Having become the smallest ever nation to qualify for the World Cup finals, Iceland now begin their preparations for the showpiece tournament in Russia.

They will be up against talented Czech Republic side that were unable to secure their place in Russia, finishing third in their qualifying group behind Germany and Northern Ireland.

Very serious approach to youth football has started to yield excellent results for the Iceland national team, who are slowly becoming a genuine force to be reckoned with.

After qualifying for their first ever European Championship finals and impressing in France, the Nordic side have now reached the World Cup finals as well.

Iceland did it in style, winning the group that also contained Croatia, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland and Kosovo, taking 22 points from 10 games.

Preparations for the tournament finals kick off with friendly games against Czech Republic and Qatar, and head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson is clearly taking the matches seriously.

He has named a very strong squad, although Birkir Mas Saevarsson and Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdarson were forced to withdraw through injury.

Their places were taken by Real Oviedo defender Diego Johannesson and Start forward Kristjan Floki Finnbogason, while Emil Hallfredsson and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson were omitted.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-1-1): Halldorsson – Johannesson, Arnason, R. Sigurdsson, Magnusson – Gudmundsson, Gunnarsson, Sigurjonsson, Bjarnason – G. Sigurdsson – Finnbogason.

The Czech Republic national team have been on a major downtrend over the last decade or so, and they have yet to return to the right track.

Karel Jarolim’s side failed to impress in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, finishing behind Germany and Northern Ireland in the overall standings, and the work now starts for the new qualifying campaign.

The Czechs will finish the year with friendly matches against Iceland and Qatar, with everybody hoping the team will show some improvement.

Karel Jarolim had to leave important players Patrik Schick, Vladimir Darida, Pavel Kaderabek and Vaclav Kadlec out of the squad through injury, while Theodor Gebre Selassie misses out through personal reasons.

Derby County striker Matej Vydra returns after a year-long absence, whereas Robert Hruby receives his first call-up.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Pavlenka – Brabec, Suchy, Kalas, Boril – Soucek, Husbauer – Kopic, Barak, Jankto – Krmencik.