World Football: Iceland Having Big Impact on World Cup Qualifying

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: October 17, 2013

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To most of the world, the country of Iceland is little more than an exotic curiosity.  "It's that island in the middle of nowhere in the freezing North Atlantic with a bunch of volcanoes and viking stuff, but like not very many people" is the basic gist of what most people think of Iceland.

As one of the most isolated nations on the planet with a population of only about 320,000, Iceland doesn't tend to occupy a very prominent spot in world affairs.

In World Cup qualifying right now, however, Iceland is making quite the impact.

While the nation has long been formidable when it comes to handball, football has never been their strong suite.

Iceland's national men's football team has never before qualified for the World Cup. After a 1-1 tie against Norway to secure second place in their UEFA qualifying group, they are tantalizingly close.

All that stands in the way of Iceland and a trip to Brazil next year is a two-leg playoff that will occur in November with one of the other nations that also finished second in their respective group in UEFA qualifying.  Which team that is has yet to be determined.

Regardless of who Iceland draws, the team has a very good chance at making history by becoming the country with the smallest population to ever qualify for a World Cup.  Considering that they are a part of the most competitive and deepest footballing region in the world currently, UEFA, the fact that they stand on the cusp of history is that much more impressive. 

In group play, Iceland registered five wins, two draws and three losses. They had 17 goals for and 15 against for a plus-two differential.

The squad is led by Tottenham midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, who has been one of the most prolific players in world cup qualifiers so far.  Sigurdsson leads his squad in both goals and assists, finding the back of the net six times so far while assisting on thr...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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