As the World Cup edges closer, we continue our run down of all 32 competing nations in Russia.
We have already delved into Argentina and Croatia in Group D and now it’s time to examine European hopefuls Iceland.
The Scandinavian outfit were the surprise package at Euro 2016 and Heimir Hallgrimsson will hope for similar heroics in Russia this summer.
Iceland were the neutrals favourites in France two years ago and showed their pedigree by eliminating England from the competition.
They finished top of their World Cup qualification group, which is an impressive achievement considering they had the likes of Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey to contend with.
Having already beaten Croatia once in qualifying, they will have nothing to fear in their pursuit of a top two finish in Group D in Russia.
However, Iceland’s preparation has not been ideal. Star man Gylfi Sigurdsson is still on the comeback trail from a knee injury, last featuring for Everton in March.
The 28-year-old is expected to be fit in time for the World Cup but it will be difficult for Everton’s club-record signing to hit the ground running straight away.
Iceland do not have obvious quality to step up and help ease the burden on Sigurdsson, but Johann Berg Gudmundsson will hope to carry his fine form for Burnley into the World Cup.
Gudmundsson played an integral part in Burnley’s campaign that culminated in an impressive seventh place finish.
In fact, only Chris Wood (11) played a direct hand in more league goals for the Clarets this season than Gudmundsson (10).
Ahead of their first ever World Cup appearance, Iceland will hope to replicate their performances from Euro 2016. If they can manage that, they will continue to be a breath of fresh air on the international scene.
