The Icelandic national team in men’s football lost 1-3 against Belgium in a friendly away game at the King Bauduoin Stadium in Brussels on Wednesday evening. Some of the team’s key players were benched and newcomers given a chance to shine.
There was lots of action in the first half with Viðar Örn Kjartansson attacking the Belgian goal early on. However, the first goal was scored by Nicolas Lombaerts with a header. Only two minutes later—13 minutes into the game—Alfreð Finnbogason evened the score for Iceland.
Both goalkeepers were kept busy during the remainder of the first half; Ögmundur Kristinsson, who was playing his second A-team game for Iceland, performed well, making three solid saves, mbl.is reports.
Ingvar Jónsson took over as goalkeeper in the second half and captain Aron Einarsson left the court for Birkir Bjarnason.
The second half was off to a slow start but then both teams got the chance to score. Ingvar deflected two shots but could not prevent a goal from Divock Origi in the 62nd minute.
The teams fought evenly until a mistake in the Icelandic defense enabled Romelu Lukaku to score the third goal for Belgium. Iceland was not about to give up and kept attacking the Belgian goal. However, the time ran out and a Belgian victory was sealed.
Wednesday’s game brought the Icelandic winning streak, including a victory over The Netherlands and Turkey in the 2016 Euro Qualifiers, to an end.
