Glodis ViggosdottirPacemaker

Iceland captain Glodis Viggosdottir scored the away side's opener in Ballymena

At a glance

  • Iceland captain Glodis Viggosdottir heads home from a free-kick to open the scoring on 31 minutes

  • Ingibjorg Sigurdardottir adds a second on 74 minutes with a header from a corner

  • Northern Ireland fail to register a shot on target

Lauren McCann
BBC Sport NI JournalistBallymena Showgrounds

Northern Ireland have it all to do in the second leg of their Nations League promotion/relegation play-off as they suffered a 2-0 loss to Iceland at the Ballymena Showgrounds.

Headed goals in either half from centre-backs Glodis Viggosdottir and Ingibjorg Sigurdardottir gave Iceland a comfortable advantage heading into Tuesday's second leg in Reykjavik.

Tanya Oxtoby's side now have a mountain to climb as they look to win promotion to League A for the first time.

Iceland were threatening from the off through dangerous Angel City forward Sveindis Jonsdottir, who had three early opportunities.

The 24-year-old headed over at the back post from Saedis Heidarsdottir's cross, and then had a cushioned volley saved by Jackie Burns.

Her third opportunity arrived on six minutes as she burst past Lauren Wade on the right-hand side and rattled the outside of the post.

Sandra Jessen then glanced a free header from Heidarsdottir's wicked delivery wide before Burns almost gifted Iceland an opener on 16 minutes.

The goalkeeper miscued her clearance, with the ball falling to Hildur Antonsdottir, who slipped in Hlin Eiriksdottir but her goalbound effort was cleared off the line by captain Nadene Caldwell.

The onslaught continued with Jensen poking wide and then squandering another chance by heading over from close range.

Iceland eventually broke the deadlock on 31 minutes as NI were undone by some poor defending from a free-kick.

Unmarked Bayern Munich defender Viggosdottir met a dipping free-kick from Karolina Vilhjalmsdottir and planted a header beyond Burns and into the far corner.

Iceland pushed for a second before half-time and Burns was forced to shovel away a powerful header from Eiriksdottir and then push Jonsdottir's shot onto the crossbar.

Burns clawed away a sliding effort from Jonsdottir in the second half, while NI finally threatened at the other end with Emily Wilson's shot curling the wrong side of the post on 71 minutes.

Iceland's second goal came from another set-piece, this time a corner as Ingibjorg Sigurdardottir got in through a sea of bodies to nod home on 74 minutes.

Analysis - NI undone by poor set-piece defending

Megan Bell is challenged by Sveindis JonsdottirPacemaker

Megan Bell is challenged by Sveindis Jonsdottir

It was always going to be a tough task for a depleted Northern Ireland side to reach the top tier of the Nations League for the first time against a side who have been in League A for every edition and recently qualified for Euro 2025.

A lot was made of Iceland's record of one win in the 12 months prior to this game, but they are still ranked 27 places above NI in the world rankings, one who beat Germany on their way to qualifying for the Euros and who narrowly lost 4-3 to Norway at the tournament.

Northern Ireland also had their well-documented injury problems in defence and up front with star striker and captain Simone Magill missing. As a result, it was a makeshift defence marshalled by captain Caldwell, a midfielder by trade, and a youthful looking midfield and attack spearheaded by Wilson and Kascie Weir, who struggled to impact the game.

While Iceland squandered a number of chances to take the lead earlier than they did, Northern Ireland will be disappointed with the goals they did give away.

Towering defender Viggosdottir was given time and space in the box to get on the end of the free-kick and head beyond Burns, while Sigurdardottir emerged through a crowded penalty box to nod home a corner.

NI struggled to tame the excellent Jonsdottir, who was unlucky to hit the post and the crossbar, but, especially in the first half, when cross after cross came into the box, they defended the majority of them really well. In Caldwell's words on Thursday, understood that they needed to be "comfortable with being uncomfortable".

Maintaining possession in the Iceland half as they pushed to get back in the game proved more of a challenge for Oxtoby's young squad, although she showed faith by throwing on debutants Mia Moore and Leyla McFarland as well as fellow teenager Aimee Kerr when searching for a goal.

Their inability to fashion a shot on target shows how difficult it will be for them to get back in the game out in Iceland.

Caldwell had also said pre-game that after the first leg, NI would know how far they are off some of the top sides.

A bit off Iceland, but maybe not as far off as they were against League A-bound Poland and Norway, with a chance to rectify that in the second leg in four days' time.

What's next?

These two sides will meet again on Tuesday, 28 October in the second leg of this play-off.

The game will kick off at 18:00 GMT at the Laugardalsvollur Stadium in Reykjavik.

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