Iceland head home, World Cup effort wins kudos

Gallant Iceland headed home heartbroken but unbowed after a premature end to their first World Cup adventure, ruing what might have been after a narrow defeat by Croatia.

Iceland caught the public imagination with their fairy-tale run to the quarterfinals at Euro 2016 in France and waltzed through qualifying for Russia, topping their group, which included Croatia.

At the World Cup they held their own in a section that also featured Argentina and Nigeria but were left to regret a string of near misses in their final match before Ivan Perisic sealed their fate with a last-minute winner on Tuesday.

After Milan Badelj put Croatia ahead early in the second half, a Gylfi Sigurdsson equalizer from a penalty meant the Nordic side were a goal away from their first-ever World Cup victory and a berth in the next round. “We left everything on the pitch today. We go home proud from our first and not last World Cup,” said striker Alfred Finnbogason on Twitter.

Thousands of fans traveled to distant Russia from the tiny nation – with a population of just 330,000, the smallest ever to qualify for a World Cup – while almost 100 percent of TV viewers were reported to have watched the games.

Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson praised the close bond with their fans, famed for their socalled “Viking thunderclap,” and said during the past six years the team had found its identity. “We have really found our way. Everybody is on board in terms of football style, in character and values, and how we should behave as national team members,” he said.