Northern Ireland will face a buoyant Iceland in Belfast tonight, according to senior men’s team manager Michael O’Neill.
Iceland enjoyed a 3-1 victory in a friendly against Scotland at Hampden Park on Friday, while Northern Ireland lost 2-1 to Denmark in Copenhagen the following night.
And O’Neill believes Iceland will offer “another good test” for his squad when the teams meet at the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park (7.45pm kick-off).
In his Manager’s View column in the matchday programme, the Northern Ireland boss says: “Iceland’s tails will no doubt be up following their win against Scotland at the weekend.
“They will be looking to chalk up another victory, so the onus will be on us to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
O’Neill adds that he expects his team to have more possession against the Icelanders than they had in Copenhagen.
And he points out: “I believe we have the running power and ability to put Iceland under pressure.
“Iceland are a solid outfit who like to counter attack when given the opportunity, so we will have to limit those opportunities.
“I will be looking for a good performance from the players tonight to give us a confidence boost ahead of the start of the World Cup qualification campaign.”
O’Neill told media yesterday that he will freshen the team up against the Icelanders, although he will likely not make wholesale changes to the starting line-up.
The friendly against Iceland will be Northern Ireland’s final preparation game prior to World Cup qualifiers against Germany, Slovakia and Luxembourg between September and November.
“Our home form has been good in recent times and it’s something we need to cement ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers this autumn,” the manager added.
O'Neill further revealed that goalkeeper Stephen McMullan, who is on loan at Waterford from Fleetwood Town, has been called up to replace Conor Hazard, who injured his knee in the game against the Danes.
Iceland played in UEFA Nations League B last autumn but were subsequently relegated to League C following a play-off defeat to Kosovo. By contrast Northern Ireland won their League C group and have been promoted to League B for the next edition of the competition.
Former Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City and Dundee striker Arnar Gunnlaugsson became Iceland’s manager at the start of the year. The game against Scotland in Glasgow was only his third game in charge of the national team following the two play-off matches against the Kosovans.
Iceland have a strong engine room where Hertha Berlin midfielder Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson and Ísak Jóhannesson, who also plays in the Bundesliga with Fortuna Düsseldorf, often pull the strings.
They will, however, be without 20-year-old Orri Óskarsson, who plays his club football for Real Sociedad in La Liga. Oskarsson has burst onto the international scene with seven goals in 16 senior appearances for his country, but he is injured just now.
Nevertheless they still possess power up front. Fellow striker Albert Gudmundsson, who scored eight goals in his first 32 appearances for Fiorentina during a loan spell with I Viola this season, is a set-piece specialist who is capable of playing centrally or out wide.
And Andri Gudjohnsen, son of the legendary Eidur Gudjohnsen, is good in the air and has excellent dribbling ability. He plays for KAA Gent in Belgium’s top flight.
Gudjohnsen opened the scoring early on against the Scots, while Scotland’s Lewis Ferguson scored an OG just before the break to put Iceland ahead once again after John Souttar had equalised. The second half winner for the Icelanders came from experienced Plymouth Argyle defender Victor Palsson.
Training at National Stadium
