The world was startled when Iceland made it to Euro 2016, but their women’s team played in the quarter-finals of a European Championship as far back as 1995

When the Icelandic men’s team qualified for Euro 2016, articles were published around the world about it being an unprecedented milestone for a nation of only 330,000 people. However, this is not the first time Iceland have qualified for a European Championship. The women’s team reached the quarter-finals of the Euros as far back as 1995. They have since competed at the 2009 and 2013 tournaments, and are currently on top of their qualifying group for Euro 2017. The men’s team are ranked 34th in the world; the women’s team are 16th.

The myth of a feminist liberal paradise at the northern tip of the Atlantic Ocean is to an extent based on fact. Iceland routinely tops global gender equality rankings; it has the closest gender pay gap in the world; and gender quotas are routinely used in government committees. However, gender inequality and discrimination still exist.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Iceland’s players before their Euro 2003 match against Germany. Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

The first official women’s league game was played in 1970 and the national team was founded 11 years later. The women’s teams are same as the men’s and often there is a correlation in the quality; Breidablik, from just outside Reykjavik, have won titles in both leagues recently. In 1987, however, the women’s team was effectively decommissioned by the football federation (KSI).

The team was not officially disbanded but they were not given any fixtures, funding or support. After prolonged lobbying they were revived in 1992. They made it to the Euro 95 quarter-finals by beating both Holland and Greece home and away in their qualifying group. In the quarter-finals they lost to England, 2-1 in Reykjavik and 2-1 in Brighton.

Discrimination was rife during those years and still lingers to this day. Thirty years ago women’s teams were given inconvenient practice times and often not allowed to play on grass – when they were, football boots were sometimes forbidden to avoid wearing out the pitch. Meanwhile, coverage in the national newspapers was threadbare.

Gender equality in international football has had widespread press coverage recently. The biggest story being the wage discrepancy between the US national teams. Top international players such as Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan have gone public with their fight to be paid the same as their counterparts in the men’s team. The US women’s team are ranked first in the world, the men’s 31st.

An argument about which team is more profitable seems to underpin the proceedings but there are deeper issues at stake. Female players in Iceland are semi-professional – anyone who wants to make a living out of the game must move abroad. Many have played professionally in Scandinavia, some in England and a few have risen through the ranks of US college football then turned professional.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Iceland fans support their team at their Euro 2009 match against Germany. Photograph: Heikki Saukkomaa/AFP/Getty Images

Every year an unofficial publication, Islensk knattspyrna (Icelandic football), covers the local football season on a national and international level. It is fascinating to see coverage develop over the decades and how little was written about female players – a women’s league team finally graced the cover in 2002. Before then it was the custom to give a women’s team a smaller photo, if they got one at all. But in 2008, when they qualified for the Euros in Finland after beating the Republic of Ireland 3-0 in Reykjavik, the national team were finally put on the front cover.

Progress has been made. The support systems for the national teams are now comparable and the press coverage is improving each year. However, the undercurrents of inequality are strong, especially in the leagues. It became abundantly clear recently when a newspaper published an advert featuring the commentating team of the private TV channel Stod2 Sport, which has the broadcasting rights to league games. There were 12 men, almost identically dressed.

Hidda (@HiddaThorst) Nei, þú meinar einsleitasta íþróttadeild landsins #sexdagsleikinn #Stod2Sport @stod2 pic.twitter.com/RRFQ6FSf16

It wasn’t even a fair representation of their coverage as Helena Olafsdottir, a former national team captain, hosts a regular programme on the same station covering the women’s league. There was swift outrage on social media but the photograph bears witness to the work still to be done on a national level.

When the men’s side qualified for Euro 2016 many celebrated like it was the first time an Icelandic team had gone so far in an international competition. Plans were made for a massive screen to be erected in downtown Reykjavik to show Iceland’s matches. The women’s team were not given screen in 2009 or 2013, but hopefully that will be rectified if they travel to the Netherlands in July 2017.

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