Portugal face Iceland for only the fourth time, again in the European Championship, in this case in the 2024 qualification in Germany, a selection of good memories that is part of the most golden page of Portuguese football.
In three duels, all official, the national team won two and drew one, a tie (1-1) that appears in the “books” as the first chapter of a story that ended with the greatest achievement of the Kinas team. Euro 2016 in France.
In Saint-Étienne on 14 June, in the first round of Group F, which also included Austria and Hungary, Portugal, led by coach Fernando Santos, took the lead thanks to Nani in the 31st minute, but Bjarnason equalized in the 31st minute. 50th minute.
Ultimately, Iceland will be tied with Portugal’s best campaign in a major competition, just as the Portuguese team will go down in Northern European history as it was the Icelandic nation’s first game in the finals.
Portugal exited the group in third place to become European champions, while Iceland surprisingly advanced to the quarter-finals, where they lost to host France (5-2) after beating England (2-1). by the way in the ‘eighth’.
On Tuesday, the national team will play only their second match in Reykjavik and on Icelandic soil, and then again at Laugardalsvellur after the first-ever 2010 match between the two countries, which won 3-1 at Euro 2012.
In October 2010, Cristiano Ronaldo, who will return to the Icelandic capital at the age of 38, Raul Meireles and Hélder Postiga scored goals for Paulo Bento’s team. Heidar Helguson scored the hosts’ goal.
Exactly one year later, the two teams met again, this time in Porto, at the Estádio do Dragão stadium, and Portugal scored another victory, this time with a score of 5:3, with Nani scoring a “double”.
Hélder Postiga, João Moutinho and Eliseu also scored, with Hallgrímur Jonasson having two well-placed shots and Gylfi Sigurdsson from the penalty spot closing the gap.
The Iceland-Portugal match from the fourth round of Euro 2024 qualifier Group J is scheduled for 19:45 (18:45 local time) and will be officiated by Daniel Siebert of Germany.
The quinas lead the group with nine points, followed by Slovakia with seven points and Luxembourg third with four. Bosnia and Iceland follow with three, coming in fourth and fifth respectively, while Liechtenstein is in last place with zero.
Only the top two in the group advance to the final stage of Euro 2024, which will be held in Germany.