Iceland coach Arnar Gunnlaugsson has announced his 23-man squad for the two matches against Kosovo. Gunnlaugsson expects a deserved victory over Kosovo in the two Nations League play-off matches.
Kosovo will play the playoff matches for inclusion or relegation in League B of the Nations League on March 20 and 23.
Initially, they will play at the "Fadil Vokrri" stadium in Pristina, while three days later they will face the Icelanders in Spain, namely at the "Enrique Roca" stadium in Murcia.
Coach Gunnlaugsson praised the Kosovo team, but insisted that the Icelanders' goal is to stay in League B of the Nations League.
"It is a team with talented individuals, with players who play for Napoli, Mallorca, Lille and Freiburg, for example. Kosovo has an experienced coach, who also managed Austria before Ralf Rangnick. He has experience in international football. Kosovo is 29 places below us in the world rankings, but the difference between the teams is not that big," Gunnlaugsson said at a press conference on Wednesday.
He took over as Iceland's leader on January 16. 51-year-old Gunnlaugsson replaces 71-year-old Age Hareide, who retired in November.
He described the matches against the "Dardans" as difficult.
"It will be two difficult games. We have a 'home' game in Spain, not here. I want to play the games at home, as I expect difficult games."
Iceland is playing for the relegation places in League B. It was ranked third in Group B4, which included Wales, Turkey and Montenegro.
Kosovo is seeking to qualify for League B for the first time. In League C, it fell behind Romania in the group, while it was more successful than Cyprus and Lithuania.
"Of course I want us to win, we want to stay in League B, because this league is better for us. However, I don't want us to stay if we don't show progress. If we get a few lucky wins and don't learn anything, it won't do us any good when we start the real matches in the fall," the Iceland coach stressed, referring to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Kosovo faced Iceland in the first qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup. They lost 2:1 in Shkodër and 2:0 in Reykjavik in 2017.
