Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson declared his side were still in the race for a place in the World Cup last 16 after Friday’s 2-0 loss to Nigeria. Iceland’s fate is no longer in their own hands as Nigeria will join Croatia as qualifiers from Group D if they beat Argentina on Tuesday. But any other result in that match could see Iceland squeeze through with a victory against familiar opponents Croatia at the same time.
Iceland went through ahead of Croatia in UEFA qualifying to reach Russia while the Eastern Europeans needed a playoff to secure their place. “It’s a strange fact that we are still in the race,” Hallgrimsson told reporters after the match. “We didn’t think we would go through this World Cup without a loss and losses are always difficult to swallow. I have to hail my players, they gave everything, they tried what they could but it was just not our day in so many ways.” he added.