Iceland national football team
Encyclopedia
The Iceland national football team is the national football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland
Football Association of Iceland
The Football Association of Iceland is the governing body of football in Iceland. It was founded on 26 March 1947, joined FIFA the same year, and UEFA in 1954. It organizes the football league, Pepsi deild, and the Iceland national football team and Iceland women's national football team...

. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition.

For the Euro 2004, Iceland were led by Ásgeir Sigurvinsson
Ásgeir Sigurvinsson
Ásgeir "Sigi" Sigurvinsson is an Icelandic football coach and a former player.The attacking midfielder was one of the first, and certainly one of the most celebrated, Icelandic professional football players...

 topping the group table for a while, with 4 wins and even held Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 to a 0–0 draw in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...

. However, both Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 and Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 had a game in hand and both used them to their maximum potential, with Scotland beating Lithuania
Lithuania national football team
The national football team of Lithuania is under the auspices of the Lithuanian Football Federation. It played its first match in 1923. In 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union; the country regained its independence in 1990 and played their first match as a new nation against Georgia on...

 and Germany beating Scotland in Germany's penultimate game. Iceland failed to grind a result in their final game against Germany, so Scotland edged them out for the play-off spot. Iceland have failed to match this success since, finishing on just 4 points for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers and 8 points from their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

Iceland were knocked out in the quarter finals of the 2001 Millennium Super Cup to a Chilean Football League XI, this was following a 3–0 victory over hosts India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

Perhaps the most notable match was a friendly against Estonia
Estonia national football team
The Estonia national football team represents Estonia in international association football. Team members are selected by the head coach of Estonian Football Association . Estonia play their home matches at the A. Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Estonia....

 on 24 April 1996 in Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

. During the second half of this match, Eiður Guðjohnsen
Eiður Guðjohnsen
Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen is an Icelandic footballer who currently plays for AEK Athens F.C. in the Superleague Greece. He has previously played for Premier League club Chelsea and FC Barcelona of Spain, having made his name with Bolton Wanderers. He was the captain of the Iceland national team until...

 entered as a substitute for his father Arnór
Arnór Guðjohnsen
Arnór Guðjohnsen is a former Icelandic footballer who played as a striker. He is most famous for his seven-year stint with Belgian club Anderlecht and was the club's top scorer in the 1986–87 season. He is the father of striker Eiður Guðjohnsen.-Club career:Guðjohnsen played for the following...

. This marked the first time that a father and son played in the same international match. Another landmark for Icelandic football was the 2–0 upset victory over Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 in a friendly at Laugardalsvöllur
Laugardalsvöllur
Laugardalsvöllur is the national stadium of Iceland. It is located in Reykjavík, and seats 9,800 individuals, another 5,627 people can be seated on concrete benches, but due to FIFA restrictions they are rarely used.-Overview:...

, 18 August 2004 with 20,204 fans in attendance, an Icelandic record.

World Cup record

  • 1930
    1930 FIFA World Cup
    The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930...

     to 1950
    1950 FIFA World Cup
    The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...

     – Did not enter
  • 1954
    1954 FIFA World Cup
    The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...

     – Entry not accepted by FIFA
  • 1958
    1958 FIFA World Cup
    The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...

     – Did not qualify
  • 1962
    1962 FIFA World Cup
    The 1962 FIFA World Cup, the seventh staging of the World Cup, was held in Chile from 30 May to 17 June. It was won by Brazil, who retained the championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final...

     to 1970
    1970 FIFA World Cup
    The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...

     – Did not enter
  • 1974
    1974 FIFA World Cup
    The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from 13 June to 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded...

     to 2010
    2010 FIFA World Cup
    The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

     – Did not qualify

All–time record against all nations

As of October 14, 2011
Against Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD % Won
3 1 0 2 3 3 0 33%
4 4 0 0 12 0 +12 100%
3 2 1 0 4 0 +4 67%
2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 0%
1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%
2 1 0 1 3 2 +1 50%
1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0%
7 0 0 7 5 25 −20 0%
4 3 0 1 12 7 +5 75%
1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 100%
2 0 0 2 1 9 −8 0%
5 0 1 4 7 12 −5 0%
1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%
2 0 1 1 1 3 −2 0%
2 0 0 2 1 7 −6 0%
5 2 3 0 4 2 +2 40%
3 1 0 2 4 7 −3 33%
5 0 1 4 3 11 −8 0%
21 1 4 17 16 60 −44 5%
14 2 1 11 7 31 −24 14%
2 0 1 1 2 7 −5 0%
3 2 0 1 7 2 +5 67%
23 21 1 1 67 13 +54 91%
10 2 2 6 10 17 −7 20%
10 0 3 7 6 27 −21 0%
1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 100%
2 0 1 1 0 3 −3 0%
2 0 0 2 0 2 −2 0%
2 2 0 0 5 1 +4 100%
10 3 0 7 10 21 −11 30%
1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 100%
1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 0%
8 0 3 5 7 14 −7 0%
3 1 1 1 6 5 +1 33%
4 1 1 2 2 5 −3 25%
2 0 0 2 2 5 −3 0%
7 2 4 1 4 3 +1 29%
4 1 1 2 6 9 −3 25%
5 2 2 1 8 5 +3 40%
4 2 1 1 6 2 +4 50%
7 4 3 0 10 5 +5 57%
4 1 1 2 2 4 −2 25%
14 10 1 3 31 10 +21 71%
2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0%
12 0 2 10 6 36 −30 0%
1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 100%
6 4 0 2 7 6 +1 67%
30 6 5 19 27 58 −31 20%
5 0 1 4 3 9 −6 0%
4 0 0 4 5 11 −6 0%
1 0 0 1 0 4 −4 0%
5 1 1 3 2 6 −4 20%
5 1 2 2 3 5 −2 20%
6 0 0 6 3 12 −9 0%
4 1 1 2 5 7 −2 25%
2 0 0 2 3 10 −7 0%
3 2 1 0 6 2 +4 67%
8 0 3 5 4 15 −11 0%
9 1 2 6 6 11 −5 11%
14 2 2 10 13 31 −18 14%
4 0 0 4 1 7 −6 0%
1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0%
1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0%
7 4 2 1 13 9 +4 57%
2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 0%
2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 100%
6 2 2 2 7 9 −2 33%
1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 0%
6 1 1 4 4 10 −6 17%
2 0 0 2 1 8 −7 0%
Total 366 101 69 196 410 631 −225 27.60%

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Current squad

The following squad was selected for the matches against Portugal
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

 on 7 October 2011.

All caps and goals are correct as of 8 October 2011.
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Recent callups

The following players have all recently been called up to the Iceland squad in the last 12 months.

|v. , 10 October 2010
|v. , 10 August 2011
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|v. , 29 May 2010
|v. , 29 May 2010
|v. , 10 October 2010
|v. , 10 October 2010
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|v. , 29 May 2010
|v. , 12 August 2010
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|v. , 10 October 2010
|v. , 10 October 2010
|

Most capped Icelandic players

As of 29 May 2010, the ten players with the most caps for Iceland are:
# Name Career Caps Goals
1 Rúnar Kristinsson
Rúnar Kristinsson
Rúnar Kristinsson is a former Icelandic footballer who played for Lokeren, Lillestrøm SK and KR Reykjavík. He now works for KR as manager and director of football...

1987–2004 104 3
2 Hermann Hreiðarsson
Hermann Hreiðarsson
Hermann Hreiðarsson is an Icelandic football player who plays for Football League Championship club Portsmouth as a left back...

*
1996– 88 5
3 Guðni Bergsson
Guðni Bergsson
Guðni Bergsson , is a former Icelandic football player who is best known for his time spent with Bolton Wanderers.-Club career:...

1984–2003 80 1
4 Brynjar Björn Gunnarsson* 1997–2009 74 4
= Birkir Kristinsson
Birkir Kristinsson
-Club career:He started his career with Vestmannaeyjar team ÍBV, and also played with Einherji from Vopnafjordur, KA from Akureyri, ÍA and Fram in the Icelandic league before moving to SK Brann in 1996, where he is still considered as a hero, after his efforts in the cup winner's cup in 1997, where...

1988–2004 74 0
6 Arnór Guðjohnsen
Arnór Guðjohnsen
Arnór Guðjohnsen is a former Icelandic footballer who played as a striker. He is most famous for his seven-year stint with Belgian club Anderlecht and was the club's top scorer in the 1986–87 season. He is the father of striker Eiður Guðjohnsen.-Club career:Guðjohnsen played for the following...

1979–1997 73 14
7 Ólafur Þórðarson
Ólafur Þórðarson (footballer)
Ólafur Þórðarson is a former Icelandic footballer, who played as a midfielder. He is currently manager of Fylkir.He is the younger brother of Teitur Thordarson, who was manager of Estonia when Ólafur played against them with Iceland in April 1996.-Club career:Þórðarson started his career at IA...

1984–1996 72 5
8 Arnar Grétarsson
Arnar Grétarsson
Arnar Grétarsson is a retired Icelandic football player, currently the Director of Football at Greek football club AEK Athens F.C..-Club career:...

1991–2004 71 2
= Árni Gautur Arason
Árni Gautur Arason
Árni Gautur Arason is an Icelandic football goalkeeper, who currently playing for Lierse SK in Belgium. Arason is also an educated lawyer from the University of Iceland.-Club career:...

*
1998– 71 0
10 Atli Eðvaldsson
Atli Eðvaldsson
Atli Eðvaldsson is a former Icelandic footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential players to come from Iceland. After retiring he became a well-known manager....

1976–1991 70 9


The * denotes a player still playing or available for selection.

Top Icelandic goalscorers

As of 29 May 2010, List of leading goalscorers for the Icelandic national football team:
# Name Career Goals Caps
1 Eiður Guðjohnsen
Eiður Guðjohnsen
Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen is an Icelandic footballer who currently plays for AEK Athens F.C. in the Superleague Greece. He has previously played for Premier League club Chelsea and FC Barcelona of Spain, having made his name with Bolton Wanderers. He was the captain of the Iceland national team until...

*
1996– 24 63
2 Ríkharður Jónsson
Ríkharður Jónsson
Ríkharður Jónsson is a former Icelandic footballer.He made his debut for the Icelandic national team in 1947, and got 33 caps and 17 goals until 1965....

1947–1965 17 33
3 Ríkharður Daðason
Ríkharður Daðason
Ríkharður Daðason is a former Icelandic football forward. In his teenage years Ríkharður was also a talented handball player.-Club career:...

1991–2004 14 44
= Arnór Guðjohnsen
Arnór Guðjohnsen
Arnór Guðjohnsen is a former Icelandic footballer who played as a striker. He is most famous for his seven-year stint with Belgian club Anderlecht and was the club's top scorer in the 1986–87 season. He is the father of striker Eiður Guðjohnsen.-Club career:Guðjohnsen played for the following...

1979–1997 14 73
5 Þórður Guðjónsson
Þórður Guðjónsson
Þórður Guðjónsson, also known as Doddi Gudjonsson, is a retired Icelandic footballer.Although Þórður is his proper name, he is often known as Þórður Guðjónsson.-Club career:...

1993–2004 13 58
6 Tryggvi Guðmundsson
Tryggvi Guðmundsson
Tryggvi Guðmundsson is an Icelandic footballer, currently playing for ÍBV.-Club career:A prolific striker, Guðmundsson started his career at ÍBV before moving abroad to clubs in Norway and Sweden...

*
1997–2008 12 42
= Heiðar Helguson
Heiðar Helguson
Heiðar Helguson is an Icelandic footballer who plays as a striker for Queens Park Rangers....

*
1999– 12 49
8 Pétur Pétursson
Pétur Pétursson
Pétur Gudlaugur Pétursson is a retired Icelandic footballer who was active as a forward. He is the assistant manager of KR and the Icelandic national team.-Club career:...

1978–1990 11 41
= Matthías Hallgrímsson
Matthías Hallgrímsson
Matthías Hallgrímsson is an Icelandic former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a striker.-Club career:Hallgrímsson played club football for ÍA and Valur...

1968–1977 11 45
10 Helgi Sigurðsson
Helgi Sigurðsson
Helgi Sigurðsson is an Icelandic football player. He currently plays his trade as a striker for Víkingur R. in 1. deild karla. In his career he has played in Iceland, Germany, Norway, Greece and Denmark.-Club career:...

*
1993–2008 10 63
= Eyjólfur Sverrisson
Eyjólfur Sverrisson
Eyjólfur Gjafar Sverrisson is a former Icelandic footballer and former coach of the Iceland national football team.He is the father of Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson, who signed for West Ham United in the summer of 2008.-Club career:...

1990–2001 10 66


The * denotes a player still playing or available for selection.

Managers

The first four national coaches (1946–1949) only managed the team for a single game.
Manager Year(s) Games Win Draw Loss Win %
  Frederick Steele / Murdo McDougall 1946 1 0 0 1 0%
  Roland Bergström 1947 1 0 0 1 0%
  Joe Devene 1949 1 1 0 0 100%
  Fritz Buchloh
Fritz Buchloh
Fritz Buchloh was a German football goalkeeper. He was born in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.He was a participant in the two World Cups, in 1934 and 1938.In the domestic league he played for VfB Speldorf....

 
1949 1 0 0 1 0%
  Óli B. Jónsson 1951 2 1 0 1 50.0%
  Franz Köhler 1953 3 0 0 3 0%
  Karl Guðmundsson 1954–1956 6 2 0 4 33.33%
  Alexander Wier 1957 6 0 0 6 0%
  Óli B. Jónsson 1958 1 0 0 1 0%
  Karl Guðmundsson 1959 4 1 1 2 25.0%
  Óli B. Jónsson 1960 2 0 0 2 0%
  Karl Guðmundsson / Ríkharður Jónsson
Ríkharður Jónsson
Ríkharður Jónsson is a former Icelandic footballer.He made his debut for the Icelandic national team in 1947, and got 33 caps and 17 goals until 1965....

1961–1962 5 1 1 3 20.0%
  Karl Guðmundsson 1963–1966 9 1 2 6 11.11%
  Reynir Karlsson 1967 4 0 1 3 12.5%
  Walter Pfeiffer 1968 2 0 0 2 0%
  Ríkharður Jónsson 1969–1971 15 2 3 10 13.33%
  Duncan McDowell 1972 4 1 0 3 25.0%
  Eggert Jóhannesson 1972 1 0 0 1 0%
  Henning Enoksen
Henning Enoksen
Henning Enoksen is a Danish former football player, who most prominently won a silver medal with the Denmark national football team at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He played a total of 54 national team games and scored 29 goals from 1958 to 1966, and also played for the Denmark national under-21...

 
1973 6 0 0 6 0%
  Tony Knapp
Tony Knapp
Anthony Knapp is a British footballer, a notable defender in the English football league in the 1960s....

 
1974–1977 26 8 4 14 30.77%
  Jurí Ilitchev
Yuri Illichev
Dr. Yuri Ilichev was the coach of the national football teams of Iraq and Iceland....

 
1978–1979 11 0 2 9 9.0%
  Guðni Kjartansson 1980–1981 2 0 1 1 0%
  Jóhannes Atlason 1982–1983 16 4 3 9 34.4%
  Tony Knapp 1984–1985 14 5 3 6 35.71%
  Sigfried Held  1986–1989 37 6 8 23 27.0%
  Guðni Kjartansson 1989 14 6 3 5 42.86%
  Bo Johansson  1990–1991 15 7 1 7 46.6%
  Ásgeir Elíasson
Ásgeir Elíasson
Ásgeir Elíasson was a football manager and coach of the Iceland national football team between 1991 and 1995. He was manager of Fram Reykjavik for twelve years. Ásgeir played games for the Iceland national football team in three sports: football, handball and volleyball, before starting as...

 
1991–1995 34 11 7 15 32.3%
  Logi Ólafsson
Logi Ólafsson
Logi Ólafsson is an Icelandic football coach. As of 13 October 2010 he is the head coach of top division football team Selfoss. His last position before was as the manager of KR Reykjavík in Iceland. He was also in charge of the Iceland national team between 1996 and 1997, and then as a joint...

 
1996–1997 14 4 3 7 28.5%
  Guðjón Þórðarson
Guðjón Þórðarson
Guðjón Þórðarson is an Icelandic former footballer and the current manager of Grindavík....

 
1997–1999 25 11 6 8 44.0%
  Atli Eðvaldsson
Atli Eðvaldsson
Atli Eðvaldsson is a former Icelandic footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential players to come from Iceland. After retiring he became a well-known manager....

 
2000–2003 31 11 5 15 35.4%
  Ásgeir Sigurvinsson
Ásgeir Sigurvinsson
Ásgeir "Sigi" Sigurvinsson is an Icelandic football coach and a former player.The attacking midfielder was one of the first, and certainly one of the most celebrated, Icelandic professional football players...

 / Logi Ólafsson
Logi Ólafsson
Logi Ólafsson is an Icelandic football coach. As of 13 October 2010 he is the head coach of top division football team Selfoss. His last position before was as the manager of KR Reykjavík in Iceland. He was also in charge of the Iceland national team between 1996 and 1997, and then as a joint...

 
2003–2005 24 6 5 13 25.0%
  Eyjólfur Sverrisson
Eyjólfur Sverrisson
Eyjólfur Gjafar Sverrisson is a former Icelandic footballer and former coach of the Iceland national football team.He is the father of Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson, who signed for West Ham United in the summer of 2008.-Club career:...

 
2006–2007 14 2 4 8 14.2%
  Ólafur Jóhannesson
Ólafur Jóhannesson (coach)
Ólafur Davíð Jóhannesson is a Icelandic football manager and former player, formerly managing the Icelandic national team....

 
2007–2011 28 11 7 10 39.2%
  Lars Lagerback
Lars Lagerbäck
Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck is a Swedish football manager and former player, currently managing Iceland....

2011– 0 0 0 0 0%

External links

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