Iceland aim for Austria first
Friday, January 1, 2016
Article summary
The three previous meetings between Iceland and Austria have marginally favoured the latter, but Lars Lagerbäck's side can even things up in UEFA EURO 2016 Group F.
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Iceland have yet to defeat Austria in three meetings but hope the tide will turn as they look to finish UEFA EURO 2016 Group F on a high.
Previous meetings
• Austria are undefeated in three against Iceland although they were held 1-1 in an Innsbruck friendly in May 2014. Kolbeinn Sigthórsson cancelled out Marcel Sabitzer's opener for Austria.
• The current head coaches of the two nations, Marcel Koller and Lars Lagerbäck/Heimir Hallgrímsson, were in charge for that game.
• The only competitive encounters between the countries came nearly 27 years ago, a 0-0 draw in Reykjavik and a 2-1 win in Salzburg helping Austria qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
EURO facts – Iceland
• This is Iceland's first time at a major final tournament. They are one of two sides making their major finals debut at UEFA EURO 2016, along with Albania.
• With a population of 330,000, Iceland is the smallest nation to have appeared at any major final tournament; with around 8.4 million citizens, Austria's population is over 25 times that of Iceland.
• Icelandic sides have played five games in France in UEFA club competition, losing all five of them by an aggregate score of 17-2.
EURO facts – Austria
• This is the first time Austria have qualified for a UEFA European Championship final tournament – they appeared as co-hosts at UEFA EURO 2008 but failed to win in three games.
• Austria's greatest achievement to date is a third-place finish at the 1954 World Cup in neighbouring Switzerland. They last qualified for a World Cup in 1998, when the tournament was staged in France.
• Austria played in Saint-Denis at the 1998 finals, losing 2-1 to Italy on 23 June – a defeat which spelled elimination for Herbert Prohaska's side.
• Austria are one of four nations – along with England, Italy and Romania – who came through UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying unbeaten (W9 D1).
Coach and player links
• Austria defender David Alaba turns 24 on 24 June, two days after this game.
• Play together:
Birkir Bjarnason (Iceland) and Marc Janko (Austria) – Basel
• Have played together:
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Iceland) and David Alaba (Austria) – Hoffenheim, 2011
• An Ajax side featuring Sigthórsson lost 3-0 and 3-1 to a Salzburg team that included Austria's Martin Hinteregger, Stefan Ilsanker and Florian Klein in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League round of 32.
• Janko scored in Twente's 2-1 Dutch Super Cup win against Sigthórsson's Ajax on 30 July 2011.
• Hinteregger scored in Salzburg's 2-0 victory against a Malmö side featuring Iceland's Kári Árnason in the first leg of a 2015/16 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round tie.