Thorbjørn Svenssen
Born: 22.04.1924 in Sandefjord
Died: 08.01.2011
Position: Central Defender
Caps: 104
Goals: 0
Profile
Appropriately nicknamed "Klippen" ("The Rock"), Thorbjørn Svenssen was a mainstay in the Norwegian central defence for more than a decade. The Sandefjord defender made his international debut in a 1947 friendly against Poland, and would go on to represent his country more than a hundred times. Overall, Svenssen won a record 104 caps for Norway, captaining the side 93 times - which is also a record.
As a player, Svenssen was, as his nickname suggests, a rock-solid central defender. Tall and strong, calm under pressure and perhaps a bit dirty when he needed to be, he had all the qualities required by a centre-back. He was also known for his leadership and his serious approach to training, and was in every sense a great role model for the younger players. Still, Svenssen could not carry the team on his own, and Norway were not a particularly good side in the 1950s. Part of the reason was probably the amateur rules at the time. While the other European leagues were adopting professional football, the Norwegian players were strictly part-timers.
At club level, Svenssen spent his entire career at his hometown club Sandefjord, where he played from 1945 to 1966. Through most of Svenssen's career, Sandefjord was among the better teams in the league, but never quite good enough to win any major honors. Their best league performance was second place in 1956. They also reached the cup final twice (1957 and 1959), but lost on both occations, which means that Svenssen failed to win a single medal in his otherwise excellent career.
On 17 September 1961, against Denmark, Svenssen played his 100th international. At the time, he was only the second player in the history of international football to reach the century mark (England legend Billy Wright, who reached the milestone in October 1958, was the first). He played four more games for Norway before bowing out in the 2-1 win against the Netherlands in May 1962, almost 15 years after his debut. As of 2011, his 104 caps is still a national record, and so far only two players (Erik Thorstvedt and Henning Berg) have come within touching distance of the record. Svenssen passed away in January 2011, aged 86, following a stroke.
National Team Appearances
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Goals | Competition |
| Sandefjord | ||||||
| 1 | 11.06.1947 | Oslo | Poland | 3-1 | ||
| 2 | 26.06.1947 | Helsinki | Finland | 2-1 | ||
| 3 | 29.06.1947 | Helsinki | Sweden | 1-5 | ||
| 4 | 24.07.1947 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 4-2 | ||
| 5 | 07.09.1947 | Helsinki | Finland | 3-3 | ||
| 6 | 21.09.1947 | Oslo | Denmark | 3-5 | ||
| 7 | 26.05.1948 | Oslo | Netherlands | 1-2 | ||
| 8 | 12.06.1948 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 2-1 | ||
| 9 | 06.08.1948 | Oslo | United States | 11-0 | ||
| 10 | 05.09.1948 | Oslo | Finland | 2-0 | ||
| 11 | 19.09.1948 | Oslo | Sweden | 3-5 | ||
| 12 | 24.12.1948 | Cairo | Egypt | 1-1 | ||
| 13 | 18.05.1949 | Oslo | England | 1-4 | ||
| 14 | 19.06.1949 | Oslo | Yugoslavia | 1-3 | ||
| 15 | 08.07.1949 | Helsinki | Finland | 1-1 | ||
| 16 | 02.10.1949 | Stockholm | Sweden | 3-3 | ||
| 17 | 22.06.1950 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 0-4 | ||
| 18 | 15.08.1950 | Bergen | Luxembourg | 2-2 | ||
| 19 | 10.09.1950 | Oslo | Finland | 4-1 | ||
| 20 | 24.09.1950 | Oslo | Sweden | 1-3 | ||
| 21 | 05.11.1950 | Belgrade | Yugoslavia | 0-4 | ||
| 22 | 26.11.1950 | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | 2-2 | ||
| 23 | 15.05.1951 | Middlesbrough | England (amateur) | 1-2 | ||
| 24 | 30.05.1951 | Oslo | Republic of Ireland | 2-3 | ||
| 25 | 06.06.1951 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 3-2 | ||
| 26 | 26.07.1951 | Trondheim | Iceland | 3-1 | ||
| 27 | 16.08.1951 | Helsinki | Finland | 1-1 | ||
| 28 | 23.08.1951 | Oslo | Yugoslavia | 2-4 | ||
| 29 | 16.09.1951 | Oslo | Denmark | 2-0 | ||
| 30 | 30.09.1951 | Gothenburg | Sweden | 4-3 | ||
| 31 | 10.06.1952 | Oslo | Finland | 1-2 | ||
| 32 | 21.07.1952 | Tampere | Sweden | 1-4 | Olympic Games | |
| 33 | 31.08.1952 | Oslo | Finland | 7-2 | ||
| 34 | 05.10.1952 | Oslo | Sweden | 1-2 | ||
| 35 | 19.10.1952 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 3-1 | ||
| 36 | 19.05.1953 | Oslo | England (amateur) | 1-1 | ||
| 37 | 24.06.1953 | Oslo | Saar | 2-3 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 38 | 13.08.1953 | Bergen | Iceland | 3-1 | ||
| 39 | 19.08.1953 | Oslo | West Germany | 1-1 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 40 | 30.08.1953 | Helsinki | Finland | 4-1 | ||
| 41 | 13.09.1953 | Oslo | Denmark | 0-1 | ||
| 42 | 27.09.1953 | Oslo | Netherlands | 4-0 | ||
| 43 | 18.10.1953 | Stockholm | Sweden | 0-0 | ||
| 44 | 08.11.1953 | Saarbrücken | Saar | 0-0 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 45 | 22.11.1953 | Hamburg | West Germany | 1-5 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 46 | 19.05.1954 | Oslo | Scotland | 1-1 | ||
| 47 | 30.05.1954 | Vienna | Austria | 0-5 | ||
| 48 | 04.06.1954 | Malmö | Denmark | 2-1 | ||
| 49 | 07.06.1954 | Stockholm | Sweden | 0-3 | ||
| 50 | 29.08.1954 | Oslo | Finland | 3-1 | ||
| 51 | 19.09.1954 | Oslo | Sweden | 1-1 | ||
| 52 | 31.10.1954 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 1-0 | ||
| 53 | 07.11.1954 | Dublin | Republic of Ireland | 1-2 | ||
| 54 | 08.05.1955 | Oslo | Hungary | 0-5 | ||
| 55 | 25.05.1955 | Oslo | Republic of Ireland | 1-3 | ||
| 56 | 12.06.1955 | Oslo | Romania | 0-1 | ||
| 57 | 14.08.1955 | Helsinki | Finland | 3-1 | ||
| 58 | 25.09.1955 | Stockholm | Sweden | 1-1 | ||
| 59 | 06.11.1955 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 0-3 | ||
| 60 | 16.11.1955 | Karlsruhe | West Germany | 0-2 | ||
| 61 | 30.05.1956 | Oslo | Poland | 0-0 | ||
| 62 | 13.06.1956 | Oslo | West Germany | 1-3 | ||
| 63 | 24.06.1956 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 3-2 | ||
| 64 | 28.06.1956 | Bucharest | Romania | 0-2 | ||
| 65 | 26.08.1956 | Oslo | Finland | 1-1 | ||
| 66 | 16.09.1956 | Oslo | Sweden | 3-1 | ||
| 67 | 28.10.1956 | Warsaw | Poland | 3-5 | ||
| 68 | 22.05.1957 | Oslo | Bulgaria | 1-2 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 69 | 12.06.1957 | Oslo | Hungary | 2-1 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 70 | 18.06.1957 | Turku | Sweden | 0-0 | ||
| 71 | 19.06.1957 | Tampere | Denmark | 0-2 | ||
| 72 | 08.07.1957 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 3-0 | ||
| 73 | 01.09.1957 | Helsinki | Finland | 4-0 | ||
| 74 | 22.09.1957 | Oslo | Denmark | 2-2 | ||
| 75 | 13.10.1957 | Stockholm | Sweden | 2-5 | ||
| 76 | 28.05.1958 | Oslo | Netherlands | 0-0 | ||
| 77 | 15.06.1958 | Oslo | Finland | 2-0 | ||
| 78 | 29.06.1958 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 2-1 | ||
| 79 | 02.11.1958 | Leipzig | East Germany | 1-4 | ||
| 80 | 15.05.1959 | Oslo | Austria | 0-1 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 81 | 17.06.1959 | Oslo | Luxembourg | 1-0 | ||
| 82 | 28.06.1959 | Helsinki | Finland | 4-2 | ||
| 83 | 02.07.1959 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 1-2 | Olympic Games Qual. | |
| 84 | 07.07.1959 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 0-1 | Olympic Games Qual. | |
| 85 | 21.08.1959 | Oslo | Iceland | 2-1 | Olympic Games Qual. | |
| 86 | 13.09.1959 | Oslo | Denmark | 2-4 | Olympic Games Qual. | |
| 87 | 23.09.1959 | Vienna | Austria | 2-5 | European Champ. Qual. | |
| 88 | 18.10.1959 | Gothenburg | Sweden | 2-6 | ||
| 89 | 04.11.1959 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 1-7 | ||
| 90 | 26.05.1960 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 0-3 | ||
| 91 | 09.06.1960 | Oslo | Iceland | 4-0 | ||
| 92 | 22.06.1960 | Oslo | Austria | 1-2 | ||
| 93 | 28.08.1960 | Oslo | Finland | 6-3 | ||
| 94 | 18.09.1960 | Oslo | Sweden | 3-1 | ||
| 95 | 16.05.1961 | Bergen | Mexico | 1-1 | ||
| 96 | 01.06.1961 | Oslo | Turkey | 0-1 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 97 | 27.06.1961 | Helsinki | Finland | 1-4 | ||
| 98 | 01.07.1961 | Moscow | Soviet Union | 2-5 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 99 | 23.08.1961 | Oslo | Soviet Union | 0-3 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 100 | 17.09.1961 | Oslo | Denmark | 0-4 | ||
| 101 | 22.10.1961 | Gothenburg | Sweden | 0-2 | ||
| 102 | 29.10.1961 | Istanbul | Turkey | 1-2 | World Cup Qualifier | |
| 103 | 05.11.1961 | Valetta | Malta | 1-1 | ||
| 104 | 16.05.1962 | Oslo | Netherlands | 2-1 | ||
NOTE: Matches in red are not recognized as full internationals by FIFA.