Iceland

ICELAND

UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009 was the first senior final tournament for either men or women to feature a team from Iceland, and they are back again.

The closest they had come in the past was 1995, when they lost a two-legged quarter-final to England, and they also reached the 1997 and 2005 play-offs, beaten respectively by eventual winners Germany and finalists Norway. The appointment of Siggi Eyjólfsson as coach in 2007, however, produced immediate success as they reached the 2009 finals in Finland, and having run France close in 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying, made it through again to Sweden.

They began qualifying superbly by beating Norway 3-1, but five dropped points against Belgium allowed the two-time champions to catch them and snatch first place in the final game. Still, Iceland held off Ukraine in the play-offs, the prolific Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir reaching a double-figure goal tally in qualifying for the second EURO campaign running. Vidarsdóttir is one of several Swedish-based professionals in the squad.

Tournament record
2009: group stage
2005: qualifying play-offs
2001: did not qualify
1997: qualifying play-offs
1995: quarter-finals
1993: did not qualify
1987/89/91: did not enter
1984: did not qualify

2013 qualifying
Group 3 runners-up, P10 W7 D1 L2 F28 A4 Pts22

Top scorer: Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir 11
Most appearances: Thóra Helgadóttir, Katrín Jónsdóttir, Sif Atladóttir, Sara Bjork Gunnarsdóttir, Hólmfrídur Magnúsdóttir, Dóra Maria Lárusdóttir, Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir, Fanndís Fridriksdóttir 12

Friendly results since qualifying
6 March: L0-3 v United States (Algarve Cup group, Albufeira)
8 March: L1-6 v Sweden (Algarve Cup group, Albufeira)
11 March: L0-1 v China (Algarve Cup group, Ferreiras)
13 March: W4-1 v Hungary (Algarve Cup 9th place, Parchal)
6 April: L0-2 v Sweden (a, Vaxjo)
1 June: L0-3 v Scotland (h, Reykjavik)
20 June: L0-2 v Denmark (a, Viborg)

Competition record win
10-0 v Bulgaria (a), 21/06/2012, 2013 qualifying
10-0 v Poland (h), 13/09/03, 2005 qualifying

Competition record defeat
0-6 v Germany (h), 17/08/00, 2001 qualifying
0-6 v Sweden (a), 09/09/82, 1984 qualifying