The 2012 Norwegian Football Cup final was the 107th final of the Norwegian Football Cup. The final was contested by Hødd and Tromsø and took place on 25 November 2012 at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, in front of a crowd of 24,217. This was Tromsø's third final, and they had won the two previous finals in 1986 and 1996, while the Norwegian First Division side Hødd played their first final ever.
Hødd, who entered the final as underdogs, won the final after penalties and became the first second-tier side to win the Norwegian Cup in 15 years, since Vålerenga won in 1997. As the winner of the Norwegian Cup, Hødd earned a place in the second qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League.
Route to the final
(TL) = Tippeligaen team
(D1) = 1. divisjon team
(D2) = 2. divisjon team
(D3) = 3. divisjon team
Hødd
Hødd faced the Third Division team Tornado Måløy in the first round of the 2012 Norwegian Football Cup, and Hødd became the third team in four years to reach the final after beating Tornado Maløy in the first round, like Molde did in 2009 and Aalesund in 2011. Fredrik Klock scored Hødd's first goal after a corner kick, before Vegard Heltne scored the second goal a few minutes later. Michael Karlsen's goal after 30 minutes was the last goal in the match, and Hødd won comfortably 3–0. Karlsen also scored in the second round when Hødd won 1–0 against another Third Division side, Arna-Bjørnar. Hødd's head coach Lars Arne Nilsen claimed ahead of the final that Arna-Bjørnar was the team who was closest on eliminating Hødd from the cup that year.
The First Division side Sarpsborg 08 visited Høddvoll in the third round, and it was the guests that took the lead after 38 minutes when Morten Giæver scored. Espen Standal equalized after 66 minutes and with 1–1 at full-time, the match went into extra time. As the tie approached 120 minutes, Pål André Helland scored Hødd's winning goal. Helland scored twice when Hødd drew 2–2 in the quarter-final against the Tippeligaen side Haugesund. Hødd won the penalty shoot-out 5–4 when Martin Bjørnbak missed Haugesund's sixth penalty after Helland and Haugesund's Alexander Søderlund missed one penalty each while the rest scored.
The supporters of Brann booked plane-tickets and hotel-rooms in Oslo after their team were drawn away against Hødd in the semi-final, as they were confident that Brann would beat the second-tier team and reach a second consecutive cup final, despite not winning in Møre og Romsdal since Brann won 2–0 against Molde on 6 May 2006. Zsolt Korcsmár sent Brann in the lead after 17 minutes before Fredrik Aursnes equalized five minutes before half time. With goals from Helland and Kjell Rune Sellin in the second half Hødd won 3–1, and qualified for their first ever Norwegian Cup final.
Tromsø
Tromsø won 2–0 after two goals from Steffen Nystrøm against the Third Division side Porsanger in the first round. Tromsø met Stjørdals-Blink in the second round, six years after they met in the second round of the 2006 Norwegian Football Cup, and Tromsø won 2–1 after goals from William Frantzen and Thomas Drage. Tromsdalen, who have met only either Tromsø or Bodø/Glimt in the third round since 1993, were beaten 4–0 in the third round after goals from Ruben Yttergård Jenssen, Zdeněk Ondrášek, Fredrik Björck and Vegard Lysvoll.
Remi Johansen sent Tromsø in the lead after 42 minutes in the fourth-round match against second-tier team Start. Rolf Daniel Vikstøl equalized for Start three minutes into injury time, and after none of the team scored in the extra time the match was decided in a penalty shoot-out, which Tromsø won 4–1. Tromsø eliminated rivals FK Bodø/Glimt in the quarterfinal after Ondrášek scored the only goal at Aspmyra Stadion. Last years Tippeligaen winners, Molde, the only team who won against Tromsø at Alfheim Stadion last season, were drawn against Tromsø in the semi-final. Ondrášek scored the first goal in the semi-final at Alfheim, and Tromsø were leading 1–0 at half time. Ole Martin Årst scored Tromsø's second goal in the 72nd minute, and when Molde only managed to score once, Daniel Chima seven minutes before full-time, Tromsø were ready for their first Norwegian Cup final since 1996.
Pre-match
Supporters
Like in the previous finals, the two clubs received 13,000 of the 25,500 tickets to the final. Of the 13,000 seats, the two club got 3,000 each while the remaining 7,000 are distributed between the clubs based on the average attendance in their home games in the league, which resulted in 7,300 tickets to Tromsø while Hødd received 5,700. The remaining 10,000 tickets went to partners of the Norwegian Football Association.