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Iceland national under-21 football team

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Iceland Under-21
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

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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

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UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

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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

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2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification

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Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group D
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

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Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification 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.Tooltip Aggregate score 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

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Date Competition Location Opponent Result Scorers
2 September 2021
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 OSK Brestsky, Brest, Belarus  Belarus
2–1
Hákon Arnar Haraldsson (x2)
7 September 2021
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Greece
1–1
Kolbeinn Þórðarson
12 October 2021
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Portugal
0–1
12 November 2021
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen, Liechtenstein  Liechtenstein
3–0
Kristian Hlynsson
Ágúst Hlynsson
Brynjólfur Willumsson
16 November 2021
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium, Tripoli, Greece  Greece
0–1
25 March 2022
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Estádio Municipal de Portimão, Portimão, Portugal  Portugal
1–1
Brynjólfur Willumsson
29 March 2022
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Dasaki Stadium, Achna, Cyprus  Cyprus
1–1
Kristian Hlynsson
3 June 2022
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Liechtenstein
9–0
Kristian Hlynsson (x2)
Atli Barkarson (x2)
Ísak Snær Þorvaldsson (x2)
Brynjólfur Willumsson (x2)
Kristall Máni Ingason
8 June 2022
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Belarus
3–1
Kristian Hlynsson
Kristall Máni Ingason
Viktor Örlygur Andrason
11 June 2022
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification
 Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Cyprus
5–0
Kristall Máni Ingason (x2)
Andreas Karamanolis (own goal)
Sævar Atli Magnússon
Kristian Hlynsson
23 September 2022
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification play-offs
 Víkingsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Czech Republic
1–2
Sævar Atli Magnússon
27 September 2022
2023 UEFA U-21 qualification play-offs
 Stadion Střelecký ostrov, České Budějovice, Czech Republic  Czech Republic
0–0

Players

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Current squad

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The following players were called up for the friendly matches against  Hungary and  Scotland on 21 and 25 March 2025 respecitvely.[8]

Caps and goals updated as of 17 November 2024, after the match against  Poland. Names in bold denote players who have been capped for the senior team.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Halldór Snær Georgsson (2004-01-05) 5 January 2004 (age 21) 1 0 Iceland KR
1GK Ásgeir Orri Magnússon (2004-03-03) 3 March 2004 (age 21) 1 0 Iceland Keflavík
1GK Arnar Daði Jóhannesson (2005-07-27) 27 July 2005 (age 19) 0 0 Iceland Afturelding
2DF Hlynur Freyr Karlsson (2004-04-06) 6 April 2004 (age 21) 9 0 Sweden Brommapojkarna
2DF Daníel Freyr Kristjánsson (2005-08-30) 30 August 2005 (age 19) 6 0 Denmark Fredericia
2DF Júlíus Mar Júlíusson (2004-06-07) 7 June 2004 (age 20) 1 0 Iceland KR
2DF Baldvin Þór Berndsen (2004-01-23) 23 January 2004 (age 21) 0 0 Iceland ÍA
2DF Baldur Kári Helgason (2005-02-08) 8 February 2005 (age 20) 0 0 Iceland FH
2DF Ásgeir Helgi Orrason (2005-05-19) 19 May 2005 (age 19) 0 0 Iceland Breiðablik
2DF Birgir Steinn Styrmisson (2004-06-07) 7 June 2004 (age 20) 0 0 Iceland KR
3MF Logi Hrafn Róbertsson (2004-07-22) 22 July 2004 (age 20) 13 0 Croatia Istra
3MF Eggert Aron Guðmundsson (2004-02-08) 8 February 2004 (age 21) 9 0 Norway Brann
3MF Guðmundur Baldvin Nökkvason (2004-04-27) 27 April 2004 (age 20) 2 0 Iceland Stjarnan
3MF Jóhannes Kristinn Bjarnason (2005-02-24) 24 February 2005 (age 20) 1 0 Iceland KR
3MF Helgi Fróði Ingason (2005-12-06) 6 December 2005 (age 19) 1 0 Netherlands Helmond Sport
3MF Róbert Frosti Þorkelsson (2005-08-18) 18 August 2005 (age 19) 1 0 Sweden GAIS
3MF Ágúst Orri Þorsteinsson (2005-01-14) 14 January 2005 (age 20) 1 0 Iceland Breiðablik
3MF Haukur Andri Haraldsson (2005-08-24) 24 August 2005 (age 19) 0 0 Iceland ÍA
4FW Hilmir Rafn Mikaelsson (2004-02-02) 2 February 2004 (age 21) 9 1 Norway Viking
4FW Benoný Breki Andrésson (2005-08-03) 3 August 2005 (age 19) 6 1 England Stockport County
4FW Adolf Daði Birgisson (2004-06-03) 3 June 2004 (age 20) 1 0 Iceland Stjarnan
4FW Hinrik Harðarson (2004-06-19) 19 June 2004 (age 20) 0 0 Norway Odd

Recent call-ups

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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

Previous squads

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Records

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Most caps

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "2011: Spain's boys of summer dazzle". UEFA.com. 12 June 2012. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. 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. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  8. ^ "U21 karla - Hópur fyrir tvo æfingaleiki" (in Icelandic). Knattspyrnusamband Íslands. 12 March 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  9. ^ Sigurðsson, Víðir (2019). Íslensk knattspyrna 2019 [Icelandic football 2019] (in Icelandic) (1st ed.).
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