at the forefront of developments at the time with their zone football, "Flo-passing" and quick transitions. We were incredibly proud.
– What did you want to convey when you wrote it?
– There was really no plan beyond making a song that depicted the feeling of witnessing this, either by sitting in the stands or watching the games on TV.
– Did you write the song with the national team and the football audience specifically in mind, or did it develop along the way?
– Ivar wrote a fantastic text that depicted our pride and the incredible fact that we, the Shina nation from Steinrøysa, had made it to the World Cup. Older people have mentioned that this text could just as easily have been a song for the resistance movement during the war, a 'Yes, we love'.
– How did you work together in the writing process?
– The recording was done at Nidaros Studio in Trondheim with the help of arranger Kjetil Bjerkestrand, producer Bjørn Nessjø and technician Rune Nordal. Jørn Lande was a natural first choice as singer and made a formidable effort.
– Do you feel that the song has taken on a life that is greater than the original occasion for which it was written?
– Like so many other songs we and others have made, 'Alt for Norge' lives its own life, almost like your child. Funny that it is also used in other places and contexts, birthdays, gatherings, and even on mountaintops during the Tour De France. We have been told that this is Norway's 'You never walk alone' and it is touching to hear. It is also very nice to note that the old recording is preferred, a song is not only the composition itself, but also the performance. (The story continues below the video)
– Why do you think “All for Norway” still awakens something in people?
– What makes it still alive and well now, after so long, is that it's simply a beautiful song. Beautiful songs are beautiful songs, it's as simple as that.
– What does it mean to you personally to have written a song that so many people still have a relationship with?
– It is with pride, of course, that we follow it on its path, and we hope that it can once again help create magic for the national team.
Some previous "How the song was made" cases:
The article series "How the song was made" was originally an idea developed by freelance journalist Kai Lofthus for TONO.