Iceland at the FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.

Iceland national football team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Iceland made its debut at the FIFA World Cup in 2018 after having failed 12 consecutive qualification campaigns from 1974 to 2014. The nation first attempted to qualify for the tournament back in 1958.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup was Iceland's second major international tournament, having also qualified for UEFA Euro 2016.

Iceland is the smallest nation to reach the World Cup Group Stage, breaking the record set by Trinidad and Tobago.[1][2]

Record at the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
Uruguay 1930Did not enter
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954Entry not accepted by FIFA
Sweden 1958 Did not qualify
Chile 1962Did not enter
England 1966
Mexico 1970
West Germany 1974 Did not qualify
Argentina 1978
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986
Italy 1990
United States 1994
France 1998
South Korea Japan 2002
Germany 2006
South Africa 2010
Brazil 2014
Russia 2018Group stage28th301225
Qatar 2022Did not qualify
Canada Mexico United States 2026To be determined
Total Group stage 1/22 3 0 1 2 2 5
*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Russia 2018
Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup

Following a 2–0 home win over Kosovo in the final round of the qualifiers, Iceland secured their spot in Russia 2018, finishing top of Group I by two points over Croatia, who had defeated Iceland in the World Cup play-offs four years earlier.[3] Despite finishing bottom of the group, Iceland drew against Argentina 1–1 in the opening match of the group.

Group stage
Main article: 2018 FIFA World Cup Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Croatia 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Argentina 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4
3  Nigeria 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 3
4  Iceland 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Argentina 1–1 Iceland
  • Agüero 19'
 Report
Attendance: 44,190[4]
Nigeria 2–0 Iceland
 Report
Attendance: 40,904[5]
Iceland 1–2 Croatia
 Report
Attendance: 43,472[6]

Players with most appearances

Nine players were fielded in all three of Iceland's FIFA World Cup matches in 2018.

Rank Player Matches
1 Birkir Bjarnason3
Alfreð Finnbogason3
Aron Gunnarsson3
Hannes Halldórsson3
Hörður Magnússon3
Birkir Sævarsson3
Björn Sigurðarson3
Gylfi Sigurðsson3
Ragnar Sigurðsson3

Goalscorers

In the match against Argentina on 16 June 2018, Alfreð Finnbogason scored the first goal for Iceland in FIFA World Cup history.

Rank Player Goals
1 Alfreð Finnbogason1
Gylfi Sigurðsson1

See also

References
  1. Nunns, Hector (14 November 2013). "BBC Sport – World Cup play-offs: How Iceland can set World Cup record". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  2. "Iceland become smallest nation ever to qualify for World Cup finals". Guardian. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  3. "Iceland 2 Kosovo 0". BBC Sport. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  4. "Match report – Group D – Argentina v Iceland" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  5. "Match report – Group D – Nigeria v Iceland" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  6. "Match report – Group D – Iceland v Croatia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
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