Earlier this year, football fans around the world witnessed one of the greatest sporting events in history.
Leicester City, a team who were facing relegation last year, managed to beat out English giants like Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Manchester City to clinch their first ever Premier League title. It truly was something out of a Hollywood movie, and this summer, fans are seeing a very similar story with one nation at Euro 2016.
In 2014, Iceland were painfully close becoming the smallest ever nation to qualify for a major tournament, but they were unfortunately edged out by Croatia in the play-offs. Led by Heimir Hallgrímsson and Lars Lagerbäck, they finished qualification as the second-best side in Group A, losing just two games in the process and beat the Netherlands, who finished second and third at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups both home and away.
Not bad for a country who has a population of approximately 325,000.
But this rise from unknowns to the international stage has not happened overnight. No, rather, it has been a long, difficult, and at times, frustrating process in the making, starting from nearly 20 years ago.
To further highlight their impressive rise, this video will give you more of an insight into the amazing Cinderella story Iceland represents:
Anyway, they've arrived on the big stage, and have made it clear that, despite their underdog status, they will not be brushed aside so easily. And despite having a national population smaller than many major cities, Iceland are becoming a team not to take so lightly. Let's have a look at how they have fared at this summer's tournament.
Fear the Vikings! A look at their Euro 2016 tournament so far
During their first game, the debutants fought back to secure an impressive one-all draw with Portugal. This certainly would have pleased everyone - except for, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo's legions of fans. The Portuguese ace himself, who had a frustrating evening, did not hide his displeasure with the result, and certainly did not win more followers with his petulant and shocking outburst following the match.
Here are some gems from his post-match rant:
"When they don’t try to play and just defend, defend, defend, this in my opinion shows a small mentality and they are not going to do anything in the competition."
Well, the Real Madrid superstar was wrong about one thing. Firstly, Iceland did make it to the quarter-finals - alongside Portugal, who are making an impressive sixth straight appearance at this juncture. But what about his interesting statement about their playing style?
"They were just defend, defend, defend and playing on the counterattack. It was a lucky night for them."
"Defend, defend, defend" - It may annoy CR7, but it's obviously working so far...
Here, CR7 has a valid point - although if that was a lucky night, then Lady Luck still continues to favor them as they have yet to lose a game at Euro 2016. Iceland have deployed an ultra-defensive approach at times, as this stat will illustrate:
Will #ISL keep shocking the world on Sunday?
— LiveSoccerTV.com (@LiveSoccerTV) June 30, 2016
Full @UEFAEURO broadcast info: https://t.co/zjxDLGLnu5 pic.twitter.com/9mRq4Bk7n7
And, in all honesty, there is nothing wrong with that. Although Iceland have yet to keep a clean sheet, thanks to the heroics of shot-stopper Hannes Halldorsson, they have managed to restrict their opponents thus far to just one goal scored per game. In fact, the Swansea City man has by far been the busiest of goalkeepers so far, and has won rave reviews for his excellent performance between the posts. Here's how he compares to other better-known shot-stoppers:
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Note: All stats taken BEFORE the quarter-finals. Spain was eliminated at the round of 16.
As this graphic shows, only Poland's Lukasz Fabianski has made anywhere as many saves, and in fact, Halldorsson has made as many saves as Buffon and Neuer combined.
The stats behind Iceland's successful approach at Euro 2016
But has their playing style evolved much since matchday one against Portugal? Well, here's a list of some interesting facts and stats about the team known as Strákarnir okkar (Our Boys):
- Two of Iceland's goals have come by some very unique assists: throw-ins. Just like Christian Fuchs of Leicester has become well known for his long-throwing abilities (some of which resulted in goals for the Foxes), Iceland's Kari Arnason has used this approach to good effect. No other team has achieved this as of yet.
- They're efficient. Possession? No, thanks. Spain, predictably dominated possession and still failed to beat Italy and Croatia. Rather, Iceland is more than happy to let their opponents have the ball, but when they do have it, they use it to good effect. Against England, they completed just 170 passes. That is the third lowest of any team since Euro 1980.
- Furthermore, they have attempted just 27 crosses. Not surprisingly, this is the lowest of any team at the tournament, but they have recorded one assist out of these attempts.
- They had 32 per cent of possession against England, 35 versus Austria and Portugal, and 41 in the match with Hungary.
In summary, although they were resilient and confident against England - despite falling behind due to an early penalty - Iceland have not modified their playing style at all. In fact, as the above stat showed, it was against England that they had the lowest possession percentage, and they still managed to win 2-1.
Iceland's underdog status has made them a neutral favorite at Euro 2016. Here are their strong and passionate fan base during the 2-1 win over England
The players celebrate after another successful game (against Austria) to book their spot in the round of 16
Next up: France. Should Les Bleus be concerned?
As hosts, Les Bleus are under added pressure to clinch the title on home soil. In addition, there are those who generally portray France's performances as ranging from disappointing to just adequate. This is despite Didier Deschamps's men still remaining unbeaten and rebounding well to come back to win 2-1 against Ireland after conceding an early spot-kick.
Still, it must be noted that Ireland were significantly less rested than their opponents, and there remain doubts about their capability to make it to - and win - the final on July 10th.
Meanwhile, Iceland have never won a match against France. In fact, the best result they have achieved in their past 11 meetings has been three draws, whilst being outscored by eight goals to 30. That being said, they had never beaten England or Austria prior to this tournament, but managed to do so with back-to-back 2-1 victories. Furthermore, they drew Portugal for the first time after previously losing all of their past four match-ups.
But should the hosts be concerned about the minnows, who are growing in confidence with each passing day? Well, here are some interesting things to note:
- France will have to make do without key midfielder N'Golo Kanté for this game
- Les Bleus have scored six goals - the same as Iceland - but have attempted over 40 more shots than their opponents to reach this number
- Iceland are just one of two teams (the other being Wales) to score in all four games so far
- And six different players have scored for the team, illustrating the power of the collective over individual talent
All in all, the match against England showed the world that Iceland have what it takes to come back from being a goal down. The match against Austria demonstrated that the smallest nation at this tournament can rally back to snatch three points after seeing their earlier effort cancelled out. And finally, the match against Portugal illustrated that the debutants can certainly mix it up on the bigger stage.
So, what will the match against France reveal on Sunday? Well, if Iceland's tournament thus far is any indication, anything is truly possible, and we just may be in for yet another huge surprise.
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