Nigeria’s World Cup challenger, Iceland, to play Indonesia

Iceland national team
Iceland national team. [Photo credit: BigSoccer]

The Iceland national football team will play two friendly matches in Indonesia on Thursday and Sunday to intensify preparations towards the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The smallest nation to ever qualify for the Mundial, Iceland will play a selected side on Thursday and the main Indonesian national team on Sunday.

Though the matches do not fall on the required FIFA window for friendlies, the Football Association of Indonesia have asked AFC and FIFA to be used for the next FIFA rankings.

Iceland have been grouped with Argentina, Nigeria, and Croatia in Group D. Iceland shocked many at the European Championship in France in 2016 when they got to the quarter-finals, before losing to host nation, France.

They followed that up by topping Group I of their UEFA qualifying group that included Croatia, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland, and Kosovo. They lost just twice in the 10 matches – scoring 16 goals and conceding seven.

For Indonesia, ranked 162 by FIFA, the matches would be a learning experience.

Marsal Masita, the Football Association of Indonesia’s (PSSI) deputy secretary-general said, “Iceland’s visit will be an opportunity for Indonesian football.

“We can learn a lot from them and we will also hold youth and coaching sessions with the Iceland team.”

The Nigeria Football Federation is also expected to learn one or two things about their World Cup opponents.

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