After ascending to the top of Group I with a win over Turkey five days ago, Iceland formally booked themselves a place at Russia 2018 with a 2-0 victory over Kosovo in their final qualifier on Monday evening.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was instrumental for Iceland on the night, with the Everton midfielder opening the scoring shortly before half-time by bustling his way into the Kosovan 18-yard box and hacking a shot past the onrushing goalkeeper…
Sigurdsson then provided the assist as Johann Berg Gudmundsson added a second in the 98th minute, sliding in from close range to steer home a low cross at the far post…
With that, Iceland become the smallest ever nation to qualify for a World Cup, also becoming the only nation with a population less than 1million (334,000 to be precise) to reach the finals.
The previous smallest nation to qualify were Trinidad & Tobago (technically two nations in one) who made it to Germany 2006 with a population of 1.37 million.
Of course, it’s only fitting that Heimir Hallgrimsson’s band of hardy warriors celebrated their momentous achievement with a Viking Thunderclap…
Dear world! See you in Russia 2018 #WorldCup #Iceland #Huh ! pic.twitter.com/qD45YoYSii
— RÚV Íþróttir (@ruvithrottir) October 9, 2017
Damn their superior genetics.