Founded 1947 | FIFA code ISL Head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson | |
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Nickname(s) Strákarnir okkar (Our boys) Managers Heimir Hallgrímsson, Lars Lagerbäck | ||
The Iceland men's national football team (Icelandic: Íslenska karlalandsliðið í knattspyrnu) is the national men's football team of Iceland and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland.
Contents
- To paris and beyond a tribute to iceland national football team
- History
- Alltime record against all nations
- Knockout phase
- Schedule and recent results
- Current squad
- Recent call ups
- Kit providers
- Most caps
- Top goalscorers
- National coaches
- Father and son
- References
Although Iceland is one of Europe's smaller football nations, the football team has enjoyed success in the 21st century. In the qualifying rounds for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Iceland reached the play offs before losing to Croatia. Iceland reached its first major tournament, UEFA Euro 2016, after a qualification campaign which included home and away wins over the Netherlands.
In doing so, they became the smallest ever nation to qualify for a major tournament. Iceland was allocated to Euro 2016 Group F. Birkir Bjarnason scored Iceland's first major tournament goal in the 50th minute against Portugal in a group stage match.
After advancing to the knockout stages of Euro 2016, Iceland defeated England in the Round of 16, advancing to the quarter-finals, where they lost to France 5–2. Iceland finished eighth in the tournament, with two wins, two draws and one defeat.
To paris and beyond a tribute to iceland national football team
History
Although Úrvalsdeild, the Icelandic Football League, was founded in 1912, the country's first international match was only played on 29 July 1930, against the Faroe Islands. Although Iceland won 1–0 away, both teams were at the time unaffiliated with FIFA. The first match officially recognised by FIFA took place in Reykjavík on 27 July 1946, a 0–3 defeat to Denmark. The first international victory was against Finland in 1947. For the first 20 years of the Football Association of Iceland (KSÍ)'s existence, the team did not participate in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. In 1954, Iceland applied to take part in qualification for UEFA Euro 1956, but the application was rejected. In qualification for the 1958 World Cup, Iceland finished last in their group with zero wins and with 26 goals against. Since 1974, the team has taken part inempted to qualifying for every World Cup and European Championship, but until recently without success. In 1994, the team was awarded their then best ever position in the FIFA World Rankings, 37th.
In qualification for Euro 2004, Iceland finished third of their group, one point behind Scotland. If they had finished second, they would have made a playoff spot.
In 2014, Iceland almost became the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup. Finishing second in Group D, they played Croatia in a two-leg playoff for qualification. After holding them to a 0–0 draw in the home leg, they lost 2–0 away.
Iceland qualified for a major tournament for the first time in 2015 after finishing second in Group A of qualification for Euro 2016, losing only two games, and beating the Netherlands – which had finished third in the 2014 World Cup – twice. During the qualification, they reached their highest ranking in the FIFA World Rankings, 23rd. Iceland were drawn into a group with Portugal, Hungary and Austria 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 pool with a 2–1 victory against Austria. Iceland qualified for the tournament's quarter-finals after a surprising 2–1 win against England in the Round of 16. However, they were eliminated by France in the quarter-finals, 5–2.
All–time record against all nations
This list is Icelandic national team complete records, both friendlies and competitive matches. Countries that are in italics are not members of FIFA or are former countries. As of 15 November 2016
UEFA:
Rest of the World
Knockout phase
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Schedule and recent results
Last updated 23 November 2016.
Win Draw Loss
Current squad
The following 18 players were called up for the friendly match against Mexico on 8 February 2017. All caps and goals are correct as of 8 February 2017 after the match against Mexico.
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up to the Iceland squad in the last 12 months.
Notes:
Kit providers
The official kit is currently produced by Italian sports manufacturing company Erreà since 2002. Before that the kit providers were German companies Adidas (1947–1992) and Reusch (1993–2001).
Most caps
As of 15 January 2017, the 20 players with the most caps for Iceland are:
Note: Some unofficial matches are counted for some players playing pre-1990, as per the KSÍ count.
In bold players still playing or available for selection.
Top goalscorers
As of 15 January 2017, the 20 players with the most goals for Iceland are:
Note: Some unofficial matches are counted for some players playing pre-1990, as per the KSÍ count.
In bold players still playing or available for selection.
National coaches
As of 15 February 2017. Note: this list includes international friendlies.
Father and son
In a friendly against Estonia on 24 April 1996 in Tallinn, Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen entered as a substitute for his father Arnór. This marked the first time that a father and son played in the same international match.