Knowing only a victory in the Slovakian capital would leave them with any chance of gaining automatic qualification for next year’s tournament - in addition to beating Portugal on Wednesday - Iceland took a huge step towards accomplishing their near-impossible mission shortly after the quarter-hour mark.
Recalled into Age Hareide’s XI after making an appearance off the bench in the 4-0 victory over Liechtenstein last month, Orri Oskarsson repaid the faith shown in him by his manager by instinctively getting ahead of Denis Vavro to head Victor Palsson’s ambitious ball past Martin Dubravka.
On the other hand, hosts Slovakia knew avoiding defeat would be enough to qualify alongside Group J leaders Portugal, courtesy of their higher-ranking H2H record with Luxembourg, and were back on level terms on the stroke of the half-hour mark.
Keen to impress, Juraj Kucka authoritatively rose above his marker to head home Lukas Haraslin’s corner past Iceland goalkeeper Elias Rafn Olafsson and the covering defender on the goal line.
The hosts then turned the match on its head nine minutes before the break as Ondrej Duda confidently rifled the Falcons ahead from the spot after VAR recommended referee Craig Pawson award a penalty to the hosts following Kristian Hlynsson’s clumsy foul on the Hellas Verona midfielder.
Determined to avoid any late headaches, Slovakia put the game to bed after only two minutes of the second half, as Haraslin’s weaving run with the ball at his feet left Icelandic central defender Victor Palsson wondering which way he was going before the man of the moment unleashed a fearsome strike past Olafsson into the corner of the net.
Clearly brimming with confidence, Haraslin added a fourth goal for the Falcons eight minutes later, as the clearly inspired Sparta Prague winger produced a carbon copy of his first of the evening with another sublime finish that again left Olafsson with no chance of making a save.
Substitute Andri Gudjohnsen pulled a consolation goal for Iceland after only being on the pitch for less than 60 seconds, with a clinical close-range finish from Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s inswinging corner.
Ultimately, Gudjohnsen’s goal would have no impact on the final score, as the victory completes a qualifying double for Slovakia ahead of their concluding tie in Group J in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Iceland will now have to rely on the play-offs to determine whether they will take their place in only a second-ever UEFA European Championship finals.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lukas Haraslin (Slovakia)
Thursday's other late results:
Group J
Luxembourg 4 Bosnia & Herzegovina 1
Group G
