NANTES (FRANCE) - Iceland striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson is hoping his nation find themselves in the same group as England when the draw for Euro 2016 is made in Paris on Saturday.
Iceland's forward Kolbeinn Sigthorsson speaks with a journalist during a training session at FC Nantes's football club training centre in La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, western France, on December 8, 2015
The North Atlantic island nation of just 330,000 people caused a sensation by making it to a major tournament finals for the first time when they finished second in their qualifying group ahead of Turkey and the Netherlands.
Under the management duo of former Sweden coach Lars Lagerback and Heimir Hallgrimsson, Iceland stunned Europe by defeating the Dutch home and away and beating Turkey 3-0 in Reykjavik.
That performance came after they almost qualified for the 2014 World Cup, only losing out in a play-off against Croatia.
"It was a hard pool and we didn't expect that we could qualify, but we really hoped that we could keep the level we played in the qualification for the World Cup before, (where) we did well and we almost went to the final tournament," said Sigthorsson.
The 25-year-old Nantes striker scored three times during the qualifying campaign, including the decider in a 2-1 home victory over group winners the Czech Republic.
The star man, and top scorer in qualifying with five goals, was Gylfi Sigurdsson of Premier League side Swansea City, and there is much more depth to their squad now than in the past when former Chelsea and Barcelona forward Eidur Gudjohnsen stood out above all others.
Sigthorsson, who moved to French football in the summer from Dutch giants Ajax, says investment in improved facilities and coaching in a country with an ill-suited climate has created the platform for current success.
"There are many aspects. A lot of facilities have changed in Iceland, a lot of artificial grass football fields have been built. It has been helping us a lot improving. We can now train in Iceland all year round," he said.
"Ten or 15 years ago, we had to train for nine or 10 months per year on sand fields.
"We are getting better coaches and if you look at the ideas Lars Lagerback brought in for us when he took charge four years ago, he changed a lot and I think he put a lot of new ideas into Icelandic football. I think that helps a lot."
- 'We have a chance' -
Iceland are among the bottom seeds for Saturday's draw in Paris for the first 24-team finals, so they could find themselves in a group with holders Spain and 2012 finalists Italy, while England are another possible opponent.
"For me it doesn't really matter. It could be fun to have England. We haven't played against them," he said.
"The Icelandic people watch a lot of the Premier League, so I think it could be nice. And Spain, of course, is really good. So I would like to skip them."
Whoever they come up against, though, Sigthorsson believes Iceland can compete.
"We have a chance against every team. We just have to play our tactic and try to go in every game with the confidence that we can win.
"It's going to be a different experience for us to play in the final tournament, of course because it's the first time, but we want to do a good job there and qualify, for sure and try to get as far as possible."