Iceland national football team

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Iceland
Nickname(s)Strákarnir okkar (Our Boys)
AssociationFootball Association of Iceland (KSÍ)
Knattspyrnusamband Íslands
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachArnar Viðarsson
CaptainAron Gunnarsson
Most capsRúnar Kristinsson (104)
Top scorerEiður Guðjohnsen (26)
Home stadiumLaugardalsvöllur
FIFA codeISL
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 63 Decrease 1 (22 December 2022)[1]
Highest18 (February–March 2018)
Lowest131 (April–June 2012)
First international
Unofficial:
 Faroe Islands 0–1 Iceland 
(Faroe Islands; 29 July 1930)[2]
Official:
 Iceland 0–3 Denmark 
(Reykjavík, Iceland; 17 July 1946)[3]
Biggest win
Unofficial:
 Iceland 9–0 Faroe Islands 
(Keflavík, Iceland; 10 July 1985)
Official:
 Iceland 5–0 Malta 
(Reykjavík, Iceland; 27 July 2000)[4]
Biggest defeat
 Denmark 14–2 Iceland 
(Copenhagen, Denmark; 23 August 1967)
World Cup
Appearances1 (first in 2018)
Best resultGroup stage, (2018)
UEFA European Championship
Appearances1 (first in 2016)
Best resultQuarter-finals, (2016)

Iceland national football team is the national football team of Iceland.

Competitive record[change | change source]

Before 2016, Iceland had never qualified for any major tournament. They got close in 2013, but lost to Croatia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup play-offs.[6][7]

UEFA Euro 2016[change | change source]

They qualified for the UEFA Euro 2016 after finishing as runners-up in their qualification group. They went on to finish at 2nd place in their group during the group stage, and went on to face England in the round of 16. Even though they were the obvious underdogs, they beat England 2−1 with goals from Ragnar Sigurðsson and Kolbeinn Sigþórsson.[8] Their momentum ended when they lost to France 5−2 after being down 4−0 at halftime.[9]

Group stage[change | change source]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Hungary Hungary 3 1 2 0 6 4 +2 5
2 Iceland Iceland 3 1 2 0 4 3 +1 5
3 Portugal Portugal 3 0 3 0 4 4 0 3
4 Austria Austria 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 1
14 June 2016
Portugal  1 − 1 Iceland Iceland
18 June 2016
Iceland  1 − 1 Hungary Hungary
22 June 2016
Iceland  2 − 1 Austria Austria

Round of 16[change | change source]

27 June 2016
England  1 − 2  Iceland

Quarter-finals[change | change source]

3 July 2016
France  5 − 2  Iceland

Squad[change | change source]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Hannes Þór Halldórsson (1984-04-27) 27 April 1984 (age 39) 57 0 Azerbaijan Qarabağ
1GK Ögmundur Kristinsson (1989-06-19) 19 June 1989 (age 34) 15 0 Greece AEL
1GK Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson (1995-02-18) 18 February 1995 (age 29) 5 0 France Dijon

2DF Birkir Már Sævarsson (1984-11-11) 11 November 1984 (age 39) 86 1 Iceland Valur
2DF Kári Árnason (1982-10-13) 13 October 1982 (age 41) 73 6 Turkey Gençlerbirliği
2DF Ari Freyr Skúlason (1987-05-14) 14 May 1987 (age 36) 62 0 Belgium Lokeren
2DF Sverrir Ingi Ingason (1993-08-05) 5 August 1993 (age 30) 26 3 Russia Rostov
2DF Hörður Björgvin Magnússon (1993-02-11) 11 February 1993 (age 31) 23 2 Russia CSKA Moscow
2DF Eggert Jónsson (1988-08-18) 18 August 1988 (age 35) 20 0 Denmark SønderjyskE
2DF Jón Guðni Fjóluson (1989-04-10) 10 April 1989 (age 35) 15 1 Russia Krasnodar
2DF Hjörtur Hermannsson (1995-02-08) 8 February 1995 (age 29) 8 1 Denmark Brøndby
2DF Guðmundur Þórarinsson (1992-04-26) 26 April 1992 (age 31) 3 0 Sweden IFK Norrköping

3MF Aron Gunnarsson (Captain) (1989-04-22) 22 April 1989 (age 34) 81 2 Wales Cardiff City
3MF Rúrik Gíslason (1988-02-25) 25 February 1988 (age 36) 53 3 Germany SV Sandhausen
3MF Arnór Ingvi Traustason (1993-04-30) 30 April 1993 (age 30) 25 5 Sweden Malmö
3MF Victor Pálsson (1991-04-30) 30 April 1991 (age 32) 10 0 Switzerland Zürich
3MF Samúel Friðjónsson (1996-02-22) 22 February 1996 (age 28) 5 0 Norway Vålerenga
3MF Arnór Sigurðsson (1999-05-15) 15 May 1999 (age 24) 2 0 Russia CSKA Moscow

4FW Alfreð Finnbogason (1989-02-01) 1 February 1989 (age 35) 52 15 Germany FC Augsburg
4FW Kolbeinn Sigþórsson (1990-03-14) 14 March 1990 (age 34) 48 23 France Nantes
4FW Albert Guðmundsson (1997-06-15) 15 June 1997 (age 26) 10 3 Netherlands AZ
4FW Andri Rúnar Bjarnason (1990-11-12) 12 November 1990 (age 33) 3 1 Sweden Helsingborg
4FW Jón Dagur Þorsteinsson (1998-11-26) 26 November 1998 (age 25) 1 0 Denmark Vendsyssel

Most appearances[change | change source]

As of 26 June 2018
Rank Name Career Caps Goals
1 Rúnar Kristinsson 1987–2004 104 3
2 Hermann Hreiðarsson 1996–2011 89 5
3 Eiður Guðjohnsen 1996–2016 88 26
4 Birkir Már Sævarsson 2007– 82 1
5 Guðni Bergsson 1984–2003 80 1
Ragnar Sigurðsson 2007– 80 3
Aron Einar Gunnarsson 2008– 80 2
8 Brynjar Björn Gunnarsson 1997–2009 74 4
Birkir Kristinsson 1988–2004 74 0
10 Arnór Guðjohnsen 1979–1997 73 14
11 Ólafur Þórðarson 1984–1996 72 5
12 Arnar Grétarsson 1991–2004 71 2
Árni Gautur Arason 1998–2010 71 0
14 Atli Eðvaldsson 1976–1991 70 8
Birkir Bjarnason 2010– 70 9
16 Sævar Jónsson 1980–1992 69 1
Kári Árnason 2005– 69 5
Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson 2008– 69 7
19 Marteinn Geirsson 1971–1982 67 8
20 Eyjólfur Sverrisson 1990–2001 66 10
Emil Hallfreðsson 2005– 66 1

Top scorers[change | change source]

Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen is the current top scorer.
As of 26 June 2018
Rank Name Career Goals Caps GPG
1 Eiður Guðjohnsen 1996–2016 26 88 0.30
2 Kolbeinn Sigþórsson 2010– 22 44 0.50
3 Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson 2010– 20 60 0.33
4 Ríkharður Jónsson 1947–1965 17 33 0.52
5 Ríkharður Daðason 1991–2004 14 44 0.32
Alfreð Finnbogason 2010– 14 50 0.28
Arnór Guðjohnsen 1979–1997 14 73 0.19
8 Þórður Guðjónsson 1993–2004 13 58 0.22
9 Tryggvi Guðmundsson 1997–2008 12 42 0.29
Heiðar Helguson 1999–2011 12 55 0.22
11 Pétur Pétursson 1978–1990 11 41 0.27
Matthías Hallgrímsson 1968–1977 11 45 0.24
13 Helgi Sigurðsson 1993–2008 10 62 0.16
Eyjólfur Sverrisson 1990–2001 10 66 0.15
15 Þórður Þórðarson 1951–1958 9 16 0.56
Teitur Þórðarson 1972–1985 9 41 0.22
Birkir Bjarnason 2010– 9 70 0.13
18 Guðmundur Steinsson 1980–1988 8 19 0.42
Sigurður Grétarsson 1980–1992 8 46 0.17
Marteinn Geirsson 1971–1982 8 67 0.12
Atli Eðvaldsson 1976–1991 8 70 0.11

References[change | change source]

  1. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  2. Courtney, Barrie (16 May 2008). "Faroe Islands – List of International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  3. Nygård, Jostein (16 May 2008). "International matches of Iceland". RSSSF. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  4. Nygård, Jostein (16 May 2008). "International matches of Iceland". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  5. Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  6. "Iceland 0-0 Croatia". BBC Sport. 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
  7. "FIFA World Cup Play-Off: Croatia v Iceland". FourFourTwo.com. 2013-11-17. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
  8. "England 1−2 Iceland: Euro 2016 − as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  9. "France 5−2 Iceland: Euro 2016 quarter-final − as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2016.