A stunning 4-1 win against Italy last night secured Norway's ticket for the USA with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scoring twice.
Fjortoft, who played for Norway at the 1994 World Cup, told the Manchester Evening News: "I went into camp and we did a bit with Martin Odegaard, Sander Berge and Erling.
"When I came home from that, I called a friend and I said I got a good feeling because now I see that the players love to be at camp, they love to represent their country. They love to kind of be a part of something bigger than themselves. When you have players like Erling, when you come back and you play for your country, it’s something else.
"At your club, you could win the Premier League or the Champions League. You've got fantastic wages, but when you come to play for your country, you have to understand that it’s different.
"I used to be the team manager for Norway 10 years ago. I always said to the players, at your tombstone, it won't say how much you earn, it will say how many games you played for Norway, how many goals you scored for Norway, how many championships you play for Norway, and things like that.
"And this feeling they have, and when you have Erling and Martin having that, symbolises that. It's easier for the young boys to have that same feeling. They have a tremendous team spirit.
"The way he's playing for Norway, taking responsibility, leading by example. He took them on a lap of honour, took the boys out again and got them behind a goal and everything, so he's been tremendous.
"This is proper metaphoric Viking stuff when you see him. You kind of imagine that's this guy standing in front of a boat going to England, and you have to hide behind some churches."