7 October 1917 - The Danish Dozen

On 7 October 1917, Denmark whipped Norway in a friendly 12-0 despite starting the match a man down.

The imbalance was caused by Danish defender Johannes Hansen, who--for reasons that remain unclear--chose to get a pre-match haircut that delayed the opening whistle. The Norwegians agreed to the delay, but Swedish referee Ernst Albihn went ahead and started the match after learning that Hansen had arrived at the stadium in Copenhagen, even though he was not on the pitch.

As it turned out, it didn't make any difference. Even with the brief disadvantage in numbers, Denmark's Michael Rohde scored in only the 6th minute. At the half-hour mark, they were up 4-0 with a hat-trick from Rohde's club teammate, Victor Klein (both played for B 93). Rohde then scored another before the break to stretch the lead to 5-0.

The second half was even worse for Norway. They managed to avoid another goal until Paul Berth's 68th-minute strike, but then the dam burst as Kjøbenhavns Boldklub forward Poul Nielsen (pictured) rattled off five straight goals in a span of just over ten minutes (70', 74', 76', 78', 80'). A final score from Alf Olsen in the 83rd minute ended the barrage and set the final margin at 12-0.

The match remains Norway's biggest defeat.

15 June 1924 - They Come From The Land Of The Ice And Snow

On 15 June 1924, Sweden came from behind to win the inaugural match of the Nordic Football Championship, defeating Denmark 3-2 at the Idrætsparken in Copenhagen before a crowd of 25,000.

That first tournament was played over the course of five years, with each of the three participating countries - Sweden, Denmark, and Norway - playing each other team twice each year. Finland joined in 1929 at the start of the second tournament and both Iceland and the Faroe Islands joined in 2000.

In that opening match, Denmark took a 2-0 lead early in the second half with goals from Alf Olsen (2') and Ernst Nilsson (47'), before Sweden surged back. Striker Per Kaufeldt started the rally with a goal in the 56th minute and then 19-year-old Sven Rydell equalized in the 65th minute. Rydell completed his brace with the game winner in the 74th minute.

When the tournament ended in 1928, Rydell was the leading goal scorer with 15 (12 of which came in matches against Norway, including two hat-tricks and one match in which he scored four). Denmark claimed the first title, however, finishing with 7 wins, 2 draws, and only 1 loss to top the table with 16 points, three more than second-place finisher Sweden. Norway was last with a single point.