In preparation for her first World Cup participation ever, Iceland will play against Ghana on Thursday-evening, which in turn was the World Cup.
Iceland:
Iceland was two years ago for the first time to qualify for a final tournament and surmounted surprisingly until the quarterfinals, where France was eventually too strong. The Icelanders then turned out not to be a one-day-fly as this year the island with its 300,000 inhabitants also makes its debut at the World Championship.
The team of Heimir Halgrimsson managed to place himself well in a qualifying pool with Croatia, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland and Kosovo as group winner. No less than 22 points were taken in ten games. All matches in Reykjavik were won.
Iceland has been re-assigned to Croatia at the World Cup. In addition, Nigeria and Argentina are the opponents. A very difficult draw, but the Icelanders are certainly not without a chance.
The selection is largely the same as in 2016. The strong holders are still Gylfi Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson and Ragner Sigurdsson. Premier League celebrities include Albert Gudmundsson (PSV), Johan Berg Gudmundsson (former AZ), Alfred Finnbogason (former Heerenveen) and Hannes Halldorsson (former NEC). Former Ajax player Kollbein Sigthorsson has not been called.
Ghana:
Ghana has a rich World Cup history, but next edition we have to do without the West African country. The past three World Championships gave Ghana an acte de presence and that resulted in some memorable posters. The game against Uruguay, in which Luis Suarez made hands on the line and Ghana lost the penalty range, is still engraved in our memory.
Four years ago in Brazil, Ghana finished last in a group with Germany, Portugal and the United States. This year James Appiah’s squad did not manage to qualify. In a pool with Egypt, Uganda and the Congo, the Black Stars only finished third.
For the friendly matches against Japan and Iceland, some well-known names have been left at home. Experienced men like Jonathan Mensah, the brothers Jordan and André Ayew, Daniel Amartey and Asamoah Gyan did not have to report.
The best-known names in the current selection are Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid), Frank Acheampong (former Anderlecht, now Tianjin Teda) and Wakaso Mubarak (Alaves).
PREDICTION: Under 2.5 goals @ 1.57
