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10 Best Football (Soccer) Players from Iceland

Ranked 62nd in the FIFA World Ranking of national soccer Teams, Iceland is emerging as one of the football powerhouses in Europe. The first time football began in Iceland can be dated back to the 1930s and it is  Icelander’s all-time favorite sport.

Iceland attracted international attention when its national football team qualified for the 2018 Men’s World Cup. With a population of around 330,000, Iceland is by far the smallest nation ever to qualify in the 88-year history of the prestigious competition.

Over the years, Iceland has continued to produce world-class football players. Most of them are now regular features in all European and other parts of the world’s major football leagues.

Let’s look at the 10 best football players from Iceland.

1. Rurik Gislason

One of the most famous and greatest players from Iceland is Rurik Gislason. Although now retired from professional football, he remains an iconic and a hero to Icelandic football lovers.

In his heydays, Rurik Gislason played as a midfielder in his national team and also in various domestic and foreign clubs that he appeared for. He started his professional football career as a youth with HK Kópavogur in 2005 and later played for other 7 different clubs in his more than 15 years of football career.

Gislason is more famous for his exploits in Iceland national team. He became a household name in 2018 after he was named to Iceland’s 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

After his stellar performance in Iceland’s 2018 FIFA World Cup game against Argentina, his Instagram profile went viral, as his followers increased by 250,000 after the game.

His current follower count is well over one million, more than triple the size of Iceland’s current population.

2. Alfred Finnbogason

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Alfred Finnbogason’s name will forever be in Icelandic football folklore for his Iceland’s maiden goal at the international football festival. It was also the first goal by the smallest nation to ever qualify for the world cup event.

Finnbogason began his professional football career in 2008. He has gone on to play for 7 different clubs, amassing 347 appearances and scoring 167 goals. He currently plays for Alfred in the Danish Superliga.

Alfred made his debut for the Iceland national team against the Faroe Islands in 2010. He has earned 63 caps to date, scoring 15 goals. He was part of their squad at UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where he became the first Icelander to score a goal in the FIFA World Cup.

3. Gylfi Thor Sigurdsson

Arguably the most popular Icelandic player, Gylfi Thor Sigurdsson has made over 300 English premier league appearances, scoring almost 70 league goals. A set piece specialist the attacking midfielder is currently playing for Everton Football Club, where he is one of the highest-paid players in the club.

Gylfi made his senior international debut for Iceland in 2010 and has since earned over 70 caps. He represented Iceland at their first major tournament, UEFA Euro 2016, where his country reached the quarter-finals.

In May 2018, Gylfi was named in Iceland’s 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.  During the group stage match against Croatia, he scored a penalty in the 76th minute, but Iceland lost 2–1 and was eliminated from the tournament.

4. Johann Gudmundsson

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Johann Gudmundsson n is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship club Burnley and the Iceland national team.

He began his senior career at Breidablik and then moved to England where he joined Charlton for 2 seasons, before joining the premier league club, Burnley, in 2016. Gudmundsson is a regular feature at Burnley’s starting line-up and has made 140 appearances for them.

At the international level, Johann was called up to the senior national team for the first time in 2008. He was selected for UEFA Euro 2016 squad and was part of the team in the Iceland famous win against England in the UEFA Euro 2016 round of 16 at the Stade de Nice.

He was also named in Iceland’s 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, where he went on to start every match for Iceland until they were eliminated from the tournament against France in the quarter-final.

5. Birkir Bjarnason

Icelandic footballer Birkir Bjarnason plays as a central midfielder for the Turkish club Adana Demirspor. Starting his senior career with Viking, he has also played for teams such as Aston Villa, winning the 2019 EFL Championship play-offs with them, and the Swiss Super League with FC Basel.

Birkir made his debut for the senior Iceland national team in 2010 and holds the all-time appearance record for the senior side, which stands at 105 caps. He was also named in Iceland’s 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

6. Kolbeinn Sigthorsson

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Kolbeinn Sigthorsson is one most popular football players in Iceland. His 26 goals for the Iceland national team have made him the top joint national goal-scorer of all time.

He made his senior debut with HK club in 2006 and soon attracted interest from big clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal before finally deciding to move to AZ. He has also played from Ajax, Nantes, AIK, and IFK Goteborg, which he joined in 2021.

Kolbeinn made his debut for the Icelandic national team in 2010 and has been an important member of the team since then. He has made 64 appearances for his country.

7. Ragnar Sigurdsson 

Ragnar Sigurdsson is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as a center-back. Beginning his career with Fylkir, he went on to represent IFK Goteborg, Copenhagen, Krasnodar, Fulham, Rubin Kazan, Rostov, and Rukh Lviv before retiring at Fylkir in 2021.

He made his senior debut for IFK Goteborg on 6 April 2007, starting the first match of the 2007 season. He would go on to play 90 minutes in all 26 of the club’s league matches, forming a formidable partnership with Mattias Bjarsmyr as the team won Allsvenskan 2007.

At the international level, Ragnar joined the national team in 2007 and went on to play for the team for 13 years. He was capped 97 times and was also part of Iceland’s 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

8. Aron Gunnarsson 

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As the current captain of the Icelandic national team,  33 years old Aron Gunnarsson can play either as a defensive midfielder or a central midfielder.

He began his career in Iceland, before joining England’s Coventry City in 2008. He later moved to Cardiff City, where he was a runner-up in the 2012 Football League Cup Final and played in the 2013–14 Premier League.

Aron plays for Iceland at the international level, having made his senior debut in 2008, and has earned over 90 caps for them. He has been Iceland’s captain since mid-2012, and also led the 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

9. Eidur Gudjohnsen

Arguably the most successful Icelandic football player of all time, Eidur Gudjohnsen has won 2 English premier league titles with Chelsea. He also won a Spanish La Riga title, UEFA Super Cup, and the prestigious European champion league title with Barcelona.

Although Gudjohnsen began his career with Valur in Reykjavik, he saw his greatest success in England and Spain with Chelsea and Barcelona respectively. He won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga with the latter and the League Cup and Premiership twice with the former.

Eidur made his Debut for the Icelandic national team at the age of 17. He entered football history after he played with his 34-year-old father, Arnor Gudjohnsen, in an international friendly against Estonia on 24 April 1996.

10. Arnor Gudjohnsen

One of the biggest names in Icelandic football is Arnor Gudjohnsen. A former striker himself is the father of striker Eidur Gudjohnsen and the grandfather of striker Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen. His younger son, also named Arnor, signed for Swansea City in July 2017, at the age of 16.

He started his football career at Víkingur in Iceland and went on to play for Valur, Stjarnan, Lokeren, and Anderlecht.  Arnór also played for Bordeaux in France and BK Hacken & Orebro SK in Sweden.

Gudjohnsen played 73 games for the Icelandic national team and scored 14 goals. He retired from international football in October 1997.