Iceland at the UEFA European Championship

Iceland qualified once for a UEFA European Championship, the 2016 edition. They directly qualified after securing the second spot in their qualifying group, with still four group matches remaining; this meant they would appear on a major tournament finals for the first time in their history.[1] For the draw of the end stage that took place on 12 December 2015, they were seeded in Pot 4.[2]

In Euro 2016, Iceland came second in their group unbeaten (which included a draw against Portugal and a win over Austria). In the round of 16, they famously beat England 2–1. However, they lost 5–2 against hosts France in the quarter-finals.

Also during Euro 2016, Iceland's fans became widely known for their 'volcano clap' (or 'Viking clap') with a 'huh' chant, though it may actually have originated with fans of Scottish club Motherwell F.C.[3]

Overall record

UEFA European Championship record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
France 1960 Did not enter
Spain 1964 Did not qualify
Italy 1968 Did not enter
Belgium 1972
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 Did not qualify
Italy 1980
France 1984
West Germany 1988
Sweden 1992
England 1996
Belgium Netherlands 2000
Portugal 2004
Austria Switzerland 2008
Poland Ukraine 2012
France 2016 Quarter-finals 8th 5 2 2 1 8 9
Europe 2020 Did not qualify
Germany 2024
Republic of Ireland United Kingdom 2028 To be determined
Italy Turkey 2032
Total Quarter-finals 1/17 5 2 2 1 8 9

Euro 2016 squad

Iceland announced their final squad on 9 May.[4]

Managers: Heimir Hallgrímsson & Sweden Lars Lagerbäck

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Hannes Þór Halldórsson (1984-04-27)27 April 1984 (aged 32) 33 0 Norwegian Football Federation Bodø/Glimt
2 2DF Birkir Már Sævarsson (1984-11-11)11 November 1984 (aged 31) 57 1 Swedish Football Association Hammarby IF
3 2DF Haukur Heiðar Hauksson (1991-09-01)1 September 1991 (aged 24) 7 0 Swedish Football Association AIK
4 2DF Hjörtur Hermannsson (1995-02-08)8 February 1995 (aged 21) 3 0 Swedish Football Association IFK Göteborg
5 2DF Sverrir Ingi Ingason (1993-08-05)5 August 1993 (aged 22) 6 2 Royal Belgian Football Association Lokeren
6 2DF Ragnar Sigurðsson (1986-06-19)19 June 1986 (aged 29) 56 1 Russian Football Union Krasnodar
7 3MF Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson (1990-10-27)27 October 1990 (aged 25) 47 5 The Football Association Charlton Athletic
8 3MF Birkir Bjarnason (1988-05-27)27 May 1988 (aged 28) 47 6 Swiss Football Association Basel
9 4FW Kolbeinn Sigþórsson (1990-03-14)14 March 1990 (aged 26) 39 20 French Football Federation Nantes
10 3MF Gylfi Sigurðsson (1989-09-08)8 September 1989 (aged 26) 39 13 Football Association of Wales Swansea City
11 4FW Alfreð Finnbogason (1989-02-01)1 February 1989 (aged 27) 34 8 German Football Association FC Augsburg
12 1GK Ögmundur Kristinsson (1989-06-19)19 June 1989 (aged 26) 11 0 Swedish Football Association Hammarby IF
13 1GK Ingvar Jónsson (1989-10-18)18 October 1989 (aged 26) 5 0 Norwegian Football Federation Sandefjord
14 2DF Kári Árnason (1982-10-13)13 October 1982 (aged 33) 47 2 Swedish Football Association Malmö FF
15 4FW Jón Daði Böðvarsson (1992-05-25)25 May 1992 (aged 24) 21 1 German Football Association 1. FC Kaiserslautern
16 3MF Rúnar Már Sigurjónsson (1990-06-18)18 June 1990 (aged 25) 11 1 Swedish Football Association GIF Sundsvall
17 3MF Aron Gunnarsson (captain) (1989-04-22)22 April 1989 (aged 27) 59 2 Football Association of Wales Cardiff City
18 3MF Theódór Elmar Bjarnason (1987-03-04)4 March 1987 (aged 29) 27 0 Danish Football Association AGF
19 2DF Hörður Björgvin Magnússon (1993-02-11)11 February 1993 (aged 23) 5 0 Italian Football Federation Cesena
20 3MF Emil Hallfreðsson (1984-06-29)29 June 1984 (aged 31) 54 1 Italian Football Federation Udinese
21 3MF Arnór Ingvi Traustason (1993-04-30)30 April 1993 (aged 23) 7 3 Swedish Football Association IFK Norrköping
22 4FW Eiður Guðjohnsen (1978-09-15)15 September 1978 (aged 37) 86 26 Norwegian Football Federation Molde FK
23 2DF Ari Freyr Skúlason (1987-05-14)14 May 1987 (aged 29) 38 0 Danish Football Association OB

Goalscorers

Player Goals 2016
Birkir Bjarnason 2 2
Kolbeinn Sigþórsson 2 2
Jón Daði Böðvarsson 1 1
Gylfi Sigurðsson 1 1
Ragnar Sigurðsson 1 1
Arnór Ingvi Traustason 1 1
Total 8 8

See also

References

  1. ^ "Draw sends Iceland through to UEFA EURO 2016". UEFA. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  2. ^ "UEFA EURO 2016 draw pots take shape". UEFA. 14 Oct 2015. Retrieved 14 Oct 2015.
  3. ^ "WATCH: Are Motherwell the inspiration behind Iceland's 'volcano clap'?".
  4. ^ "A karla – Lokahópur fyrir EM 2016". ksi.is. 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2020.

Head-to-head record