Latvia v Iceland background

Latvia kicked off Group A with a creditable 0-0 draw in Kazakhstan and will hope past results augur well as they take on Iceland in their next UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier.

Match background
• Latvia have won their only previous competitive games against Iceland, scoring four goals in each.

• In qualifying for UEFA EURO 2008, Jurijs Andrejevs's Latvia beat Eyjólfur Sverrisson's men 4-0 in Riga on 7 October 2006 and – with Aleksandrs Starkovs reinstalled as coach – won the return fixture in Iceland 4-2 on 13 October 2007.

• Prior to that, Iceland beat Latvia 4-1 in the nations' first meeting – a friendly on 19 August 1998 – with a subsequent friendly in Riga in April 2004 ending in a 0-0 draw.

• In the four UEFA meetings between the nations' clubs, the Latvian and Icelandic sides are equal on two wins each.

• The nations' four meetings in UEFA age-group competitions have slightly favoured Iceland, whose record is W2 D1 L1, though the Latvian win (at Under-19 level) and the draw (U17) were the two most recent fixtures.

• Latvia come into the game unbeaten in four matches (W2 D2) since a 2-1 friendly loss against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Skopje on 5 March 2014. They have not conceded since then.

• Latvia are unbeaten in five competitive and friendly home matches (W3 D2) since a 5-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 7 June 2013.

• Iceland earned a brilliant 3-0 win against Turkey in their first Group A game, but are without a win in five competitive and friendly away fixtures (D3 L2) since beating Slovenia in World Cup qualifying on 23 March 2013.

• Iceland coach Lars Lagerbäck took on Latvia four times during the time that he and Tommy Söderberg were joint coaches of Sweden, with the record W2 D1 L1. His side never lost or conceded in Riga (W1 D1). Latvia coach Marians Pahars was involved in all of those games except the Latvian victory.