Key events
The teams are out! Iceland in blue, Wales in red, all the requisite forms hopefully filled out correctly, and in triplicate. We’ll be off in a minute!
As for the Welsh under-21s, there’s been a bit of a cock-up on the organisational front. Six players of the squad – Cardiff’s Rubin Colwill, Blackburn’s Owen Beck, Wolves’ Lewys Benjamin, Sheffield United’s Owen Hampson, Villanovense’s Josh Farrell and Brighton’s Ed Turns – were deemed ineligible to play in this afternoon’s crucial Euro U21 qualifier with Czechia due to what the FAW have described as [squints, adjusts pince-nez] an “administrative error”. Wales have gone on to lose the match 2-1, and blow the chance of automatic qualification by either finishing top or being one of the best runners-up. Now they’ll not even make the qualification play-offs should the Czechs beat Lithuania at home on Tuesday. Anyway, any old excuse …
A reminder of how Group B4 stands before kick-off tonight. Turkey host Montenegro in Samsun in the other match.
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Turkey P2 W1 D1 L0 F3 A1 Pts 4
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Wales P2 W1 D1 L0 F2 A1 Pts 4
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Iceland P2 W1 D0 L1 F3 A3 Pts 3
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Montenegro P2 W0 D0 L2 F1 A4 Pts 0
Craig Bellamy speaks to S4C: “We’ve tried to pick the team that has the best chance of giving us a positive result tonight … we have a strong bench … we do have a game on Monday as well … transitions and set plays, they are very useful … we have to be switched on … it’s a great opportunity for us to hit home the players’ ideas and the identity we want from the team … are we good without the ball? … are we organised? … are we able to control the tempo? … difficult to do away from home … they are key elements of the game.”
Iceland’s midfield includes Willum Thor Willumsson of Birmingham City and Stefán Teitur Thórdarson of Preston North End. Brentford reserve keeper Hakon Rafn Valdimarsson starts in goal. Victor Pálsson of Plymouth Argyle and Alfons Sampsted of Birmingham are on the bench alongside Gylfi Sigurdsson, formerly of Swansea, Tottenham and Everton. Fiorentina forward Albert Guðmundsson was cleared of sexual assault charges by a Reykjavik court yesterday; he’s eligible to play but not named in Åge Fridtjof Hareide’s matchday squad.
Iceland have won their last two matches at home: 4-0 against Liechtenstein in Euro 2024 qualifying last October, and 2-0 against Montenegro in this Nations League group last month. If they win this one tonight, it’ll be the first time they’ve won three home fixtures in a row since 2019. Should the Welsh win, they’ll register their first back-to-back away victories since 2020.
History suggests Wales are more likely to extend their run. They’ve won each of their last four matches against Iceland, the most recent in 2014. By contrast, Iceland have only beaten Wales once in seven meetings, back in 1984. Should Wales win tonight, it’ll only be the third time in history that they’ll have won five successive matches against the same opponent: Wales have clocked up five in a row against Azerbaijan (2005-2019) and six against Luxembourg (1974-2010).
Wales make four changes to the starting XI named for the 2-1 win in Montenegro last month. Danny Ward, Brennan Johnson, Jordan James and Sorba Thomas replaces Karl Darlow, Lewis Koumas, Chris Mepham and the injured Ethan Ampadu. Aaron Ramsey and Daniel James are also missing because of injury; Ben Davies will wear the captain’s armband in Ramsey’s absence.
The teams
Wales: Ward, Roberts, Rodon, B Davies, N Williams, Thomas, Wilson, J James, Cooper, Johnson, Moore.
Subs: Darlow, A Davies, Mepham, Norrington-Davies, Brooks, Koumas, Cullen, Cabango, Harris, Burns, Sheehan, Broadhead.
Iceland: Valdimarsson, Fridriksson, Gretarsson, Ingasson, Finnsonn, J Gudmundsson, S Thordarson, Willumsson, A Gudjohnsen, Oskarsson, Thorsteinsson.
Subs: Olafsson, P Gunnarsson, Sampsted, Palsson, Hermansson, Willumsson, G Sigurdsson, Tomasson, Anderson, Johannesson, Traustason, Ellertsson.
Referee: Antoni Bandic (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
Preamble
“I’d be worried if there wasn’t expectations,” says Craig Bellamy as he heads into his second round of fixtures as Wales boss. “I certainly don’t believe in ever trying to play them down. I don’t think that would be fair to people who come to watch. If they’re excited that’s exactly where we want them to be. I’ve got to be honest, I’m excited!”
OK, you’ve sold it, we’re on board too. The all-new freewheeling Wales are in Reykjavík tonight, attempting to follow up exhilarating performances against Turkey and Montenegro with another against Iceland. The show begins at 7.45pm BST. It’s on! HÚH!
