Iceland, a country with 340.000 people, became the smallest country to compete in a major international tournament when it qualified for the 2016 European Championships. The feat was repeated and another record was broken in the 2018 World Cup. How did it happen, since, in 2012, Iceland was standing in the 131st position of the FIFA ranking? How did it happen in such a small country?

Some 20 years ago, the conditions for football players in Iceland were dreadful. Basically, they only had 5 months per year to train when the grass was in an acceptable state. Except for those times, pitches were severely damaged by the freezing weather. For instance, Aron Gunnarsson, captain of the Iceland Football team, used to play football when he could and handball in the cold months.

Taking into account these conditions and the small population, qualifying for a major international tournament was out of the question. Something had to change. And it did. A top-down change occurred.

Giant indoor training centres – Soccer Houses as the Icelanders call them – were built in an effort to combat the weather issue. The first one was built in 2000 and now there are 7 of them across the country. This was made with partnerships between football clubs and local authorities.

Still, regarding the same issue, more than a hundred outdoor pitches were built with underground heating. Furthermore, these pitches were settled close to schools, so young people would play there between classes. Even in the most far-off villages, you can see football grounds.

Moreover, Iceland set up an open training scheme which led to many people undertaking the programme. Coaching went from a volunteering gig to a paid profession. By 2016, there were already 600 qualified coaches. Remember, 340.000 people in the whole country, which means there are more qualified football coaches in Iceland per capita than in England.

Seeing that it is such a small country, the National team players have been playing together since their times in the Under-16s which is an advantage when they enter the pitch.

Lars Lagerbäck started managing the team in 2011 and announced that he expected the Icelandic team to qualify for the next World Cup. Unfortunately, this was not the case as their hopes were shattered in the final play-off against Croatia. Lagerbäck considered retiring albeit he did not go through with it.

Lagerbäck’s confidence on the team came from watching an ever-increasing amount of talented players coming up from the grassroots. Since a very young age, football players would be coached by qualified people, which made a great impact.

After being so close to qualifying for a World Cup, Iceland fans became progressively attached to the National team. A new tradition came up when the national team coach would visit bars full of fans and announce the starting line-up before letting the media know. Needless to say, this created an amazing atmosphere in bars and amongst the fans. What an amazing fan engagement initiative.

Crazily enough, Hallgrimsson, one of the coaches of the National team, still worked as a dentist. Besides, Iceland’s goalkeeper worked as a film director.

Nonetheless, Iceland made it to the EURO 2016, having beaten the Netherlands and Turkey in their qualifying group. Came the tournament in June. Iceland was up to face Portugal, Hungary and Austria in the group stage.

The coaches had forged a team which was certainly complicated to beat. They managed to draw with Portugal 1-1 in their first match. One match, one surprise.

In the second match, they were to face Hungary. Iceland opened the scoreboard with a penalty goal before half-time. Unfortunately, the Hungarian team scored the equaliser in the 88th minute.

The third match was up: the last and decisive one of the group stage. Iceland scored early, only to concede a goal at the hour mark. In a late effort to qualify for the knockout-stage, Traustason scored 4 minutes into the stoppage time. Players went crazy; fans went jumped off their seats, and the Icelandic commentator transformed his voice and his comments went viral.

Iceland made it to the last 16. England would be their next opponent. As the game started it was noticeable that England wanted to finish the game quickly. With less than a handful of minutes played, a penalty kick was awarded for the English side. The very experienced Wayne Rooney, captain of the Three Lions, held the ball to take the penalty. He shot the ball to the left bottom corner, leaving no chance for the Icelandic goalkeeper.

This built on the overconfidence of England’s team which believed this was going to be a one-sided match. It did not take long until that overconfidence was shattered. Less than two minutes after Rooney’s penalty goal, Ragnar Sigurdsson scored from a long throw-in – one of the specialities of the Icelandic team. Surely, most people would not have predicted this.

By the 18th minute, Iceland was attacking close to England’s 18-yard box when Sightorsson takes the ball, caresses it towards and shoots between two defenders. Joe Hart still put one glove to the ball, although not enough, letting the ball slowly moving to the goal. From then on, many goal chances happened for both sides. However, Iceland’s teamwork, sacrifice and defensive capabilities came out on top. Once again, history was made – quarterfinals of a major international tournament.

Iceland’s dream campaign would end in the quarterfinals. They lost against France, who were hosting the tournament and one of the strong favourites to win the cup.

The Icelandic National Football team would have another history-making year in 2018 when they first participated in a World Cup. Unfortunately, they did not make it through the group stage. Nonetheless, they surely made a great impression of themselves around the world, and their performances will not be forgotten soon.

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