The Ice Giants: How a Tiny Island Scared the World of Football 🧊⚽
The Miracle of Euro 2016
Imagine a country so small that everyone basically knows each other. A place with more volcanoes than professional football pitches, and where it’s so cold that you can only play outside for a few months a year.
That place is Iceland.
With only 331,000 people (that’s fewer people than some big cities have in just one neighborhood), they weren’t supposed to be good at football. They were famous for Handball, not goals. But in 2016, they pulled off the biggest “level up” in sports history.
We were serious before, for a long time, Icelandic kids couldn’t practice in the winter because the ground was frozen solid. Basically playing football in Iceland was a logistical nightmare. But the game changed with the construction of indoor football halls (the “Soccer Houses”), allowing technical training year-round.
It created a generation of players who knew each other inside out—literally, they had known each other all their lives. They were led by a Swedish manager, Lars Lagerbäck, who didn’t speak a word of Icelandic but was revered as a deity, and Heimir Hallgrímsson.
Fun Fact: The goalkeeper, Hannes Halldórsson, wasn't just a shot-stopper; he was a professional filmmaker who directed Iceland’s Eurovision entry before stopping shots at the Euros from the world’s best strikers.
From the Bottom to the Top. Euro 2016.
In 2011, Iceland was ranked 121st in the world. That’s near the bottom of the list, alongside very small teams like Andorra and San Marino.
But then, they started winning. In the qualifiers for the Euro 2016 tournament, they had to play against the Netherlands—one of the best teams in history. Everyone thought Iceland would lose. Instead, Iceland beat them (twice). They knocked the Dutch giants out of the tournament and booked their own tickets to France.
Iceland against Portugal (and Ronaldo)
In their very first game of the tournament, they faced Portugal and their superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo. Iceland played a style called a “Low Block” (this is when a team stays very close to their own goal, like a human wall, making it impossible for the other team to run past them).
They defended like lions and the game ended 1-1. Ronaldo was so frustrated that he complained Iceland had a “small mentality.” But Iceland didn’t care—they had just taken one point from the best player in the world, that was enough.
Iceland vs. England.
The biggest moment came in the Round of 16, against England.
England is the home of the Premier League and some of the richest players on Earth. When England scored a penalty in the 4th minute, everyone thought the “Iceland Dream” was over. But just two minutes later, Iceland used a “Long Throw-in” (throwing the ball really far into the box like a corner kick) to score. Then, they scored again to make it 2-1. They defended with everything they had and when the final whistle blew, England was out, and tiny Iceland was in the Quarter-Finals.
The world was stunned. The fans in the stadium started the “Viking Clap”—a loud HÚ! followed by a giant clap that sounded like thunder, impressive…
The End, France
Finally, Quarter-Finals. Iceland had to face the hosts, France, in a stadium filled with nearly 80,000 people. By now, the Icelandic players were exhausted after such an effort and France was a super team filled with world-class stars, and they won the game 5-2.
But even though the scoreboard said they lost, the world didn’t see it that way.
As the final whistle blew, the French fans did something amazing and beautiful: they stopped cheering for their own team and started clapping for Iceland. The Icelandic players, walked over to their wall of fans. Together, both team fans they did one last “Viking Clap.”
Clap... HÚ! Clap... HÚ!
It was a moment of incredible sportsmanship, that showed football isn’t just about trophies or being the richest. It’s about a tiny group of friends from a cold island showing the whole world that if you have enough heart, you can stand up to anybody. They went home as heroes, greeted by a parade that took up almost the entire country.
If you enjoyed this story, get ready for the next one! We’re going to head back to the 1960s. Imagine a group of players in dark red shirts coming out of a misty mountain city, to terrify the biggest and most famous club in England.
It’s a wild story. See you in the next one!🔥⚽️
Note for the young readers:
Low Block: Think of this like a “Fortress Mode” where all 11 players stay back to protect the “castle” (their own goal).
Qualifiers: These are the “try-outs” you have to win before you are allowed to play in the big tournament.
Long Throw: In Iceland, they practice throwing the ball with the hard so hard it travels as far as a kick.
Did you like this story?
If you enjoyed it you’ll also love the book European Football Maps 📕⚽️
It is a brilliant resource book that maps out the national teams, leagues, and clubs across all 55 UEFA nations. It’s perfect for any curious fan who wants to see the actual geographical spread of the game and discover exactly where all these national teams are located across Europe.
Take a peak at the information about Iceland from the book 👇
