Words by

Greig Robertson

@greig_kaj

World Cup fever is upon us, and with it come the usual psychic animals, crazy fans, and weird-ass occurrences phenomena such as a spate of cancelled weddings in Iceland. People indeed seem to have their priorities straight: the big game comes first. Here’s the latest news from the front.

Supermarket chain Krónan releases “HÚH!” burger bun
Iceland’s World Cup fever has claimed another victim as supermarket chain Krónan introduced their new World Cup edition burger buns. The bread rolls – imprinted with “HÚH”, the familiar sound of the Viking clap, in edible black text – are packaged with two cheddar cheese slices and two Argentinian beef burgers. Far from being a ridiculous monetisation of Iceland’s footballing success, buying and consuming the new buns represents a new ritual for Iceland fans. Not only can you do the Viking clap, but you can also become the Viking clap, and in essence, ingest the very spirit of the national side. All this talk is making me húhngry.

Iceland fans drive to Russia
Icelandic football fans Krissi Hilmar Kjartansson and Gretar Jónsson have entered full World Cup meltdown mode by driving 15,000km (9,300 miles) to Russia in a blue, red and white Lada Niva. “We wouldn’t drive to Russia in any other car; it wouldn’t be the same. The joke is to drive to Russia in a Lada,” the boys told Ruptly before they set off. That joke, it seems, quickly got out of hand and now Krissi and Gretar and intent on staying at the World Cup until Iceland’s journey at the World cup ends in July. “No matter how far the team goes, we will follow it. The longer the team stays, the longer we drive,” they added.

Datou the Wonder Shark predicts Iceland World Cup victory
Datou the Wonder Shark became a national hero in Iceland as he snubbed Germany to select our boys as World Cup winners in an unerringly accurate tournament prediction. The West Highland Maltese, dressed as a shark for some reason, was encircled by the 32 flags of the World Cup participant countries, each one topped a treat. After sniffing around Germany’s sauerkraut snacks, Datou turned up his nose and selected Iceland’s plokkfiskur-infused nibbles instead. Comparisons between Datou and Paul the Octopus – who correctly predicted Spain as winners of the 2010 World Cup – have already been made, and we’re 100% certain that Datou every bit as reliable.

Icelanders cancel weddings to watch Argentina match
Icelanders are cancelling their nuptials in droves so they can watch Iceland’s clash with Argentina on Saturday, according to RÚV. Bride-to-be Edda Ósk Smáradóttir, meanwhile, has refused to be cowed by her guests’ implicit suggestions to postpone. “We thought about [cancelling] it and considered it but the church was booked later in the afternoon, so we couldn’t have been in the same church,” Edda said. She does accept, however, that guests will want to listen to proceedings while the ceremony takes place. With this in mind, no guarantees can be made about the origin of any joyful tears at the wedding; we gently suggest that they might just be related to Gylfi belting one in against Argentina.

“The Snow Leopard” with a heart of gold
Aside from being a sturdy bench guardian, Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson has further enhanced his good lad qualities by joining Juan Mata’s “Common Goal” project. The organisation aims to use football’s wealth and reach to tackle the world’s “toughest opponents” such as HIV/AIDS, gender inequality and youth unemployment. Alongside Mats Hummels, William Troost-Ekong, Shinji Kagawa and Kasper Schmeichel, Rúnar Alex will be pledging 1% of his earnings to a central fund which will then be used by “high-impact organisations” on the ground. It’s just another reason to support Iceland…. not that you needed one.

Support for our boys sweeps Bangladesh
Iceland fanatic Sayed Mojumder loves our boys so much that he made a giant red, white and blue flag, unfurling it on Twitter alongside children from his community in Bangladesh. Not to exaggerate, but we feel that Sayeed’s sentiments are pretty indicative of the whole Bangladeshi nation, Asia and perhaps even the world. He’s clearly a man of taste, listing Gylfi “The Viking Virtuoso” Sigurðsson and Aron “The Annihilator” Gunnarsson as his favourite players on his personal feed. You can find him waxing lyrical about all things Iceland @sayedmojumder2.

Read more about Iceland’s World Cup here. Get a Smite The World T-shirt here.