TheIceland national football team (Icelandic:Íslenska karlalandsliðið í knattspyrnu) representsIceland in men's internationalfootball. The team is controlled by theFootball Association of Iceland, and have been aFIFA member since 1947 and aUEFA member since 1957. The team's nickname isStrákarnir okkar, which meansOur Boys inIcelandic.
The team enjoyed success in the second half of the 2010s. In thequalifying rounds for the2014 FIFA World Cup, Iceland reached the playoffs before losing toCroatia. Iceland reached its first major tournament,UEFA Euro 2016, after a qualification campaign which included home and away wins over theNetherlands. After reaching the knockout stages of Euro 2016, Icelanddefeated England in the round of 16, advancing to the quarter-finals, where they lost to host nationFrance 5–2. The team qualified for the2018 tournament on 9 October 2017, becoming the smallest nation by population to clinch aFIFA World Cup spot.[a][9] They drew withArgentina in their opening match, but went out in the group stage.[10][11]
AlthoughÚrvalsdeild, the Icelandic Football League, was founded in 1912,[12] the country's first international match was played on 29 July 1930, against theFaroe Islands.[13] Although Iceland won 1–0 away, both teams were at the time unaffiliated withFIFA.[14] The first match officially recognised by FIFA took place inReykjavík on 17 July 1946, a 0–3 loss to their future rivalsDenmark.[15] The first international victory was against Finland in 1947.[16] For the first 20 years of theFootball Association of Iceland (KSÍ)'s existence, the team mostly did not participate in qualifying for theFIFA World Cup or theUEFA European Championship. In 1954, Iceland applied to take part in qualification for the1954 World Cup, but the application was rejected.[13] In qualification for the1958 World Cup, Iceland finished last in their group with zero wins, conceding 26 goals.[13]
In 1980, Iceland won the first edition of the friendly tournament known as theGreenland Cup.[17]
Since 1974, the team has taken part in qualifying for every World Cup and European Championship. In 1994, the team reached their then best ever position in theFIFA World Rankings, 37th. This record stood until 2016 when they managed to reach 21st.[18] In a friendly againstEstonia on 24 April 1996 inTallinn,Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen entered as a substitute for his fatherArnór. This marked the first time that a father and son played in the same international match.[19]
In qualification forEuro 2004, Iceland finished third in their group, one point behindScotland.[20] As a result, they failed to qualify for a playoff spot.[21]
However, the following qualifying campaigns will be much more difficult for Iceland which will flirt with the last places of its respective groups, in particular during theEuro 2008 qualifiers where despite two unexpected successes againstNorthern Ireland (3–0 in the opening away, 2–1 at home in the return) and a heroic resistance in the first and second leg against theSpanish future winners of the competition (a 1–1 draw at home after having led the score and a short 0–1 defeat away), Our boys suffered several other heavy defeats, including two againstLatvia, who had qualified forEuro 2004 as a surprise (0–4 away, 2–4 home), and one againstLiechtenstein (0–3 away, after a 1–1 home draw).
The reasons for the lack of results of the selection were due to the absence of professionals on the island, the Icelanders played soccer for fun. Moreover, the hostile climate where winter lasts 8 months did not help the development of the sport, there were only two synthetic fields forcing the footballers to train on the gravel or in the snow. In the 2000s, Icelandic soccer will experience a real revolution. The economic boom will allow the authorities to create important structures with indoor pitches in synthetic turf, which results in the practice of soccer all year round without worrying about the weather conditions outside. These new structures encourage young people to turn to sports and even lead to a decrease in alcohol and tobacco consumption among teenagers.[22]
In 2014, Iceland almost secured qualification for their first World Cup.[23] Finishing second in Group D, they playedCroatia in a two-leg playoff for qualification.[24][25] After holding them to a 0–0 draw in the home leg, they lost 2–0 away.[26]
Iceland qualified for a major tournament for the first time in 2015 after finishing second in Group A of qualification forEuro 2016, losing only two games, and beating theNetherlands – which had finished third in the 2014 World Cup – twice.[27][28][29][30] During the qualification, they reached their then highest ranking in the FIFA World Rankings, 23rd.[31][32] Iceland were drawn into a group withPortugal,Hungary andAustria for the final tournament.
At the tournament finals, Iceland recorded 1–1 draws in their first two group stage matches against Portugal and Hungary. They then advanced from their group with a 2–1 victory against Austria.[33] Iceland qualified for the tournament's quarter-finals after a2–1 upset win over England in the Round of 16, which led to England managerRoy Hodgson resigning in disgrace immediately after the final whistle.[34] However, they were eliminated by host nationFrance in the quarter-finals, 5–2.[35]
Iceland qualified for the2018 World Cup, their first ever appearance in the world championship and second major tournament overall, securing qualification on 9 October 2017 after a 2–0 win againstKosovo. In doing so, they became the lowest-populated country ever to reach the finals.[36] Iceland were drawn to playCroatia,Argentina andNigeria in a group that was considered by many as the "group of death".[37][38] Despite a challenging group, Iceland were tipped to advance from the group by several journalist websites, based on their impressive performance in Euro 2016.[39] Their maiden match at the World Cup was against2014 runners-up Argentina, with Iceland holding Argentina to a 1–1 draw.[40][41] However, their chances of advancing from the group were hurt following a 2–0 loss to Nigeria, with several missed opportunities in the first half and a penalty kick in the second half missed by Gylfi Sigurðsson, putting Iceland in position to play a decisive match against already qualified Croatia.[42][43] Iceland lost to Croatia in their final group game and were eliminated; and because Argentina won against Nigeria, Iceland finished bottom of the group with a single point.[44][45]
After Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, Iceland participated in the2018–19 UEFA Nations League, in which they were inGroup 2 of League A withSwitzerland andBelgium. Many of Iceland's international matches in this competition were undermined by the repeated absence of some of their key players, often due to injury. Iceland lost all four games and faced relegation to League B,[46] but due to a rule change by UEFA, Iceland was not relegated to League B for the 2020–2021 edition.
Ingroup H of the Euro qualifiers with the world championsFrance, Turkey, Albania, Andorra and Moldova. Iceland lost both confrontations againstLes Bleus (4–0 at theStade de France and 1–0 at home on a penalty kick after the hour of play at the end of a tight game) and the away match againstAlbania 4–2, though achieved a win and a draw against Turkey. Iceland finished third behind France and Turkey and advanced to theplayoffs, where they defeatedRomania 2–1. On 12 November 2020, in theirplayoff game against Hungary, Iceland nearly secured qualification forEuro 2020, having led 1–0 for most of the match, thanks to a direct free kick by Gylfi Sigurðsson. However, Hungary scored two goals in under five minutes, the first in the 88th minute byLoïc Nego and the second in the second minute of added time byDominik Szoboszlai, proving to be the winner, thereby securing qualification at Iceland's expense.[47]
Iceland had also suffered poor results in theirUEFA Nations League campaign inLeague A, having lost all theirgroup stage matches and failing to garner a single point, resulting in their relegation to League B thefollowing season.[48] ManagerErik Hamrén ultimately resigned, following their poor performance that year.[49]
Iceland also had a poor start to2022 World Cup qualifiers, suffering two defeats at the beginning of the tournament, away againstGermany (0–3) and more surprisingly inArmenia (0–2). Preparation for the September games, where Iceland had the advantage of playing all three games at home after several away games and had played some encouraging friendlies in June, was disrupted by extra-sporting affairs involving bothKolbeinn Sigþórsson andGylfi Sigurðsson accused of sexual offences[50][51] and thus absent from the month's games. The cases also led to the resignation of several senior officials of theIcelandic Football Association, including its president.[52] In the aftermath of these affairs, Iceland lost against Romania (0–2), drew againstNorth Macedonia (2–2), and suffered a heavy loss againstGermany (0–4); these results left Iceland in second-to-last place in Group J with four matches remaining. In the two October games, Iceland drew against Armenia (1–1) and defeated Liechtenstein (4–0). Despite these results, along with an away draw againstRomania (0–0), Iceland was mathematically eliminated with one day remaining, being unable to recover enough points to reach second place.
This run of poor results has been attributed to several factors, both sporting and extra-sporting: the late generational renewal, a process partly hampered by a limited pool of footballers due to Iceland's demographics; the questionable tactical choices of the new coach, resulting in a lack of automatism among new players who are not used to playing together and the absence of a real standard team; and sexual assault scandals that have effectively sidelined some of the team's best players under investigation.[53][54]
TheEuro 2024 qualifiers have also got off to a poor start in terms of results, with just one win and 3 defeats after 4 matches and a provisional penultimate place. Iceland were swept aside inBosnia (0–3), before recording the biggest official victory in their history againstLiechtenstein (7–0). Following a long series of poor results, Icelandic coachArnar Viðarsson was sacked[55] and replaced by NorwegianÅge Hareide. Under the new coach and after two away games, Iceland hostedSlovakia andPortugal, but both matches ended in defeat. First,Strákarnir okkar lost to the Slovaks (1–2) after a crude defensive error with a direct clearance toTomáš Suslov, who scored Slovakia's 2nd goal when the teams were level. Iceland then put in a better performance than in their previous matches against group favourites Portugal, demonstrating excellent tactical organization and keeping the Lusitanians at bay for long periods. However, a goal byCristiano Ronaldo on his 200th appearance for Portugal, initially disallowed but then validated byVAR at the very end of normal time, sealed Portugal's victory (0–1), shortly after the Nordic side had been reduced to 10 men following a second yellow card forWillum Þór Willumsson. Iceland finished 4th in their group with a disappointing record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 6 defeats, but were eligible for theplay-offs thanks to their performance in theNations League. In thesemi-final of the Path B play-offs, Iceland set a benchmark against a top 100 FIFA team for the first time in several years by brushing asideIsrael 4–1, thanks to a hat-trick fromAlbert Guðmundsson, while Israel finished the match with 10 men and missed a penalty to equalise. In the decisive match againstUkraine, Iceland opened the scoring throughAlbert Guðmundsson and led at half-time, but conceded 2 goals in the second half and lost (1–2) in a similar fashion to the previous Euro play-off lost inBudapest against the Hungarians.
Iceland then had a complicated2024–2025 Nations League, as they were relegated to League C for the next edition, despite having started in the highest League (League A) for the first 2 seasons.Strákarnir okkar finished 3rd in their group, just ahead ofMontenegro, whom they beat 2–0 on each occasion, but suffered 3 heavy defeats (againstWales away and twice againstTurkey) and a home draw against the Welsh. Iceland's penultimate place in the group means they are eligible for the2024–2025 Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs, where they faceKosovo, who finished 2nd in their League C group. Iceland lost the first leg 1–2 inPristina and had to turn the tie around in the home leg, which was actually played on neutral ground at theEstadio Nueva Condomina inMurcia,Spain,[56] due to renovation work atLaugardalsvöllur, Iceland's only stadium to UEFA standards.[57] Deprived of this advantage and reduced to 10 men during the match, they lost again 1–3 (2–5 on aggregate) and failed to maintain their place in League B.
The national team uses blue as the home colours and white as their second colours; their crest features stylized imagery of Iceland's fourlandvættir (guardian spirits)in local folklore: a giant, a dragon, a bull, and an eagle. The team's crest was adopted in 2020 and was designed byReykjavík-based firm Bradenburg. Previously the team had used a team crest which featured a shield-type symbol which consisted of the abbreviation of theFootball Association of Iceland in Icelandic (KSI), stripes in the colors of theFlag of Iceland, and a football.[58][59]
Iceland's supporters became known for using theViking Thunder Clap chant in the mid-2010s, which involves fans clapping their hands above their heads and yelling "huh!" to the beat of a drum; the tradition originates from Scottish clubMotherwell. Iceland's Viking Clap first received wider international attention duringEuro 2016.[60]
The official kit is produced by German sports manufacturing companyPuma since 2020. Before that the kit providers wereUmbro (1975),Adidas (1976–1992), ABM (1992–1996),Reusch (1996–2001) andErreà (2002–2020)
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