Stensland was born in
Farsund in the south of
Norway and grew up at nearby
Lyngdal showing her talent for football at an early age. She grew up in a footballing family. Her father was a coach, while her older sisters played at
Lyngdal IL. As a youth, Stensland trained with her male counterparts at Lyngdal until she reached her teens. She had a successful career with Lyngdal before starring for clubs such as
FK Donn,
Athene Moss, and
Kolbotn in her home country Norway,
Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC in Sweden, and Lyon in France. In 2005, Stensland was named the
Toppserien Player of the Year. She has also been nominated for the
FIFA Women's World Player of the Year award on four occasions. As a national team player, Stensland played in the
2005 European Championships guiding her team to a second-place finish after falling 3–1 to the
Germans in the final. Since making her debut in 2003, Stensland has become a regular in the team appearing at the
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the
2008 Summer Olympics,
UEFA Women's Euro 2009 and the
2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. At the beginning of 2009, Ingvild Stensland signed a contract with top French club, Olympique Lyonnaise. At about the same time she took over as captain of the national team, an appointment that was confirmed by the new chief trainer, Eli Landsem, at the end of 2009. In 2011, she returned to Göteborg, with whom she won the
Svenska Cupen. After the end of the season she returned to Norway to play for
Stabæk FK. == Coaching career ==