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Iceland to take on Israel this Thursday for Euros Finals spot!

2024-03-20T13:00:00.000Z

GUDMUNDSSON ON ICELAND’S UPCOMING QUALIFIER

Iceland to take on Israel this Thursday for Euros Finals spot!

2024-03-20T13:00:00.000Z

Iceland to take on Israel this Thursday for Euros Finals spot!

Johann Berg Gudmundsson has been looking ahead to Iceland’s Euro 2024 qualification playoff semi-final on Thursday, which sees his side face Israel in Hungary.

It’s all to play for as the winner of the encounter will face either Bosnia & Herzegovina or Ukraine on Tuesday night for a place in this summer’s Euro Finals, seeking to join Belgium, Slovakia and Romania in Group E of the final tournament.

Iceland’s fourth place finish in their qualifying group teed up the tie with Israel, who finished third and missed out on automatic qualification by just two points.

Having made over 80 appearances for his country during his career so far, the 33-year-old is looking forward to the opportunity to secure qualification for his nation at such a massive tournament.

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“It’s a big game for us, two games and we’re in the Euros. So, it’s a massive game. Israel are playing in Hungary, obviously a neutral venue because of the situation in Israel.

“So yes, it’s a big game, obviously another opportunity for us to get to a big tournament. It’s something that you cherish when you play for such a small country like Iceland. It’s a massive game for us.”

Iceland missed out on the 2021 Euros, however Gudmundsson and his teammates enjoyed great success in the 2016 tournament, with a 2-1 victory over England and reaching the quarter-finals. With previous success, just what would a place in the 2024 tournament mean to Iceland?

“It means a lot to people; they expect a lot from us now because we’ve reached two major tournaments. But yes, two games you would take that all day long, two games and you reach a big tournament like that. So, it’ll be a massive achievement for us.”

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The Clarets enjoyed a win over Brentford last week, does three points before heading on international duty help boost confidence?

“It helps us massively, it’s been coming, I think we’ve been playing really well. Especially at Turf, we’ve not picked enough points up, so to see it at the Brentford game bouncing, everybody was going in the same direction, it was a good thing to see.

"Turf Moor should be a difficult place for any team to come and it was definitely that on the day.”