Thea Bjelde (born 5 June 2000) is a Norwegian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

and the Norway national team.

Club career

Early career

Bjelde started her career in

Sogndal Sogndal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansv ...

, where she distinguished herself as the only girl on the under-14 team in the

Norway Cup The Norway Cup is an international youth football tournament in Oslo, Norway. It has been held annually since 1972, with the exception of 1976 (due to a conflicting arrangement), 2020 and 2021 (due to the COVID-19 Pandemic). It is the world's l ...

. In early 2016, she joined

Kaupanger Kaupanger is a village situated along the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the municipality of Sogndal in Vestland county, Norway. It sits along the Norwegian National Road 5, about southeast of the municipal centre of Sogndalsfjøra and a ...

in the 2nd division.

Arna-Bjørnar (2016–2021)

As a 16-year-old, she was brought to

Arna-Bjørnar Arna-Bjørnar Fotball is a Norwegian football club from Arna, Bergen. It was founded in late 2000 as a merger between the football branches from ''IL Bjørnar'' and ''Arna T&IL'', and replaced Bjørnar IL in the league system from 2001. The ...

in the

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in ...

. In 2018, the breakthrough came when Bjelde had a fantastic season, and was an important piece in the team that won bronze in the Toppserien. She was voted player of the year in Arna-Bjørnar, and nominated for breakthrough of the year in 2022 in the Toppserien. In early 2019, she suffered a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

injury that put her out of football for a year. After returning from the injury, she bounced back strongly the following year, and was rewarded by being selected for the senior national team for the first time. She was also named player of the year in Arna-Bjørnar in 2020. As a 21-year-old, she was appointed captain in Arna-Bjørnar.

Vålerenga (2021–)

On 18 July 2021, she signed for Vålerenga. With Vålerenga, she helped win the cup championship in her first season, and she was voted best on the pitch in the cup final against

Sandviken Sandviken is a locality and the seat of Sandviken Municipality in Gävleborg County, Sweden with 26,438 inhabitants in 2023. It is situated about 25 km west of Gävle and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey t ...

. In the summer of 2023, she extended her contract with Vålerenga. She was an important part of the team that took series gold for Vålerenga. Bjelde was selected for the "team of the year" and nominated for "player of the year" in

2023 Toppserien The 2023 Toppserien was the 40th season of the highest women's football league in Norway. The season started on 25 March 2023 and ended on 12 November 2023. The season did not include championship and relegation playoffs rounds which were scrappe ...

International career

Bjelde has international matches for U15, U16, U17, U19, U23, and the senior national team for Norway. She was selected for the senior Norwegian national team for the first time in October 2020. After a decline in the Norwegian squad, Bjelde was called up to the team that was going to the European Championship in England 2022. Bjelde made her debut for the senior national team on 7 October 2022, in a private international match against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Ullevaal Stadium Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of ...

. On 19 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player Norwegian squad for the

FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by women's national teams and organised by FIFA. The tournament, which took place from 2 ...

. She played in all games. On 16 June 2025, Bjelde was called up to the Norway squad for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 The 2025 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2025 or simply Euro 2025, will be the 14th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the wome ...

International goals

References

External links

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Thea Bjelde
at Soccerdonna * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjelde, Thea 2000 births Living people People from Sogndal Footballers from Vestland Norwegian women's footballers Women's association football midfielders Women's association football defenders Arna-Bjørnar players Vålerenga Fotball Damer players Toppserien players Norway women's youth international footballers Norway women's international footballers 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players UEFA Women's Euro 2025 players 21st-century Norwegian sportswomen