Laugardalsvöllur, Iceland’s national stadium, sits on the edge of Reykjavík, framed by mountains on one side and the North Atlantic on the other. The nation of roughly 390,000 people — comparable in size to Arlington, Texas — concentrates nearly two-thirds of its population in and around the capital, leaving a talent pool the story compares to Boise, Idaho, according to ESPN.
That narrow resource base did not prevent Iceland from testing reigning European champions England in a 2027 World Cup qualifier. On a sunny mid-April evening before the start of the long summer days, Iceland pushed the Lionesses to the limit before a 1-0 defeat. The hosts created chances, defended resolutely and, on balance, manager Thorsteinn Halldórsson’s team could have left with a point or even a win, according to ESPN.
Geographic isolation, long winters with months of subfreezing temperatures and a small population would seem to work against sustained success in women’s football. By most conventional measures, the country should not be a footballing powerhouse, though the record shows it enjoyed a successful period in the early 2000s, according to ESPN.
The profile of the Icelandic game in that era drew players like former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis to the country in 2003. After five years on a U.S. college scholarship, she had returned to Everton but found limited opportunities and little financial support in England, which was still recovering from a decades-long legal ban on the women’s game. Iceland offered a rare paid opportunity; Everton had links with Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja (ÍBV) and sent players to the island for its summer season, and the club needed a goalkeeper, ESPN reported.
Vestmannaeyjar, a volcanic archipelago of about 5,000 people, fielded a men’s professional team and a women’s semi-professional side. The island’s manager was also its only dentist. Brown-Finnis said she earned more there than playing in England and that the move allowed her to spend the summer continuing to play football in a different environment, according to ESPN.
