Euro 2016 was the first big tournament that Iceland participated in. But they didn’t just come to be counted, they came to be seen and made it all the way to the quarterfinals. Along the way they defeated England 2:1 in the Round of 16. But another unforgettable moment was the announcer’s call of the team’s winning goal in a 2:1 victory over Austria in the group stages. Remember?
With a population of only 332K, 10% made their way to France to cheer on the national team (as a comparison, Israel would have had 810K present). In fact, Iceland is the country with the smallest population to have ever appeared in the European Championships.
Due to the cold weather and the very short days of winter with little sunlight, Iceland also plays football in enclosed facilities. The country has taken this on as a major project and over the past 15 years they have invested in 7 full sized indoor facilities plus another 150 smaller ones.
Even though the country may be small in size, 17 footballers have played in the English Premier League including Eidur Gudjohnsen and Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Photo: Gudjohnsen Chelsea FC ()
There are currently 20,000 registered footballers along with 79 adult clubs in five leagues. The Iceland top division was founded in 1912.
KR Reykjavik is the most decorated club in the country with 26 league championships and over 50 national titles.
