A month ago, Bodø/Glimt had just a 0.3% chance of making the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League. After beating Inter 3-1 on Wednesday, they’re now favourites to do so.
Wednesday was a famous night for Norwegian football.
Bodø/Glimt have become a regular name on the European football scene in recent years, reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League in 2021-22, and the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League last season.
After six games of the league phase of this season’s UEFA Champions League, they were looking certain to head out, though. Bodø/Glimt had just three points from their first six outings, earning credible draws against Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund, but losing to Galatasaray, Monaco and Juventus.
Sitting in 32nd place in the 36-team table, four points off the top 24 and a play-off spot, Bodø/Glimt had it all to do.
Kjetil Knutsen’s side had two huge opponents to come, as well: Manchester City at home and Atlético Madrid away. They would need to somehow find a way to win both, having never previously won a Champions League game beyond qualifiers, and also hope other results went their way if they were to reach the play-offs.
Prior to hosting City, Bodø/Glimt were given just a 1.5% chance of reaching the play-offs, with only Villarreal and Kairat considered less likely of the 36 teams in the league phase.
Percentages ahead of MD7 of the 2025-26 league phaseA stunning performance against Pep Guardiola’s City led to an improbable 3-1 win, though, before an arguably even more remarkable 2-1 victory in Madrid a week later.
They had done it, against all odds. Bodø/Glimt became the first Norwegian side to progress from the group/league phase in a Champions League campaign since Rosenborg in 1996-97 (who reached the quarter-finals).
They were drawn against Serie A leaders and last season’s Champions League runners-up, Inter, in the play-off round. However, if anyone thought they were just going to accept that this was as far as they would come, Wednesday will have been a real eye opener.
In front of a crowd just shy of 8,000, the club from the town of Bodø, slightly north of the Arctic Circle, looked every bit like they belonged on the big stage with their behemoth opponents.
A sublime passing move in the 20th minute sliced through Inter, with captain Kasper Høgh deftly flicking the ball to set up Sondre Fet to open the scoring.
Francesco Pio Esposito equalised for the Nerazzurri 10 minutes later, and it would have been easy to assume Cristian Chivu’s team would take things from there. But Bodø/Glimt are made of stern stuff.
Just after the hour mark, former Milan player Jens Petter Hauge fired the hosts back in front following another assist from Høgh. Hauge became only the third player to score five goals in a Champions League campaign for a Norwegian team, after Rosenborg pair John Carew (1999-00) and Frode Johnsen (2000-01).
Høgh made it 3-1 just a few minutes later with a tap-in after another slick move cut through the visitors’ defence. He became only the second player to be directly involved in three goals in a Champions League knockout game against Inter, after Paris Saint-Germain’s Désiré Doué did the same in last season’s final (two goals, one assist).
It was only the first leg, of course, with the second to come in San Siro next week, but Bodø/Glimt made history on Wednesday, becoming the first ever Norwegian team to win a Champions League knockout game.
They are also only the fourth team from outside Europe’s top five leagues to win three consecutive matches in a Champions League campaign, with each of the wins coming against teams from inside the top five leagues, after Panathinaikos (01-02), Benfica (05-06) and Zenit (15-16).
It was another stunning performance and result for Bodø/Glimt, who are now given a 57.4% chance of making the Champions League round of 16, according to the Opta supercomputer.
That is an amazing improvement from the near-impossible 0.3% chance they were given prior to beating Man City last month. Even the day after beating City, their likelihood only went up to 3.2%, showing just how much they still had to do.
Their recent achievements are also reflected in the Opta Power Rankings, a global ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 15,000 domestic football teams. After their victory on Wednesday, Bodø/Glimt are up to 46th in the world, their highest ever ranking, beating their previous best of 50th in April 2022.
It puts them ahead of the likes of Olympiakos, Villarreal and Fenerbahçe, and just below Marseille, Real Betis and RB Leipzig.
One possible advantage for them in their Champions League run is that this was only their fourth competitive fixture since the start of December, as the Norwegian Eliteserien season finished at the end of November. By comparison, it was Inter’s 19th competitive game in the same time period, so the extra freshness and time to prepare for Knutsen’s men may have been a factor.
It’s worth noting that by the time of the last 16, their league campaign will have started up again, with the two legs either side of Bodø/Glimt’s season opener against Sarpsborg.
Should they complete the job in Milan on Tuesday, Bodø/Glimt’s impressive run may come full circle as there’s a 50/50 chance they’ll play Man City again in the last 16, with the winner of this tie facing either the Premier League side or Sporting CP.
Few would feel sure about writing them off, though, whichever opponent they come up against.
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