Iceland’s national team head coach Arnar Gunnlaugsson commented on his team’s defeat against Ukraine’s national team (3:5) in yesterday’s home match of the 2026 World Cup qualification tournament.
Arnar Gunnlaugsson’It was a strange match. Ukraine’s national team is a serious opponent, and I think that for most of the match we were just magnificent. I believe everyone who understands football could see that. I was very proud of the guys. We scored three goals, but football can be a ruthless game.
At the same time, regarding how the match went, it was a great game, and we need to learn from such encounters. Character is also an important element of football. It was great to equalize after being down 1:3.
But much of what happened today is a consequence of our team still being young. The guys are young and full of energy, but sometimes they make mistakes that are hard to explain. It seemed to me that every shot on goal from Ukraine’s national team resulted in a goal. Although, overall, I can’t recall Iceland playing at home against such a strong national team that plays such dynamic and good football.
With certain experience at this level and a lot of important matches behind you, you would never make decisions like we made in cases of the first three goals against us. But, I think correcting these awkward mistakes is much easier than it would be necessary to fix the team’s play overall,' Visir quotes Gunnlaugsson as saying.
