You’d be forgiven if you said you did not expect much from the Icelandic people on the global stage. The nation’s entire population — around 325,000 — barely edges out that of Toledo, Ohio while trailing Anaheim, California. Before Scandinavian settlers arrived around 800 AD, the island’s only resident mammal was the arctic fox. The Black Death hit the country TWICE in the 15th century, wiping out roughly half the population each time. Iceland’s historical claims to fame are limited to its fish and aluminum exports, numerous geothermal landmarks and being home to the northernmost capital city in the world.
And yet, against all odds, its people appear to prosper with unmatched vitality in the modern era. They are the 15th most productive in the world per capita, the 12th happiest and the country is the best worldwide for women’s rights according to Forbes and the Huffington Post.
That being said, perhaps nothing embodies the contemporary Icelandic spirit quite like its athletes. The men’s national handball team — representing one of the country’s most popular sports — took silver at the 2008 Olympics. Meanwhile, Iceland has won the more World’s Strongest Man competitions than most any other country. It punches above its weight most impressively, however, on the soccer pitch.
The national side took to its home stadium — Laugardalsvöllur — on Monday for European Championship Qualifying, fielding an XI that plies its trade across Europe’s humbler clubs in Norway, Denmark, Russia, Italy and England. The opponent? None other than 2014 World Cup semifinalists the Netherlands, boasting some of the most gifted players to ever touch a soccer ball: Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder. Led by two first half goals from Swansea City playmaker Gylfi Sigurðsson, Iceland held on to seal an emphatic 2-0 victory — and retains its 100 percent qualifying record with an 8-0 aggregate scoreline through three games.
Twenty-five-year-old Sigurðsson, however, is not the team’s only budding international star. Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, 24, has 16 goals through his young international career, and continues to shine for Eredivisie giants Ajax. Meanwhile, on the tail end of a 29-goal season with Heerenveen, also in the Netherlands, 25-year-old Alfreð Finnbogason forced a move to La Liga powerhouse Real Sociedad this past summer.
Several key waves of disruptive footballing craftsmanship paved the way for this new generation of players. Firstly, Ásgeir Sigurvinsson enjoyed a long and successful career in Belgium and then Germany as a midfielder for Standard Liège, Bayern Munich and then Stuttgart from 1973 to 1990. Following him, Guðni Bergsson enjoyed an extended tenure as a defensive stalwart for Tottenham and Bolton Wanderers from 1988 to 2003.
Most notable, however, has been the emergence of Eiður Guðjohnsen, whose legendary club reign saw him terrorize opponents all across Europe from 1998 until just last season. In the prime of his career, Guðjohnsen wore the illustrious colors of Chelsea and Barcelona, marked by his incredibly versatile skill set: tremendous technical ability, hold-up play, chance-creation and most famously, his finishing. He has lined up at striker, center attacking mid, winger and even holding midfield across his remarkable 600 club caps, bagging 149 goals along the way.
Mirroring the unpredictable but cyclical nature of the island’s volcanic activity, Guðjohnsen came on as a second-half substitute for his father, Arnór, during Iceland’s 1996 match versus Estonia. With a new class emerging to replace Eiður, prepare to witness unrelenting eruptions of soccer talent to follow in the years to come.
In its history, the Iceland national team has never qualified for a World Cup or a European Championship, so this new crop of players can take their country to a level of competition it has never experienced before. Up next in qualifying for Strákarnir okkar — the team’s nickname, which literally means “our boys” — is a Nov. 16 match against the Czech Republic in the Czech city of Plzeň. Co-leaders in Group A alongside Iceland — both have three wins in three games — the Czech Republic presents another major challenge to Iceland.
But the overachieving island nation shows no signs of stopping.
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