For its two friendlies against the top-ranked United States Women’s National Team, 13th-ranked Iceland will be bringing 23 players, including four who played collegiately in the United States. Most notable among them is former Duke Blue Devil and Under-23 USWYNT defender Natasha Anasi, who acquired Icelandic citizenship in 2019.
Anasi, at the age of 33, is the oldest player on Iceland’s roster and the only one over the age of 30. When comparing median and average ages, the roster selected by head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson is only slightly younger, by roughly a year, compared to the USWNT’s roster for the friendlies.
Iceland Roster for October 2024 Friendlies
GOALKEEPERS (3):
- Birkisdóttir, Fanney Inga (Valur, ISL)
- Ívarsdóttir, Telma (Breiðablik, ISL)
- Rúnarsdóttir, Cecilía Rán (Inter Milan, ITA)
DEFENDERS (8):
- Anasi, Natasha Moraa (Valur, ISL)
- Árnadóttir, Guðný (Kristianstads DFF, SWE)
- Arnardóttir, Guðrún (FC Rosengård, SWE)
- Halldórsdóttir, Hafrún Rakel (Brøndby IF, DEN)
- Heiðarsdóttir, Sædís Rún (Vålerenga, NOR)
- Jessen, Sandra María (Thor/KA, ISL)
- Sigurðardóttir, Ingibjörg (Brøndby IF, DEN)
- Viggósdóttir, Glódís Perla (Bayern Munich, GER)
MIDFIELDERS (8):
- Ágústsdóttir, Berglind Rós (Valur, ISL)
- Andradóttir, Amanda Jacobsen (FC Twente, NED)
- Antonsdóttir, Hildur (Madrid CFF, ESP)
- Halldórsdóttir, Ásdís Karen (LSK Kvinner FK, NOR)*
- Magnúsdóttir, Selma Sól (Rosenborg BK, NOR)
- Tryggvadóttir, Katla (Kristianstads DFF, SWE)
- Viðarsdóttir, Heiða Ragney (Breiðablik, ISL)*
- Vilhjálmsdóttir, Karólína Lea (Bayer Leverkusen, GER)
FORWARDS (4):
- Ásgeirsdóttir, Emilía Kiær (FC Nordsjælland, DEN)
- Eiríksdóttir, Hlín (Kristianstads DFF, SWE)
- Jónsdóttir, Sveindís Jane (VfL Wolfsburg, GER)
- Zomers, Diljá Ýr (OH Leuven, BEL)
*injury replacements announced on October 18th.
Detailed Roster
Edit: The shirt numbers for two of the goalkeepers have been updated, based on the KSI social media line-up graphic for the first match (x.com).
Note: Heights are not readily available for a significant number of the players.
S# PLAYER P. D.O.B. AGE CAPS GOALS
13 Birkisdóttir, Fanney Inga GK 03/17/2005 19.61 7 -
12 Ívarsdóttir, Telma GK 03/30/1999 25.57 11 -
1 Rúnarsdóttir, Cecilía Rán GK 07/26/2003 21.25 11 -
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11 Anasi, Natasha Moraa DF 10/02/1991 33.06 6 1
20 Árnadóttir, Guðný DF 08/04/2000 24.22 32 0
18 Arnardóttir, Guðrún DF 07/29/1995 29.24 41 1
21 Halldórsdóttir, Hafrún Rakel DF 10/01/2002 22.06 12 1
19 Heiðarsdóttir, Sædís Rún DF 09/16/2004 20.10 9 0
3 Jessen, Sandra María DF 01/18/1995 29.77 43 6
6 Sigurðardóttir, Ingibjörg DF 10/07/1997 27.05 65 1
4 Viggósdóttir, Glódís Perla DF 06/27/1995 29.33 128 11
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2 Ágústsdóttir, Berglind Rós MF 07/28/1995 29.24 12 1
22 Andradóttir, Amanda Jacobsen MF 12/18/2003 20.85 20 2
16 Antonsdóttir, Hildur MF 09/18/1995 29.10 18 2
8 Halldórsdóttir, Ásdís Karen MF 12/20/1999 24.85 1 0
7 Magnúsdóttir, Selma Sól MF 04/23/1998 26.51 41 4
15 Tryggvadóttir, Katla MF 05/05/2005 19.47 1 0
17 Viðarsdóttir, Heiða Ragney MF 10/10/1995 29.04 0 -
10 Vilhjálmsdóttir, Karólína Lea MF 08/08/2001 23.21 43 9
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5 Ásgeirsdóttir, Emilía Kiær FW 01/30/2005 19.73 2 0
14 Eiríksdóttir, Hlín FW 06/12/2000 24.37 40 6
23 Jónsdóttir, Sveindís Jane FW 06/05/2001 23.39 40 12
9 Zomers, Diljá Ýr FW 11/11/2001 22.95 16 2
Key:
- S# = Shirt Number
- P. = Playing Position
- D.O.B. = Date of Birth
- Age = Calculated age on day of the first friendly (October 24th)
- Caps = Official senior appearances for Iceland
- Goals = Official senior goals for Iceland
Sources: Shirt Number and Playing Position are from U.S. Soccer’s Five Things to Know article. Caps and goals are primarily from the KSI roster release. Some caps and goals stats were pulled from the player’s KSI profile page. Dates of birth are from UEFA.com, except for the uncapped Viðarsdóttir.
Notables
Injury Replacements in the Midfield
ACF Fiorentina’s Alexandra Jóhannsdóttir (age 24; 47 caps, 6 goals) and Växjö DFF’s Bryndís Arna Níelsdóttir (age 21; 6 caps, 1 goal) were named to the original roster on October 9th, but on Friday, October 18th (KSI x.com post), they were withdrawn due to unspecified injuries. Both players were replacedwith fellow midfielders: Ásdís Karen Halldórsdóttir (age 24; 12 caps, 1 goal) and the uncapped Heiða Ragney Viðarsdóttir (age 29).
Former NCAA Players
In addition to Anasi, who played for Duke, three other Iceland players have NCAA Division I experience:
- Guðrún Arnardóttir (defender): In her two seasons for Santa Clara (player profile), Arnardóttir started all 46 of her matches and scored five goals, including ones against Stanford, BYU, and Cal.
- Ásdís Karen Halldórsdóttir (midfielder): Halldórsdóttir returns to the state of Texas, where she played two seasons at Texas A&M (player profile) before going pro. Halldórsdóttir, who was deployed as a forward by the Aggies, scored 8 goals and provided 8 assists over 45 appearances and 34 starts.
- Heiða Ragney Viðarsdóttir (midfielder): The uncapped Viðarsdóttir began her collegiate career at the Division II Carson-Newman Eagles (player profile) and then transferred to UNC Greensboro (player profile) for her junior and senior years. At UNC-G, Viðarsdóttir scored five goals, including an equalizer against South Carolina in an opening round loss of the 2018 NCAA tourament.
Natasha Anasi — Mini Bio
Anasi primarily plays as a center-back or defensive midfielder, but has also been utilized as an outside-back.
She played most of her professional in Iceland, except for a recent spell in Norway. Her husband, Rúnar Ingi Erlingsson, is a former basketball player, who now coaches basketball in Iceland. Anasi has a daughter, who is about age seven, and a step-son who is about age 14. (2024 Duke Alumnx profile, mbl.is article)
In 2011, Anasi was the first Mac Hermann Trophy finalist for Duke, during a season where they went to the NCAA College Cup final, but fell to Stanford. That year, she was also named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. (Duke player profile) Before university, Anasi played for the Dallas Texans youth club.
Anasi has attended one U-18 USWYNT camp and five U-23 USWYNT camps, including three friendly tournaments in Europe.
Anasi was on the roster for Iceland’s 2022 SheBelieves Cup team. She scored her lone senior international goal against the Czech Republic (match recap), but did not play against the USWNT. Anasi got her first senior start in Iceland’s historic 3-nil home victory over Germany this summer, where she was deployed as a left outside-back (mbl.is article).
Club Teams
Just six players are based in Iceland, while all of the remaining players compete for contintental European clubs.
Distribution By Country
- Iceland: 6
- Sweden: 4 (including 3 at Kristianstads DFF)
- Germany: 3
- Denmark: 3
- Norway: 3
- Belgium: 1
- Italy: 1
- Netherlands: 1
- Spain: 1
Goalkeeper Cecilía Rán Rúnarsdóttir, who has a listed height of 6’2″ (188cm), is on loan from Bayern Munich (player profile) to Inter Milan. She dislocated her patella in August 2023 and missed most of the 2023-2024 season (July 2024 Bayern press release).
Press Releases
KSI: “A kvenna – hópur fyrir tvo leiki gegn Bandaríkjunum” (October 9, 2024)
U.S. Soccer: “Five Things to Know: USA vs. Iceland” (October 22, 2024)
Women's Soccer Express 