Iceland national under-21 football team

Last updated
Iceland Under-21
Nickname(s) Strákarnir okkar
Association Knattspyrnusamband Íslands
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coachDavíð Snorri Jónasson
FIFA code ISL
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Kit right arm pumafinal21rb.png
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Kit shorts.svg
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First colours
Kit left arm isl20a.png
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Kit body isl20a.png
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Kit right arm isl20a.png
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Kit socks long.svg
Second colours
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances2 (first in 2011 )
Best resultRound 1 (2011, 2021)

The Iceland men's national under-21 football team is a national under-21 football team of Iceland and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland. The team is considered to be the feeder team for the senior Icelandic men's national football team. Since the establishment of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in 1978, the team has reached the Euro Championship finals on two occasions, most recently in 2021. In the 2011 and 2021 tournaments they were knocked out in the group stages. [1]

Contents

The team is for Icelandic players aged under 21 at the start of the calendar year in which a two-year European Under-21 Football Championship campaign begins, so some players can remain with the squad until the age of 23. Players can represent Iceland at any level as long as they are eligible, giving them the option to compete for the U21s, senior team, and then U21s once more. This has been the case for several senior team players like Eiður Guðjohnsen, Heiðar Helguson, Jón Daði Böðvarsson and Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson.

History

From 1978 to 2009 the team never qualified for the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship tournament finals. In late 2010, the team sealed qualification to the championships for the very first team in their history. During the qualification stage they finished second in their group behind the Czech Republic and qualified for the playoffs as a result of being one of the best runners-up in the whole qualification process. Their most notable win came in a 4–1 home victory over Germany. [2] In the next stage they played against Scotland in a two-legged affair in which they won 4–2 on aggregate over the two games. [3]

Their remarkable qualification campaign saw them qualify for the finals where they were drawn against Belarus, Denmark and Switzerland in Group A. In their first two group games they were comfortably beaten by Belarus and Switzerland. In their final group game they defeated Denmark who were the hosts of the tournament 3–1. [4] Iceland would finish third in the group, level on points with the second placed and fourth placed teams. [5] Following the end of the tournament, UEFA announced its Team of the Tournament with striker Kolbeinn Sigþórsson named on the list. [6]

Iceland qualified to the tournament for the second time in 2021. [7]

Competition records

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

YearRoundPositionPldWDLGFGAGD
1978 to 2009 did not qualify
Flag of Denmark.svg 2011 Group Stage 5th310235–2
2013 to 2019 did not qualify
Flag of Hungary.svg Flag of Slovenia.svg 2021 Group Stage 15th300318–7
Total0 Titles0/26105413–9

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualificationFlag of Portugal.svgFlag of Iceland.svgFlag of Greece.svgFlag of Belarus.svgFlag of Cyprus.svgFlag of Liechtenstein.svg
1Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 10910413+3828 Final tournament 1–1 2–1 1–0 6–0 11–0
2Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 10532257+1818 Play-offs 0–1 1–1 3–1 5–0 9–0
3Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 105231610+617 0–4 1–0 2–0 0–0 4–0
4Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 104061615+112 1–5 1–2 0–2 2–0 6–0
5Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 103251616011 0–1 1–1 3–0 0–1 6–0
6Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein 100010063630 0–9 0–3 0–5 0–4 0–6
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs

The four play-off winners qualify for the final tournament.

All times are CEST (UTC+2), as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Croatia  Flag of Croatia.svg3–3 (5–4 p)Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 2–1 1–2 (a.e.t.)
Slovakia  Flag of Slovakia.svg3–5Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 3–2 0–3
Republic of Ireland  Flag of Ireland.svg1–1 (1–3 p)Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 1–1 0–0 (a.e.t.)
Iceland  Flag of Iceland.svg1–2Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 1–2 0–0

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

DateCompetitionLocationOpponentResultScorers
2 September 2021
OSK Brestsky, Brest, Belarus Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus
2–1
7 September 2021
Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Flag of Greece.svg  Greece
1–1
12 October 2021
Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
0–1
12 November 2021
Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein
3–0
16 November 2021
Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium, Tripoli, Greece Flag of Greece.svg  Greece
0–1
25 March 2022
Estádio Municipal de Portimão, Portimão, Portugal Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
1–1
29 March 2022
Dasaki Stadium, Achna, Cyprus Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus
1–1
3 June 2022
Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein
9–0
8 June 2022
Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus
3–1
11 June 2022
Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus
5–0
23 September 2022
Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic
1–2
27 September 2022
Stadion Střelecký ostrov, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic
0–0

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Flag of Austria.svg  Austria on 16 June and Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary on 19 June 2023. [8]

Caps and goals updated as of 26 March 2023, after the match against Flag of Ireland.svg  Republic of Ireland .

No.Pos.PlayerDate of birth (age)CapsGoalsClub
1 GK Adam Ingi Benediktsson (2002-10-28) 28 October 2002 (age 21)20 Flag of Sweden.svg IFK Göteborg
1 GK Ólafur Kristófer Helgason (2002-10-24) 24 October 2002 (age 21)20 Flag of Iceland.svg Fylkir

2 DF Róbert Orri Þorkelsson (2002-04-03) 3 April 2002 (age 22)130 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Montréal
2 DF Valgeir Valgeirsson (2002-09-22) 22 September 2002 (age 21)40 Flag of Sweden.svg Örebro
2 DF Ólafur Guðmundsson (2002-03-18) 18 March 2002 (age 22)30 Flag of Iceland.svg FH
2 DF Jakob Pálsson (2003-01-07) 7 January 2003 (age 21)20 Flag of Iceland.svg KR
2 DF Oliver Stefánsson (2002-08-03) 3 August 2002 (age 21)20 Flag of Iceland.svg Breiðablik
2 DF Arnór Gauti Jónsson (2002-05-31) 31 May 2002 (age 21)10 Flag of Iceland.svg Fylkir
3 MF Örvar Logi Örvarsson (2003-07-30) 30 July 2003 (age 20)00 Flag of Iceland.svg Stjarnan

3 MF Andri Fannar Baldursson (2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 (age 22)120 Flag of the Netherlands.svg NEC
3 MF Kristófer Jónsson (2003-03-03) 3 March 2003 (age 21)20 Flag of Italy.svg Venezia
3 MF Danijel Djuric (2003-01-05) 5 January 2003 (age 21)20 Flag of Iceland.svg Víkingur Reykjavík
3 MF Orri Hrafn Kjartansson (2002-02-05) 5 February 2002 (age 22)20 Flag of Iceland.svg Valur
3 MF Andi Hoti (2003-12-22) 22 December 2003 (age 20)10 Flag of Iceland.svg Leiknir Reykjavík

4 FW Kristall Máni Ingason (2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 (age 22)117 Flag of Norway.svg Rosenborg
4 FW Ísak Andri Sigurgeirsson (2003-09-11) 11 September 2003 (age 20)20 Flag of Iceland.svg Stjarnan
4 FW Úlfur Ágúst Björnsson (2003-06-12) 12 June 2003 (age 20)10 Flag of Iceland.svg FH
4 FW Ari Sigurpálsson (2003-03-17) 17 March 2003 (age 21)10 Flag of Iceland.svg Víkingur Reykjavík
4 FW Óskar Borgþórsson (2003-07-15) 15 July 2003 (age 20)00 Flag of Iceland.svg Fylkir
4 FW Andri Guðjohnsen (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 (age 22)00 Flag of Sweden.svg IFK Norrköping

Recent call-ups

The following players are still eligible for and have previously been called up to the under-21 squad.

Pos.PlayerDate of birth (age)CapsGoalsClubLatest call-up

DF Óli Valur Ómarsson (2003-01-09) 9 January 2003 (age 21)50 Flag of Sweden.svg Sirius v. Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland, 17 November 2022

MF Anton Logi Lúðvíksson (2003-03-13) 13 March 2003 (age 21)10 Flag of Iceland.svg Breiðablik v. Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland, 17 November 2022
MF Davíð Snær Jóhannsson (2002-06-15) 15 June 2002 (age 21)10 Flag of Iceland.svg FH v. Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland, 17 November 2022
MF Kristian Hlynsson (2004-01-23) 23 January 2004 (age 20)106 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Ajax v. Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic, 27 September 2022

FW Arnar Breki Gunnarsson (2002-05-23) 23 May 2002 (age 21)10 Flag of Iceland.svg ÍBV v. Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland, 17 November 2022
FW Eyþór Aron Wöhler (2002-02-28) 28 February 2002 (age 22)10 Flag of Iceland.svg ÍA v. Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland, 17 November 2022
FW Orri Óskarsson (2004-08-29) 29 August 2004 (age 19)60 Flag of Denmark.svg Copenhagen v. Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic, 27 September 2022
FW Hilmir Rafn Mikaelsson (2004-02-02) 2 February 2004 (age 20)10 Flag of Italy.svg Venezia v. Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic, 27 September 2022

Previous squads

Records

Most caps

As of 17 November 2022, the 10 players with the most U-21 caps for Iceland are: [9]

RankNameCareerCapsGoals
1 Alfons Sampsted 2017–2020301
2 Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson 2007–2012272
3 Bjarni Viðarsson 2005–2011266
4 Birkir Bjarnason 2006–2011253
5 Brynjólfur Andersen Willumsson 2019–2022255
6 Jón Dagur Þorsteinsson 2017–2021235
7 Orri Sigurður Ómarsson 2013–2016210
Alex Þór Hauksson 2017–2021211
9 Ari Leifsson 2017–2021201
10 Pétur Marteinsson 1992–1995190
Bjarni Guðjónsson 1996–2001194
Ómar Jóhannsson2000–2003190
Rúrik Gíslason 2005–2011196
Haraldur Björnsson 2007–2011190
Willum Þór Willumsson 2018–2021193
Kolbeinn Þórðarson 2019–2022191

In bold players still playing or available for selection.

Top goalscorers

As of 17 November 2022, the 10 players with the most U-21 goals for Iceland are:

RankNameCareerGoalsCapsGPG
1 Emil Atlason 2012–20148120.67
2 Hannes Sigurðsson 2002–20057140.5
Sveinn Aron Guðjohnsen 2018–20217170.41
4 Kristian Hlynsson 2021–6100.6
Kristall Máni Ingason 2021–6100.6
Gylfi Sigurðsson 2007–20116140.43
Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson 2008–20116140.43
Albert Guðmundsson 2015–20186150.4
Rúrik Gíslason 2005–20116190.32
Bjarni Viðarsson 2005–20116260.23

In bold players still playing or available for selection.

See also

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References

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