Tiny Iceland to be fan favorite
The thunderclap is headed to Russia.
Any neutrals looking for a team to get behind at the World Cup should look no farther than Iceland, a feel-good story of international soccer that just keeps on giving.
With about 330,000 inhabitants, the Nordic country is comfortably the smallest to ever qualify for the tournament. Two years ago, Iceland reached the European Championship for the first time, too, and got to the quarterfinals — famously eliminating England along the way.
The Icelandic fairy tale is made more charming by the team's vociferous and passionate fans, who made the "thunderclap" war chant the soundtrack of that summer in France in 2016. Don't be surprised if it has the same impact in Russia.
Adding to the legend is the team's coach, Heimar Hallgrimsson, who combines managing the national team with running a dental-surgery clinic in a small town in Iceland. And a hardworking, selfless group of mostly unheralded players who are living out their dream in front of the watching world.
Giving the Icelanders more global attention is the identity of their first opponent in Group D: Lionel Messi's Argentina.
Here's a closer look at the Iceland team: Iceland’s coach, Helmar Hallgrimsson, also runs a dental-surgery clinic in a small town in the island nation of 330,000.
Hallgrimsson was the assistant to head coach Lars Lagerback at Euro 2016, and was he promoted ahead of the World Cup qualifying campaign when Lagerback stood down. A modest and wellrespected coach in Iceland, Hallgrimsson has managed to keep motivation levels high in the squad after the Euros. He also has stuck to his unique approach: Before every home game, Hallgrimsson meets with a supporters' group in a Reykjavik bar and discloses the team's starting lineup and tactics.
Hannes Halldorsson is the undisputed No. 1 and has an interesting back story. He was once a movie director who was behind the music video for his nation's 2012 Eurovision Song Contest entry. The career behind the camera is on hold until his life as a soccer
player is over.
The defense is held together by the centerback pairing of Ragnar Sigurdsson and Kari Arnason. They are close on the field and off it, having spent the summer of 2015 traveling around Thailand together. At 35, Arnason is one of the veterans of the team, having spent some of his career in English soccer's lower league and now finding himself in Scotland with Aberdeen.
Bearded captain Aron Gunnarsson is the heartbeat of the team in central midfield. A tough tackler and fearsome-looking figure, he keeps his passing simple and lets the more creative players in the team — Gylfi Sigurdsson and Johann Berg Gudmundsson, for example — do their thing. Gunnarsson also leads Iceland's fans in the thunderclap. Gudmundsson, a wide midfielder, is growing in stature after an impressive season with Burnley in the English Premier League.
Sigurdsson is the star of Iceland's team and has long been used as a midfield playmaker by his country. During qualifying, he was occasionally deployed as a deep-lying forward in a 4-2-3-1 formation, allowing Iceland to bulk up the midfield, and he could be used there at the World Cup. That's provided he is fit to play: Sigurdsson was included on the squad despite having been out with a knee injury since early March, and his condition remains a major concern. He also has struggled to make an impact at Everton this season after a $58 million move from Swansea last summer. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson was the starting striker at Euro 2016 but has been ruled out by a knee injury, leaving Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Alfred Finnbogason to compete for the starting striker role at the World Cup.
Iceland, which will be based in Krasnodar, opens against Argentina on Saturday. The team faces Nigeria on June 22 and finishes the group stage against Croatia on June 26.