Iceland's surprise Euro 2016 run to the last eight

The brightest era of the Icelandic football began in 2012, when the team produced a terrific qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Iceland finished second in their group and reached the play-offs against Croatia, but lost 0-2 on aggregate. Along the way the Vikings recorded some remarkable results, including a 4-4 draw away to Switzerland, where they came back from 4-1 down to equalise late in the game.

Iceland were then drawn in a very tough qualifying group for Euro 2016, alongside Turkey, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Latvia. They won six and drew two of their ten matches, including two wins over the Netherlands and victories against the Czech Republic and Turkey, and qualified for a major international tournament for the first time in their history. Eidur Gudjohnsen, who had retired from international football in 2013, returned to the squad in 2015, which further boosted the team’s confidence.

Much of the national team’s success is credited to the “football houses” built around the country. The harsh weather makes outdoor training almost impossible, which led to the idea of indoor halls. The first “football house” was built in Keflavík in 2000, and by 2016 there were 11 of them in Iceland, four of which were still under construction.

The squad featured plenty of interesting personalities, such as goalkeeper Hannes Halldórsson, one of the best-known directors of advertisements in his country. He was playing for Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt at the time, yet proved himself a world-class goalkeeper. Coach Heimir Hallgrímsson was the most popular dentist in Iceland, and he also showed a deep understanding of football.

About 10% of Iceland’s population of roughly 330,000 people travelled to France for the tournament, hoping the team could repeat Greece’s triumph of 2004. On the evidence of the tournament so far, this Iceland side looked even stronger than that Greek team.

The most impressive aspect of Iceland’s play was their ability to create chances out of nothing. Every throw-in near the opponents’ goal was even more dangerous than a corner, and Sigthórsson won more aerial duels than any other player at Euro 2016.

Iceland had played 26 competitive games since 2012, winning 13 and losing only six. They kept nine clean sheets in those matches, a sign of a very solid defence. Most importantly, Iceland made the most of their scoring chances. They were dangerous on the counter-attack and knew how to use set pieces. Gylfi Sigurdsson was one of the team’s leaders: technically gifted and a reliable scorer from free kicks.

How Iceland scored their goals:

Long throw-ins (5) – 2012 – 1 vs. Norway, 1 vs. Albania; 2014 – 1 vs. Czech Rep.; 2016 – 1 vs. Austria, 1 vs. England;

Free kicks (5) – 2012 – 1 vs. Albania, 1 vs. Slovenia; 2014 – 1 vs. Latvia; 2015 – 1 vs. Kazakhstan, 1 vs. Latvia;

Penalties (4) – 2013 – 1 vs. Slovenia; 2014 – 1 vs. Holland; 2015 – 1 vs. Holland; 2016 – 1 vs. Hungary;

Corners (3) – 2014 – 1 vs. Turkey, 1 vs. Holland; 2015 – 1 vs. Czech Rep.

Open play (23) – 2012 – 1 vs. Norway; 2013 – 2 vs. Slovenia (in 2 matches), 4 vs. Switzerland (in one match), 2 vs. Albania (in one match), 2 vs. Cyprus (in one match); 1 vs. Norway; 2014 – 2 vs. Turkey, 2 vs. Latvia; 2015 – 2 vs. Kazakhstan, 1 vs. Czech Rep., 1 vs. Latvia; 2016 – 1 vs. Portugal, 1 vs. Austria, 1 vs. England;

How the Euro 2016 run ended

Iceland had reached the last eight by beating England 2-1 in the round of 16 on 27 June 2016 at the Allianz Riviera in Nice. The quarter-final against the hosts, played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on 3 July 2016, proved a step too far. France scored four times before half-time through Olivier Giroud, Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann, the first time a side had scored four first-half goals in a European Championship match. Kolbeinn Sigthórsson pulled one back in the 56th minute, Giroud headed a fifth, and Birkir Bjarnason made it 5-2 in the 84th minute.

What came next for Iceland

The momentum carried into the next qualifying campaign. Iceland beat Kosovo 2-0 in October 2017 to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, becoming the smallest nation by population ever to reach the finals, a record previously held by Trinidad and Tobago from 2006. At the tournament they drew 1-1 with Argentina but went out in the group stage.