The Unknown Underdogs: Iceland National Soccer Team

The 2016 Iceland National Soccer Team had a remarkable journey from being constant underdogs to qualifying for their first major tournament, the Euros. They showed resilience and drew with top-ranked teams like Portugal. They faced Hungary and drew again but suffered an own goal in the 80th minute. In their last match against Austria, they needed a win to advance to the knockout stage. After a tense game, they scored in the last seconds, securing their spot in the next round. In the knockout stage, they faced England, who hadn't lost a game during the tournament. With strong crowd support and a determined team, Iceland had a chance to make history. The Unknown Underdogs. Episode 3. The 2016 Iceland National Soccer Team. I would like to start this off with an apology. In the first episode, I stated that my favorite sports story was the Cavs coming back to beat the Warriors in the finals in 2016. That was a lie. This is my actual favorite story in sports, and I don't know anyone other than me, my family, and probably all of Iceland who even know about it. But it is still one of the craziest but most heartwarming stories that you will ever hear, sports or not. This is the story of Iceland taking on the soccer giants of Europe. Iceland has always had an interesting history in national team soccer. They became a recognized national team by FIFA in the 1940s and played their first official match against Denmark in 1946. They ended up losing that match 3-0, which started their journey as the constant underdogs. Iceland didn't even start trying to enter major tournaments like the World Cup or the European Championship until 1954, where their application for World Cup qualifications was denied. They reapplied for the 1958 World Cup and were granted a spot in the qualification tournament, which was in round-robin format. Iceland lost all four of the games they played and gave up 26 goals, while only scoring 6. Not very good, right? Well, Iceland would continue this trend of being an outsider until the turn of the 21st century. They continued to be a team seen as an easy win for almost 50 years, but they did not give up. The 21st century was the start of a boom for soccer in Iceland. For much of their history in professional soccer, they didn't really have pro soccer players. They had long and rough winters with only two real soccer fields. This made the development of the game difficult, but after an economic boom in Iceland at the beginning of the century, soccer was able to receive more funding. This led to more fields and better facilities made for the players, which led to a growth in soccer in the country, and it set them up to be able to actually compete in the upcoming World Cup and Euro qualifiers. And Iceland showed just how good these new facilities were doing for them by putting up a valiant effort in the Euro 2004 qualifiers, which saw them miss out on the playoffs by just one point. But it showed what the future would hold for this Icelandic national soccer team. But this run wouldn't last long, as Iceland went back to the outside looking in, not being able to match their earlier successes. This was until 2014, though, where Iceland got the closest it had ever gotten to qualifying for a major tournament by making it to the playoff for one of the final spots in the biggest soccer tournament on Earth, the World Cup. But after a draw at home against Croatia, they ended up losing to that Croatian team 2-0 away, narrowly missing yet another major tournament. While Iceland had certainly improved their team and how they were viewed as competitors, they were still missing that one crowning achievement for this small nation, a major tournament appearance. It looked like it was going to be more of the same for this Iceland team in the 2016 Euro qualifiers, as they were thrown into another rather difficult group, featuring teams like the Czech Republic, Turkey, and the Netherlands, nations that had all made the final tournament a number of times. Iceland, though, still never having made it into a major tournament, were seen again as underdogs. It didn't seem like anyone told them, though. The team started off their campaign by rattling off three straight victories in their group, beating both Turkey and Latvia 3-0 and picking up a 2-0 victory against the Netherlands to finish off the win streak. However, they would suffer their first defeat in the qualifiers to the Czech Republic team, who would go on to win this group. After the loss, though, Iceland would then go on to win three more games in a row, and after two draws in the next two games, Iceland had finally done it. They had qualified for a major tournament after over 60 years of trying. It had been a long journey for the team and the nation as a whole, but it seemed as though all of the advances to this soccer country had finally been validated. This in itself is a great underdog story that deserves telling, but this is not where the story ends. When an underdog like Iceland goes into a big tournament after making a surprising run in the qualifiers, they are usually soundly beaten in their three group stage games and are sent home before they could even get their bearings. Iceland didn't want to end up like that, though. It seemed as though Iceland wouldn't be able to avoid it, though. All three teams in their group for the Euros, those being Portugal, Austria, and Hungary, were all ranked above them in the FIFA rankings that summer, and with Portugal and Austria both being in the top ten of soccer teams ranked by FIFA in the world, it was not looking good for this team. But they still went into their first match against Portugal with high hopes. The game started off slow, but after a 31st minute goal by Portugal's Nani, it was looking like Iceland would fall under the same curse that every other team like it had. But if there's one thing that you should know about this soccer team, it is that they are resilient. Those long Icelandic winters had taught them how to battle against adversity, and they showed it here. After going to halftime still losing 1-0, Berger Bjarnason brought the game level with a 50th minute goal, and after 40 minutes of Portugal bearing down on Iceland's goal, they didn't break. The game ended 1-1, which was a great sign and almost seen as a victory for this team, and for good reason, too. This was their first showing in a major tournament, and they just drew the 8th ranked team in the world. That is a major success. But Iceland wanted more. They went into their next game against Hungary with the same drive as the last, but with a newfound confidence, now knowing that they can hang with the big guys of European soccer. Unlike the last match, though, Iceland was the team to take the lead into the half, on a penalty kick in the 40th minute. This Iceland team was looking much better than the team in its first major tournament, and were looking to keep that result to get an unlikely win against a Hungary side. Disaster struck, though, for the team, as an 80th minute owned goal dashed their hopes for the first victory, but it was yet another strong showing nonetheless. However, this put a lot of pressure onto their last match. In order to guarantee a spot in the knockout stages, they needed to win their next game, against Austria, ranked 10th in the world. A lot easier said than done. It seemed as though Iceland was going to pull off yet another unbelievable upset, though, after taking a lead with an 18th minute goal, which they would then take into halftime. Austria didn't back down, though. They answered with a goal of their own in the 16th minute, bringing the game to a standstill, drawing 1-1. This was not good enough for Iceland, but it was for Austria, meaning that Iceland's back was against the wall. They needed another goal. After half an hour of trying, this Icelandic Cinderella story seemed to be over. Another goal just didn't seem to be coming. Until the fourth minute of added time, with literal seconds left in the game, Iceland went on the break in their most likely last attack of the game. They were streaking down the pitch, but being closely followed by the Austrian defense. But in a last-ditch pass, Iceland was able to pull off the impossible. The ball squeaked past the Austrian goalie and landed in the back of the net. Iceland had done it. This nation, which had never participated in any major tournament, had made the knockout round in their first appearance, something absolutely remarkable. And I'm sure you're now being able to understand why this is such a great story. This isn't supposed to happen. Underdogs like these aren't in major soccer tournaments, yet somehow Iceland had pulled it off. However, like last time, the story doesn't end there. Iceland is not finished with this tournament. Next up for the team was the knockout round. This is where all the teams who advanced from the group stage play each other in a tournament format. Teams that got out of the group stage are then mashed up against teams who made it out of the other groups. This means that Iceland would be facing a team they hadn't played yet, and since they were second in their group, they would be playing against a team that placed second or higher in their respective group. So instead of going up against another regular team, they would be going up against the best of the best. And the team that Iceland was scheduled to play was England. England had yet to lose a game this entire tournament. They had won all ten of their matches in the qualifying campaign for the tournament, and had drawn twice and won one match in their group, much like Iceland. However, Iceland had an ace up their sleeve. Crowd support. You see, during this run, as Iceland had been showing that they could hang with the big guys, more and more supporters of the team were coming out to France where the tournament was being held. Icelandic airports were even getting more traffic than they could fly out, so they had to rush to get more flights to go to France. And with even more support at home, with 99.8% of all Icelandic TVs being set to watch this game, they had all of the backing they could ever need. But I want to explain something first about England. There was a joke in European soccer about England and their seeming inability to win a major tournament. They always find the worst ways to lose in tournaments. If you've ever heard the song, it's coming home, it's coming home, that's usually sang mockingly towards their supporters after they lose in yet another horrible way. Did European fans think this would happen again in the Euros? Of course. But against Iceland of all teams? Just no way. And even with all of the support though, the game started out about as bad as it could, with England taking a lead on a fourth-minute penalty kick by Wayne Rooney to put England up 1-0. It was looking as though Iceland did all they could, but their streak had run its course. Let me emphasize the looking part. Iceland brought the score back to 1-1 almost immediately, scoring in the sixth minute to show England that they weren't going down easy. The score held for all of ten minutes, as another goal quickly followed. Scored by Iceland. That's right, Iceland was now holding a lead against a team who hadn't lost in this entire tournament, qualifying or otherwise. But here came the even harder part, holding this lead. For the next 70 in-game minutes, the entire strength of England was going towards Iceland's goal. It had seemed as though another England goal was destined, but for 70 long, painstaking minutes that featured 17 shots by this England side, the Icelandic defense held like Adrian's wall and earned their spot in the semi-finals of the European Championship. England had been beaten by a team from a country with more active volcanoes than professional soccer players. A team that had never even been to a major tournament had now not only qualified for the tournament, not only advanced to the knockout round, but also beaten a giant in European soccer. Now that is an underdog story. But this is unfortunately the end of Iceland's story, though. As in their semi-final match, they lost to the host nation France 5-2, ending their run. But they had made their mark. This run had not only brought this team together, but an entire country together. And this is what sports is about. This team let a country let go of any of their troubles for even a little bit and enjoy and believe in their team. It is a great story, not just an underdog story. The biggest reason I love this story, though, is that I can claim that I was an Iceland fan during this run. While I did go into their first game they played actively cheering against them, I was a big Portugal fan back then, but Iceland became my favorite team in sports after that game, which they have stayed ever since. I was so glad that I was able to enjoy this team and the story that it was making while it was unfolding. And it will be a story that I will not stop telling until the day I die. Thank you for listening, and I hope you tune in later.