Steffen Iversen

Club

International

Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Iversen goal.

Iversen was a regular for the Norway U-21 and was a major contributor for the team that earned a third place in the 1998 UEFA U-21 Championship, by scoring Norway's all three goals during the championship, including two goals in the third-place match against Netherlands U-21. In total, he played 23 matches for the U-21 team, and scored 17 goals, a record. Later the same year, he made his debut for the senior team in the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier against Albania. He scored his first international goal on 20 May 1999 in the friendly match against Jamaica, a game Norway won 6–0. In Norway's first match in a UEFA European Championship, Iversen scored the match-winning goal against Spain with a header. Iversen's goal is still Norway's only goal in a UEFA European Football Championship. Iversen played regularly for the national team, until he in August 2008 overslept to a meeting with the squad that was to play a friendly match against Republic of Ireland on 20 August 2008 and was sent home by the national team coach Åge Hareide. Nevertheless, Iversen was called up for the next squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Iceland where he scored Norway's two goals. The UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier match against Denmark on 26 March 2011 was to be his last match for Norway. In total he achieved 79 caps – scoring 21 goals.

Early career

Steffen Iversen was born in Oslo, when his father, Odd Iversen, was playing for Vålerenga. His family moved back to Trondheim when he was three years old, and the first club that Iversen played for was his father's club Rosenborg. He signed for Nationalkameratene at the age of seven, and the contract, dated 16 February 1984, included a clause that stated that Steffen Iversen any time could move back to Rosenborg free of charge, and was signed by his father. He later moved on to Astor before he joined Rosenborg's youth department in 1994, where he scored six goals in his debut for the reserve team. He joined Rosenborg's first team squad in 1995, and made his debut in the first match of the season against Kongsvinger at Lerkendal on 21 April 1995. During the two season he first played at Rosenborg, he scored 18 goals in 50 matches, won two consecutive league championship and played in the Champions League. His last match in his first period for Rosenborg was the famous win against Milan at San Siro.

Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers

In December 1996, he joined Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £2.3 million, and made his Premier League debut against Coventry City, four days after his last match for Rosenborg. A highlight in his first season at Tottenham was scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 win at Sunderland. He spent seven years at White Hart Lane – collecting a League Cup winners' medal in 1999, assisting Allan Nielsen's stoppage time…

Iversen was married to Anna Crane.