History awaits: Iceland look to become smallest nation ever to reach World Cup

REYKJAVIK (Iceland) - Elvar Fridriksson and Tryggvi Hlinason stand on the verge of becoming national heroes, yet both of them and the rest of the Iceland national team are trying to stay humble as they attempt to make history.

Iceland will host Georgia in their opening game of Window 5 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers knowing if they can beat Georgia they would hold a two-game lead over their closest Group L rivals with just three games to go.

"IT'S BEEN A VERY LONG ROAD, AND TO BE ABLE TO STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO GO TO THE WORLD CUP IS AMAZING."

That would take Fridriksson, Hlinason and Co. one step closer to helping Iceland - with an official a population count of 376,248 - become the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup, overtaking current record holders Montenegro, who played in the 2019 edition of the showpiece event. 

At the time, Montenegro's population was just over 620,000 inhabitants.

"Everybody knows what's at stake, so we're working really hard. To do this would be really historical for basketball here and for the sports community in general in Iceland. It would be truly incredible," said Hlinason, who is third in scoring for Iceland with 14.7 points to go with a team-high 10.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in six games in this qualifying campaign..

Iceland's basketball team is trying to match the feat the football team did as they became the smallest nation by population to qualify for a FIFA World Cup in 2018. That came after Iceland reached the UEFA EURO 2016 and famously went to the Quarter-Finals.

"I THINK WHAT HELPED US IS OUR MENTALITY OF BEING THE UNDERDOG AND ALWAYS FIGHTING AS SUCH."- Tryggvi Hlinason

 
Reaching the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time would be the natural progression for Iceland's basketball program, which qualified for the FIBA EuroBasket in 2015 and 2017.

Iceland did take a step back though by failing to qualify for the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers, which saw them begin their journey to the World Cup via the Pre-Qualifiers.

The Rytas Vilnus guard Fridriksson remembers back to the start of Iceland's quest for Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, which actually began with an 80-78 loss at Kosovo in February 2020.

"The World Cup was only a dream when we started in the Pre-Qualifiers. It's been a very long road, and to be able to still have a chance go to the World Cup is amazing," Fridriksson said. "It's been something that we never really thought of. Yeah, we joked about getting to the World Cup and playing against the biggest teams in the world, but now it's a possibility that can become a reality. But we are still humble and take it game by game, and we're not getting ahead of ourselves."

Iceland ended up with five wins in the Pre-Qualifiers against Slovakia, Luxembourg and Kosovo and then beat Netherlands twice in the First Round of European Qualifiers and also raised some eyebrows by beating Italy at home 107-105 in double overtime earlier this year.

 
In the August 2022 window - the first of the Second Round - Iceland were battered by Spain 87-57 and then defeated 91-88 Ukraine in overtime for a 4-2 record in Group L - one game better than their main rivals for a ticket to the World Cup, Georgia.

"Going to the World Cup would truly explode our expectations since the beginning of these Qualifiers," Hlinason said. "It's mesmerizing and really a dream come true for a country like us. And I think what helped us to get there is our mentality of being the underdog and always fighting as such."

With so much riding on the game at the Laugardalsholl arena in Reykjavik, Fridriksson said the team is really trying to stay calm.

"Of course we have been discussing reaching the World Cup as a team, and it's definitely our end goal, but we are still a few steps from getting there. So we just have stay with both feet on the ground and stay humble," the guard said.

For national heroes are remembered forever whereas those who come up just short are quickly forgotten.

FIBA