The national team was formed after the formation of the Norwegian Badminton Association on 24 October 1938. Unlike other Scandinavian countries Denmark, Sweden and Finland, the Norwegian team had average results in team events in the 20th century.
The Norwegian men's team lost 9-0 twice to Sweden twice in the qualifiers for the 1961 and 1964 Thomas Cup. The men's team later failed to qualify for the 1967 Thomas Cup after losing 7-2 to Ireland. In 1978, Norway failed to qualify for the Thomas and Uber Cup again when the men's team lost against the Netherlands 6-3. In 1988, they finished as group runners-up for the 1990 Thomas Cup qualifiers, the team won against Mozambique and performed upsets against Ireland and Germany, but lost 4-1 the Netherlands.[2]
In 1978, the women's team lost 5-2 against Scotland in the 1978 Uber Cup qualifiers. In 1986, Norway finished 3rd on their group tie for the 1986 Uber Cup qualifiers after beating France and Iceland 4-1 and 5-0 respectively. In 1994, Norway were close to qualifying for the Uber Cup finals. The team topped the group but were eliminated in the semi-finals stage group tie, losing 0-5 to Denmark, 5-0 to Germany and 4-1 to Poland.[4]
Norway first competed for the Helvetia Cup in 1965. In 1968, the national team finished as runners-up, losing against Germany. The team achieved runner-up position for a second time in 1973 after losing to the Czech Republic. In 1975, Norway made history by defeating the Yugoslavian team in the final, winning their first Helvetia Cup title. The team finished in third place in 1979 and as runners-up again in 1981.[6]
In 1989, Norway debuted in the inaugural version of the Sudirman Cup. The team were placed in classification Group 6 with Sri Lanka and Nepal. They won 4-1 against Sri Lanka and 5-0 against Nepal to claim 23rd place on the overall rankings.
7 (2 January 2024)
Champions (1975)