Iceland will meet Croatia in the European play-offs for the men’s World Cup in football, the draw for which took place at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich on Monday.
Iceland will host the first of two matches, at Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavík on November 15; the second match will be played in Croatia on November 19.
“All the teams would have been difficult but I have no qualms about playing against Croatia,” Iceland manager Lars Lagerbäck told Mbl.is. “It’s an interesting team and I know it a little bit about it from the days when I coached the Swedish national team.”
Iceland is the smallest nation in the play-offs and should they beat Croatia, they will be the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup.
“Obviously, on paper, we’re the underdogs but we’ve managed to surprise some people in this competition and hopefully we’ll continue doing that. When you have two matches, there are always possibilities,” Lagerbäck said.
“There are some talented players on the Icelandic team and I’m optimistic but of course this is going to be tough.”
As soon as the draw was over, Icelandair announced it would offer package deals to Croatia for the second match, adding that there had already been several requests from Icelandic football fans regarding the play-off match abroad, Mbl.is reports.
Iceland In The Play-Offs For World Cup
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