Do we like them?

Do we like Martin Ødegaard?

Our score: 8 out of 10. A clean record with a couple of public stands for others, but the record is thin on big, sustained good deeds.

Ødegaard is the kid who was always going to be famous. Born in Drammen, the son of a former pro footballer, he played a friendly for Strømsgodset at 13 and made his competitive debut at 15. A few months later he became Norway's youngest ever international. His own reaction to that debut was “I am shocked, this is a dream come true.”

Real Madrid signed him in January 2015, but the early promise didn't turn straight into first-team football. He spent his time mostly in the reserves, then bounced through loans in the Netherlands and Spain before landing at Arsenal. He became Norway's captain in March 2021, and the Arsenal captaincy followed. It's a proper late bloom story rather than a straight-line rise.

The one contested area is the Israel and Gaza politics around Norway's 2025 qualifier. He said players had talked about the war and “We cannot ignore the circumstances surrounding this match.” The Norwegian FA said it would give the match proceeds to humanitarian relief in Gaza. Where you land depends on whether you read that as a captain acknowledging a humanitarian crisis or as football mixed up with politics. Either way, it's his stated words and nothing hateful.

On the good-person side, there's no court ruling against him and no misconduct allegation that we found. The legal fights that turned up in searches were him going after tabloids over privacy, which is not a mark against him. One Spanish outlet reports that he gives part of his salary to grassroots youth sport, but it gives no amounts or organisations, so treat that as a lead.

Nothing recent was confirmed that we could source with a firm date. His 2026 World Cup captaincy with Norway has been big news, and so has the pre-tournament chatter about his form, but we haven't cited it here. Say so plainly: the record is thin on big public good deeds, and what's there is quiet rather than loud.

So: a decent bloke by every sign we can find, who led a small country to a first World Cup in decades. He's no activist, and the score reflects that thin evidence of giving back, not any stain. If you like him, there's no hidden catch waiting.