Two Scandinavian national teams ended up in the same group of the Nations League A. In the fourth quartet, they will be joined by Portugal and Wales. If we consider the relative weakness of the British side, the Norwegian and Danish teams can be confidently regarded as direct contenders in the race for the two direct berths to the Nations League Playoffs. Bookmakers saw the home side as clear favorites to win the upcoming match. However, many facts point to parity in the matchup. For example, the transfer value of the Norway and Denmark squads differs quite substantially, but if you look closely at the lists of players, the relative difference is largely defined by the enormous price tag of Erling Haaland. Otherwise, the players of the Nordic teams are, taken together, almost identical to one another. Moreover, in the FIFA rankings, Norway sits nineteenth and Denmark twenty-first. If you study the history of meetings between the two teams, in the last seven encounters the Norwegians have not won once: four Danish wins and three draws. Norway's last triumph over the opponent was recorded in a friendly match in 2002. The undeniable hype around the odds for the upcoming clash is fueled by Haaland and his teammates' performance at the recent World Cup. Norway played there boldly and confidently, winning four of six matches. Among the teams Norway defeated in the Round of 16 was Brazil, coached by Carlo Ancelotti. The other thing is that in almost all the matches Norway relied on attacking play, conceding between one and four goals in each. Not surprisingly, Ståle Solbakken's side's tournament run ended in the quarterfinals against the pragmatic England squad. The Denmark national team missed the World Cup in North America, failing in the playoff final to overcome the Czech Republic. Then in Prague the Scandinavian side lost to the opponent in a penalty shootout. In the previous edition of the Nations League, the Danes reached the quarterfinals, where they were defeated by the eventual tournament winner, Portugal. The visitors are strong enough to take points from the field of the overhyped favorite.