‘We always want to score the next goal’ – unrelenting Norway await next challenge in Rotterdam

Ahead of the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, many people made Norway one of the big favourites to take gold, along with France and the Netherlands, on home soil – and, now, all three teams are in the semi-finals.

On their way to the final four Norway have won all seven of their games, with left wing Anniken Wollik and goalkeeper Eli Marie Raasok playing in each and every one – at their debut senior world championship.

Wollik and Raasok are valuable components of a squad of 18 led by captain Henny Reistad who have, so far, blown away all their opponents on the way to the semi-finals – highlighting the depth and quality that new coach Ole Gustav Gjekstad can call on in a demanding three-week event.

“I just to try to do my best,” says Wollik, who made her senior team debut in October 2022, going on to win European gold a few months later, appearing a handful of times in 2023 and then returning to the squad for the 2025 IHF Women's World Championship campaign.

“I know that sometimes we want someone else in defence on the position number five, so it's easier to also switch the wing and this is understandable, it's good to train on. I'm grateful for the minutes I get, and I think that I do a okay job and I just hope that it will continue.

“I feel like I'm not there 100% yet,” says the SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea player after the Montenegro game when asked if she is showing her best game yet. “But I hope that it will show one day. I want to run more. I want to have more of the contra (counter-attack) but this is hard on my side in the beginning, because they are changing players, and it's hard to see, but this is what I want to do more of.”

Wollik, who turned 28-years-old during Germany/Netherlands 2025, has scored in all seven of Norway’s games so far, racking up four-and-a-half hours on court and starting six times, helping move her national team appearance total up to 25, with 46 strikes to go with it.

 

And goalkeeper Eli Marie Raasok has experienced a similar national team career to Wollik, making her debut in 2023, winning European gold in 2024 and now back in the squad, playing in all seven games at Germany/Netherlands, splitting time on court almost 50/50 with the legendary Katrine Lunde.

And she has been enjoying her time on court in her first senior world championship, just like Wollik.

“We're going to Rotterdam and it's going to be really fun,” said the 29-year-old, who has now represented her national team 27 times at senior level after appearing at all previous age categories.

“We did what we had to do [against Montenegro in the quarter-final]. We played tough in the first half, and then it was a little bit tough in the second, with many two minutes [meaning we played] some ‘weird’ defence, because we were four against six, so then it's a bit tough.

“But, as a goalkeeper, you have to be a bit more aggressive when they get these chances. It’s about going towards the players instead of tricking them and stuff like that.”

That 32:23 quarter-final defeat of Montenegro will long live on in the memory of everyone at the game due to the attendance of almost a 1,000 FK Bodø/Glimt football fans in the arena.

The Norwegian club were playing Borussia Dortmund in the adjoining football stadium to the Westfalenhalle where Norway were playing the following day and made their presence felt, something which inspired both the world championship debutants.

“We heard that there was some of them (fans) coming, but this was amazing, an amazing atmosphere, and they sang so loud we didn't even hear what they said. I have never experienced this before, not like this, as Norwegian handball fans don't sing this loud,” says Raasok with a big smile on her face. “When you're on the court it's hard to notice them, actually, because you're kind of in the bubble, but when you're on the bench, it was goosebumps from start to finish.”

 

With the semi-final in Rotterdam, Norway and their fans have moved from Dortmund in Germany, making the three-hour journey on the day after their last eight victory, followed by a rest day on Thursday (11 December) and then semi-final against co-hosts Netherlands on Friday (12 December).

And these moments allow the players to reset and switch-off as the business end of the tournament comes into play.

“You have to, at least, I have to,” says Raasok about the down time between games. “It's a lot of time, almost a month, we've been away and now it's getting tougher and tougher. I do crosswords – I think I’m good, but I do them because it’s hard to concentrate on anything else when you're doing it.”

And the Dutch have many things to think about as they try to defeat the Norwegians, not their leader Henny Reistad, who is in fine form and backed up by Lunde in the form of her life in goal.

Ahead of the semi-finals Reistad sits on a 78% shooting rate, with 40 goals and 20 assists, helping her team to sit top of the scoring charts of 247 goals.

“She's a very, very good player. She jumps the highest, she runs the fastest, she shoots the hardest. It's amazing to play with her,” beams Wollik about her captain. “I don't think that I have ever seen a player like her and I hope she will play for many, many more years.”

“I'm glad she's on our team,” says Raasok simply, who, along with Lunde has combined to put Norway’s defence up to an overall 50% save rate from their 240 shots faced, miles ahead of any other team.

“It's nice to have her there, she comments on small stuff to adjust and it's really nice to learn with her,” says Raasok about being on court and looking over to the legendary Lunde on the bench during matches.

“It's bittersweet,” adds Wollik, referencing the impending national team retirement of the goalkeeper following the conclusion of Germany/Netherlands 2025.

“I understand her, but it's bad for the team as she is, wow, an amazing player. But what can you say about her? She's has a lot of percent in the goal every time she stands there and it's amazing to play with her. It's very sad for us that she will leave, but we also understand and we will try to do the most of this championship for her.”

With two more games to play, Norway have another big chance to add to their world championship haul and send Lunde off with another medal. But despite their clear winning ways, they are not taking it easy any time soon.

“We always think about the next ball. We always want to score the next goal and to have the next defence. We are not 100% before we are finished with the game and this is what I like with this team,” explains Wollik about not relaxing at any point during the 60 minutes.

“It's a little bit more pressure for yourself, maybe,” she adds about knockout handball. “But it's important that we go together like a team, that we stay together and be able to do the same job and the same work that we do in the other games, and it will work. It's enough for us.

“I hope that we do the same [in Rotterdam] as we did on all these games. That we go into the same strategy to how we will handle the game and how we will play. This is enough, and I hope it will be just the same that we do.”

So can anyone beat them?

“I think it's going to be hard to stop us,” says Raasok. “But the minute we don't play at our best, then it's possible.”