THE FAI HAVE announced an international friendly between Ireland and Iceland for next year.
Martin O’Neill’s side, who are currently level with Serbia on seven points at the top of the Group D as they bid to book a place at the 2018 World Cup, will face the nation ranked 21st in the Fifa rankings on 28 March.
The international friendly takes place at the Aviva Stadium just four days after the crucial home qualifier with Wales and it will be the first meeting between the teams since September 1997.
On that occasion, the Boys in Green were 4-2 winners in a World Cup qualifier in Reykjavik with Roy Keane bagging a double while David Connolly and Mark Kennedy were also on the scoresheet.
Here’s a poor quality highlights clip from that match (sorry, it’s the best one we could find):
These days managed by Heimir Hallgrimsson, Iceland were a surprise package at Euro 2016 and upset the odds by qualifying for the knockout stages and beating England 2-1 before going out to tournament hosts France at the quarter-finals.
They sit joint-top of Group I with Croatia on seven points from their opening three qualifiers.
The game will be included on the FAI’s season ticket.
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