Norway booked its place in the knockout stages after a perfect group stage that saw it top Group A, and it will face Italy in the quarter-finals this week.

As a nation, it has appeared in more major tournaments than any other European nation, but has not reached the final four since being a runner-up at UEFA Women's Euro 2013.

Norway, with two wins, is one of only two nations to have won the European championship more than once, having triumphed in 1987 and 1993. Germany, wth eitght titles, is the other.

Norway was eliminated in the group stage in each of the past two editions of the tournament. Having cleared that hurdle this time around, Hegerberg is confident of her team's chances this year.

"We took nine points in the group stage and are playing in the quarter-finals," she said.

"It's a big moment for us. Everyone has contributed, and we want to ride the crest of that wave.

"To get a top-four position at the Euros would be unique. It's a very important game, with a lot at stake, and we want to relish the moment. The way we have acquitted ourselves as a team has been exceptional."

Hegerberg took a five-year hiatus from international football between 2017 and 2022 but has played a key role for Norway in the tournament, scoring in the 2-1 win over Switzerland in their opener.

Barcelona's Caroline Graham Hansen has also been influential as she scored the winner against Finland to put Norway on the brink of the knockout rounds for the first time in 12 years.

The Ballon d'Or Femenin winner was also part of the Norway side that lost the 2013 final to Germany, and noted that the expectations are much higher than they were then.

"People expect things from us now," Graham Hansen acknowledged, noting a complete difference from 2013.

"We [Graham Hansen and Hegerberg] were like 18 and nobody expected nothing from us. We also just wanted to show what we could contribute at the time.

"I wasn't playing with much pressure at all [in 2013]. I was just going for it."

Italy, meanwhile, is looking to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1997, when it finished as runner-up to Germany.

Like Norway, Italy has competed at the UEFA Women's Euros 13 times, more than any other nation, but it has never lifted the trophy despite reaching the final twice.

Having reached the knockout stage for the first time since 2013, when it was knocked out of the quarter-finals, head coach Andrea Soncin created the team's chemistry for this year's achievements.

"There is the emotional aspect, that magic that they and us and we manage together, with all the staff managed to create," Soncin said. "When all the elements combine, there is a magical moment."