Iceland Makes History, Becomes Smallest Country To Qualify For World Cup

Iceland booked a place in Russia next year, with a 2-0 victory against Kosovo in Reykjavik, becoming the smallest nation to ever to qualify for a World Cup finals.

Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson settled their nerves with a superbly taken goal five minutes before half-time.
Iceland then added a second goal off of more great work from Sigurdsson, who found Johann Gudmundsson for the 2-0 lead and the match sealing goal.

Their victory means their run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 was no fluke and also is the second successive appearance at a major tournament after their historic win over England in the knockout round of the 2016 European national championship.

Iceland is a tiny island nation located in northern Europe and has a population of about 330,000 people.

“I thought after Euro 2016 that the hardest thing would be to motivate ourselves again,” said Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.

“The hardest thing was to get going again after our massive party in France.

“And what’s more in a group contested between Croatia, Turkey, Ukraine and Finland.

“The success is not an end in itself but a long journey towards a final destination,” the coach added.

Fireworks were set off after the match at a packed Laugardalsvollur Stadium, and Iceland’s captain, Aron Gunnarsson, immediately led the crowd in the traditional Viking chant chant.

The chant entered the spotlight when Iceland made its major-tournament debut at the Euros in France last year.