Iceland Under-21
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Strákarnir okkar
AssociationKnattspyrnusamband Íslands
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachDavíð Snorri Jónasson
FIFA codeISL
First colours
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]

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

Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GD
1978 to 2009 did not qualify
Denmark 2011 Group Stage 5th 3 1 0 2 3 5 –2
2013 to 2019 did not qualify
Hungary Slovenia 2021 Group Stage 15th 3 0 0 3 1 8 –7
Total 0 Titles 0/2 6 1 0 5 4 13 –9

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 10 9 1 0 41 3 +38 28 Final tournament — 1–1 2–1 1–0 6–0 11–0
2  Iceland 10 5 3 2 25 7 +18 18 Play-offs 0–1 — 1–1 3–1 5–0 9–0
3  Greece 10 5 2 3 16 10 +6 17 0–4 1–0 — 2–0 0–0 4–0
4  Belarus 10 4 0 6 16 15 +1 12 1–5 1–2 0–2 — 2–0 6–0
5  Cyprus 10 3 2 5 16 16 0 11 0–1 1–1 3–0 0–1 — 6–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 0 10 0 63 −63 0 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. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Croatia  3–3 (5–4 p)  Denmark 2–1 1–2 (a.e.t.)
Slovakia  3–5  Ukraine 3–2 0–3
Republic of Ireland  1–1 (1–3 p)  Israel 1–1 0–0 (a.e.t.)
Iceland  1–2  Czech Republic 1–2 0–0

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

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

Players

Current squad

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

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

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Adam Ingi Benediktsson (2002-10-28) 28 October 2002 2 0 Sweden IFK Göteborg
1GK Ólafur Kristófer Helgason (2002-10-24) 24 October 2002 2 0 Iceland Fylkir
2DF Róbert Orri Þorkelsson (2002-04-03) 3 April 2002 13 0 Canada Montréal
2DF Valgeir Valgeirsson (2002-09-22) 22 September 2002 4 0 Sweden Örebro
2DF Ólafur Guðmundsson (2002-03-18) 18 March 2002 3 0 Iceland FH
2DF Jakob Pálsson (2003-01-07) 7 January 2003 2 0 Iceland KR
2DF Oliver Stefánsson (2002-08-03) 3 August 2002 2 0 Iceland Breiðablik
2DF Arnór Gauti Jónsson (2002-05-31) 31 May 2002 1 0 Iceland Fylkir
3MF Örvar Logi Örvarsson (2003-07-30) 30 July 2003 0 0 Iceland Stjarnan
3MF Andri Fannar Baldursson (2002-01-10) 10 January 2002 12 0 Netherlands NEC
3MF Kristófer Jónsson (2003-03-03) 3 March 2003 2 0 Italy Venezia
3MF Danijel Djuric (2003-01-05) 5 January 2003 2 0 Iceland Víkingur Reykjavík
3MF Orri Hrafn Kjartansson (2002-02-05) 5 February 2002 2 0 Iceland Valur
3MF Andi Hoti (2003-12-22) 22 December 2003 1 0 Iceland Leiknir Reykjavík
4FW Kristall Máni Ingason (2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 11 7 Norway Rosenborg
4FW Ísak Andri Sigurgeirsson (2003-09-11) 11 September 2003 2 0 Iceland Stjarnan
4FW Úlfur Ágúst Björnsson (2003-06-12) 12 June 2003 1 0 Iceland FH
4FW Ari Sigurpálsson (2003-03-17) 17 March 2003 1 0 Iceland Víkingur Reykjavík
4FW Óskar Borgþórsson (2003-07-15) 15 July 2003 0 0 Iceland Fylkir
4FW Andri Guðjohnsen (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 0 0 Sweden IFK Norrköping

Recent call-ups

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

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
DF Óli Valur Ómarsson (2003-01-09) 9 January 2003 5 0 Sweden Sirius v.  Scotland, 17 November 2022
MF Anton Logi Lúðvíksson (2003-03-13) 13 March 2003 1 0 Iceland Breiðablik v.  Scotland, 17 November 2022
MF Davíð Snær Jóhannsson (2002-06-15) 15 June 2002 1 0 Iceland FH v.  Scotland, 17 November 2022
MF Kristian Hlynsson (2004-01-23) 23 January 2004 10 6 Netherlands Ajax v.  Czech Republic, 27 September 2022
FW Arnar Breki Gunnarsson (2002-05-23) 23 May 2002 1 0 Iceland ÍBV v.  Scotland, 17 November 2022
FW Eyþór Aron Wöhler (2002-02-28) 28 February 2002 1 0 Iceland ÍA v.  Scotland, 17 November 2022
FW Orri Óskarsson (2004-08-29) 29 August 2004 6 0 Denmark Copenhagen v.  Czech Republic, 27 September 2022
FW Hilmir Rafn Mikaelsson (2004-02-02) 2 February 2004 1 0 Italy Venezia v.  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]

Rank Name Career Caps Goals
1 Alfons Sampsted 2017–2020 30 1
2 Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson 2007–2012 27 2
3 Bjarni Viðarsson 2005–2011 26 6
4 Birkir Bjarnason 2006–2011 25 3
5 Brynjólfur Andersen Willumsson 2019–2022 25 5
6 Jón Dagur Þorsteinsson 2017–2021 23 5
7 Orri Sigurður Ómarsson 2013–2016 21 0
Alex Þór Hauksson 2017–2021 21 1
9 Ari Leifsson 2017–2021 20 1
10 Pétur Marteinsson 1992–1995 19 0
Bjarni Guðjónsson 1996–2001 19 4
Ómar Jóhannsson 2000–2003 19 0
Rúrik Gíslason 2005–2011 19 6
Haraldur Björnsson 2007–2011 19 0
Willum Þór Willumsson 2018–2021 19 3
Kolbeinn Þórðarson 2019–2022 19 1

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:

Rank Name Career Goals Caps GPG
1 Emil Atlason 2012–2014 8 12 0.67
2 Hannes Sigurðsson 2002–2005 7 14 0.5
Sveinn Aron Guðjohnsen 2018–2021 7 17 0.41
4 Kristian Hlynsson 2021– 6 10 0.6
Kristall Máni Ingason 2021– 6 10 0.6
Gylfi Sigurðsson 2007–2011 6 14 0.43
Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson 2008–2011 6 14 0.43
Albert Guðmundsson 2015–2018 6 15 0.4
Rúrik Gíslason 2005–2011 6 19 0.32
Bjarni Viðarsson 2005–2011 6 26 0.23

In bold players still playing or available for selection.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2011: Spain's boys of summer dazzle". UEFA.com. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  2. ↑ "Euro U21 2011 (Qual.)". ZeroZero. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Euro U21 2011 (Qual.)". ZeroZero. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  4. ↑ "Iceland 3-1 Denmark". ZeroZero. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "Euro U21 2011". ZeroZero. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. ↑ "U21 all-star squad named by UEFA technical team". UEFA.com. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "2021 Under-21 EURO: Meet the finalists". uefa.com. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  8. ↑ "U21 karla – hópur fyrir vináttuleiki gegn Austurríki og Ungverjaland" (in Icelandic). Knattspyrnusamband Íslands. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  9. ↑ Sigurðsson, Víðir (2019). Íslensk knattspyrna 2019 [Icelandic football 2019] (in Icelandic) (1st ed.).
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