History favours Sweden for Iceland showdown

Iceland must overcome a passionate home crowd and the weight of history to get past Sweden in their UEFA Women's EURO 2013 quarter-final showdown on Sunday.

Head-to-head record
• This will be the 14th game between these teams. Sweden have won 11 and Iceland just one, with one draw. The goal tally is 47-8 in Sweden's favour.

• The nations first met during qualifying for the 1984 European Competition for Women's Football, with Sweden cantering to a 6-0 victory on 9 September 1982 and casting a shadow over Iceland's first home international.

• Sweden triumphed in their first six games against Iceland, plundering 23 goals before a 2-2 stalemate in 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying on 28 August 2005. Hedvig Lindahl, Caroline Seger and Lotta Schelin all started the match in Karlskoga for Sweden, with Thóra Helgadóttir, Dóra Maria Lárusdóttir and Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir doing likewise for Iceland. Vidarsdóttir cancelled out Schelin's 73rd-minute effort to secure a point for the visitors.

• It took ten games for Iceland to beat Sweden, their breakthrough triumph a 2-1 Algarve Cup success in Loule, Portugal, on 2 March 2011. Vidarsdóttir and long-serving captain Katrín Jónsdóttir got their goals.

• Kosovare Asllani struck twice as Sweden strolled to a 6-1 success at the Algarve Cup on 8 March 2013, with Schelin, Marie Hammarström and Sara Thunebro also on target from their current squad. Schelin then struck her 50th international goal against Iceland as her double earned a 2-0 friendly victory on 6 April 2013.

• At youth level, Iceland dispatched Sweden 4-1 to book their place in the 2011 UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship finals.

• Two years earlier, a Sweden U19 team containing Antonia Göransson and Sofia Jakobsson drew 0-0 with Iceland – who had Fanndís Fridriksdóttir and Dagný Brynjarsdóttir among their ranks – in the second qualifying round.

• A the 2009 UEFA European Women's U19 Championship in Belarus, Sweden came from behind to defeat Iceland 2-1 in the group stage courtesy of Sofia Jakobsson and Jenny Hjohlman, eventually losing to England in the final.

Sweden
• The hosts defeated Italy 3-1 in their final Group A encounter to seal top spot. Raffaella Manieri's own goal (47) and a Schelin (49) strike had given Sweden the initiative, with Josefine Öqvist (57) adding the third in Halmstad.

• Sweden opened with a 1-1 draw against Denmark in Gothenburg, where they stayed to secure a 5-0 defeat of Finland that equalled the record margin of victory in a finals game.

• Sweden qualified automatically as hosts and played at both major final tournaments after UEFA Women's EURO 2009. They finished third at the 2011 Women's World Cup, earning a place at the 2012 Olympics.

• That proved less of a success as Sweden lost 2-1 in the quarter-finals to France, whom they had beaten to World Cup bronze.

• Pia Sundhage led the United States to gold in London before leaving in September 2012 to replace Thomas Dennerby as coach of Sweden.

• In a 21-year international playing career, Sundhage was part of the Sweden team that won the inaugural 1984 European competition, still their only major honour. In the final against England, she scored the only goal of the home leg in Gothenburg and although England won the return 1-0 six days later, Sundhage converted the winning penalty in the shoot-out.

• Sweden have lost in three other Women's EURO finals, each time to the hosts: Norway in 1987 and Germany in 1995 and 2001. Norway beat them in the 2005 semi-finals and 2009 quarter-finals.

• Sweden's UEFA Women's EURO record reads: Played 97 Won 66 Drawn 15 Lost 16.

Iceland
• Sigurdur Eyjolfsson's team edged out the Netherlands 1-0 to take their place in the last eight of a UEFA Women's EURO for the first time since a group stage was introduced in 1997. They finished as one of the two best third-placed teams along with Denmark.

• Iceland picked up their first point at this level with their 1-1 draw against Norway to open Group B but were then outclassed by Germany 3-0.

• Iceland qualified for their first major tournament by reaching UEFA Women's EURO 2009, where they failed to win a point. This time, having been pipped in their qualifying section by Norway, they overcame Ukraine in the play-offs.

• Iceland's UEFA Women's EURO record reads: Played 70 Won 29 Drawn 10 Lost 31.

Team ties
• Several of Iceland's squad have experience in Sweden's Damallsvenskan. Forward Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir played for Linköpings FC in 2009 before joining Kristianstads DFF, where she finished joint top of the scoring charts in her second season with 16 goals.

• Winger Hólmfrídur Magnúsdóttir (2009) and midfielder Katrín Ómarsdóttir (2010 & 2012) have also donned the colours of Kristianstad, while existing members of the squad including Gudný Björk Ódinsdóttir and Sif Atladóttir play there alongside Sweden's Öqvist.

• Midfielder Sara Bjork Gunnarsdóttir linked up with FC Malmö in 2011 – sharing a dressing room with Sweden Women's U19 champions Elin Rubensson and Amanda Ilestedt, plus established senior internationals Therese Sjögran and Lina Nilsson.

• Dóra Maria Lárusdóttir had a short spell at Djurgårdens IF in 2011, while Gudbjörg Gunnarsdóttir represented the Stockholm outfit from 2009-12.

• Ólína Vidarsdóttir left KR Reykjavík to sign for KIF Örebro DFF in 2009, spending three years with the club, during which time she lined up alongside Sweden's Elin Magnusson, Kristin Hammarström and Marie Hammarström.

• Katrín Jónsdóttir spent the 2011/12 season with Djurgården and joined seven-time league champions Umeå IK in 2013 – her sixth club of a career spanning over two decades.

• Coaches Sundhage and Eyjolfsson have locked horns on three previous occasions, between 2009 and 2011, with the former – during her four-year spell at the United States helm – coming out on top each time, including a 4-2 defeat of Iceland in Faro at the Algarve Cup on 9 March 2011.