Iceland men's national football team

History

20th century

Although Úrvalsdeild, the Icelandic Football League, was founded in 1912, the country's first international match was played on 29 July 1930, against the Faroe Islands. Although Iceland won 1–0 away, both teams were at the time unaffiliated with FIFA. The first match officially recognised by FIFA took place in Reykjavík on 17 July 1946, a 0–3 loss to their future rivals Denmark. The first international victory was against Finland in 1947. For the first 20 years of the Football Association of Iceland (KSÍ)'s existence, the team mostly did not participate in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA European Championship. In 1954, Iceland applied to take part in qualification for the 1954 World Cup, but the application was rejected. In qualification for the 1958 World Cup, Iceland finished last in their group with zero wins, conceding 26 goals.

In 1980, Iceland won the first edition of the friendly tournament known as the Greenland Cup.

Since 1974, the team has taken part in qualifying for every World Cup and European Championship. In 1994, the team reached their then best ever position in the FIFA World Rankings, 37th. This record stood until 2016 when they managed to reach 21st. In a friendly against Estonia on 24 April 1996 in Tallinn, Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen entered as a substitute for his father Arnór. This marked the first time that a father and son played in the same international match.

21st century

In qualification for Euro 2004, Iceland finished third in their group, one point behind Scotland. As a result, they failed to qualify for a playoff spot.

However, the following qualifying campaigns were much more difficult for Iceland, which finished near the last places of their respective groups. During the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Iceland scored two unexpected successes against Northern Ireland (3–0 in the opening away, 2–1 at home in the return), then heroically resisted in the first and second leg against Spain, winners of the competition (a 1–1 draw at home after having led the score and a short 0–1 defeat away). But Iceland suffered several other heavy defeats, surprisingly losing twice to Latvia (0–4 away, 2–4 home), which had qualified for Euro 2004. Iceland also lost to Liechtenstein (0–3 away, after a 1–1 home draw).

Iceland's poor results were due to the absence of professionals on the island and the country's hostile climate, where winter lasts for 8 months. The development of the sport was stifled by the dearth of soccer pitches: There were only two synthetic fields, so players trained on gravel or in snow. In the 2000s, Icelandic soccer experienced a real revolution. The economic boom allowed the authorities to create important structures with indoor pitches in synthetic turf, allowing training year-round regardless of weather conditions. These new structures encouraged young people to turn to sports and even led to a decrease in alcohol and tobacco consumption among teenagers.

In 2014, Iceland almost secured qualification for their first World Cup. Finishing second in Group D, they played Croatia in a two-leg playoff for qualification. After holding them to a 0–0 draw in the home leg, they lost 2–0 away.

Iceland qualified for a major tournament for the first time in 2015 after finishing second in Group A of qualification for Euro 2016, losing only two games, and beating the Netherlands – which had finished third in the 2014 World Cup – twice. During the qualification, they reached their then highest ranking in the FIFA World Rankings, 23rd. Iceland were drawn into a group with Portugal, Hungary and Austria for the final tournament.

At the tournament finals, Iceland recorded 1–1 draws in their first two group stage matches against Portugal and Hungary. They then advanced from their group with a 2–1 victory against Austria. Iceland qualified for the tournament's quarter-finals after a 2–1 upset win over England in the Round of 16, which led to England manager Roy Hodgson resigning in disgrace immediately after the final whistle. However, they were eliminated by host nation France in the quarter-finals, 5–2.

Team image

The national team uses blue as the home colours and white as their second colours; their crest features stylized imagery of Iceland's four landvættir (guardian spirits) in local folklore: a giant, a dragon, a bull, and an eagle. The team's crest was adopted in 2020 and was designed by Reykjavík-based firm Bradenburg. Previously the team had used a team crest which featured a shield-type symbol which consisted of the abbreviation of the Football Association of Iceland in Icelandic (KSI), stripes in the colors of the Flag of Iceland, and a football.

Iceland's supporters became known for using the Viking Thunder Clap chant in the mid-2010s, which involves fans clapping their hands above their heads and yelling "huh!" to the beat of a drum; the tradition originates from Scottish club Motherwell. Iceland's Viking Clap first received wider international attention during Euro 2016.

Kit providers

The official kit is produced by German sports manufacturing company Puma since 2020. Before that the kit providers were Umbro (1975), Adidas (1976–1992), ABM (1992–1996), Reusch (1996–2001) and Erreà (2002–2020)

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Win

Draw

Loss

Fixture

Players

Current squad

The following players were selected for the friendly match against Argentina on 9 June 2026.

Caps and goals are correct as of 9 June 2026, after the match against Argentina.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Iceland squad in the last twelve months.

Records

As of 9 June 2026.

Players in bold are still active with Iceland.

Competitive record

Honours

Regional

Nordic Football Championship

Runners-up (1): 2000-01

Baltic Cup

Champions (1): 2022

Friendly

Greenland Cup

Champions (2): 1980, 1984

China Cup

Runners-up (1): 2017

FIFA ranking history

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