Our prediction for this Nations League match:
Friday’s football game at Laugardalsvollur pits together Iceland and Wales, the two teams who are eyeing a top-two finish in Group 4. Iceland kicked off their UEFA Nations League campaign in style, beating Montenegro 2-0 at home, but they struggled defensively in a 3-1 loss to Turkey. Even though talented Lille midfielder Hakon Arnar Haraldsson remains in the recovery room, we predict that the hosts are going to grab something from the match as they are tough to beat in Reykjavik.
The Dragons, on the other hand, aim to build on a 2-1 win over Montenegro. Connor Roberts has overcome his injury, while veteran Joe Allen has been reintroduced by boss Craig Bellamy, who believes that Allen still has plenty to give. Anyhow, a close encounter is on the cards at Laugardalsvollur and we are tempted to place our bets on draw. You should know, though, that Wales have defeated Iceland in each of their last three meetings in all competitions.
Highlighted Team (Iceland):
Iceland had little to no success during the first 60 years of entering the FIFA competitions, failing to qualify to a single major tournament in that period, but the team then went on to make tremendous progress at the start of the 21st century.
The Nordic side narrowly missed out on a place at the 2014 World Cup, losing in the play-off to Croatia, but they then enjoyed a thoroughly impressive qualifying campaign to reach the Euro 2016, taking 20 points from 10 matches to leave Turkey and Netherlands trailing in their wake.
As a result, the generation featuring players like Gylfi Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Emil Hallfredsson will go down as one of the most successful in the national team history and it could be quite some time before another team repeat their success. Even if he was only used as a bit-part player during the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Eidur Gudjohnsen has got to be mentioned as the first Icelandic footballer to have played for top European sides.