It is only within the past decade or so that Iceland, an island nation in the North Atlantic close to the Arctic Circle, has emerged on the international football scene. From around the end of the 20th century, the country invested heavily in infrastructure — including indoor facilities designed to cope with the harsh climate — while also placing greater emphasis on player development. Although a handful of Icelandic players had previously succeeded individually at clubs on mainland Europe, a new generation of talented players began to emerge, fuelling the national team’s dramatic rise.

The clearest sign that these efforts had borne fruit came with Iceland’s first-ever appearance at the UEFA EURO 2016 finals. Carrying the momentum from qualifying, where they defeated the Netherlands both home and away, Iceland advanced beyond the group stage in their first appearance at this major tournament. In the Round of 16, they famously came from behind to defeat England 2–1, securing a historic place in the quarter-finals.

Two years later, Iceland also made their first appearance at the FIFA World Cup at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™. With a population of just over 300,000, Iceland attracted global attention at the time as the smallest nation or territory ever to compete at the World Cup finals. Although they were eliminated in the group stage, they produced spirited performances, including a memorable 1–1 draw against Argentina in their opening match. In the FIFA Rankings, Iceland reached a national-record high of 18th in March 2018 ahead of the tournament — illustrating just how dramatic their rise had been, considering they had been ranked 131st as recently as 2012.

Since then, however, Iceland have failed to qualify for the UEFA EURO on two consecutive occasions, while they also exited in qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. In the current European qualifiers, they showed resilience with results such as a 2–2 home draw against France, but a 0–2 defeat to Ukraine in their final match last November ended their hopes of reaching the play-offs. Head coach Arnar GUNNLAUGSSON reflected afterwards: “It’s hard to take, but we have to move forward,” as he looked ahead to the team’s next challenge.

Japan and Iceland have met three times previously at senior international level. Their first encounter came 55 years ago in August 1971, when Iceland hosted a Japan side touring Europe in preparation for the Munich Olympic qualifiers and suffered a 0–2 defeat at home. Their most recent meeting dates back 14 years to KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2012, when Iceland travelled to Japan and suffered a 3–1 defeat. MAEDA Ryoichi, who currently serves as a coach of SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team), opened the scoring with one of his trademark headers.

Iceland were once known for playing direct football and relentlessly driving towards the opposition goal, making full use of their physical strength and fearless style of play. Today, however, with an increasing number of players gaining experience in leagues across mainland Europe, their style of play has become far more refined. Built upon a foundation of solid defending and rapid counter-attacks, Iceland have developed into a side capable of competing evenly with the game’s top sides.

Results of last 5 matches
(H: Home, A: Away, N: Neutral ground, ○: Win, △: Draw, ●: Loss)

※The match was held in Warsaw, Poland.

Record against Japan

3 losses (3 goals for, 8 goals against)

Results at the FIFA World Cup™

Appearances: 1
※Became a FIFA member in 1947

1950　Did not participate
1954　Did not participate
1958　Eliminated in the qualifier
1962　Did not participate
1966　Did not participate
1970　Did not participate
1974　Eliminated in the qualifier
1978　Eliminated in the qualifier
1982　Eliminated in the qualifier
1986　Eliminated in the qualifier
1990　Eliminated in the qualifier
1994　Eliminated in the qualifier
1998　Eliminated in the qualifier
2002　Eliminated in the qualifier
2006　Eliminated in the qualifier
2010　Eliminated in the qualifier
2014　Eliminated in the qualifier
2018　Group stage
2022　Eliminated in the qualifier

Data on the opposing country

◇FIFA Rankings (as of 20 January 2026): 74th
◇Record against Japan: 3 losses (3 goals for, 8 goals against)

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