Iceland joins World Cup for the first time and its President is giving away free trips

With less than a hundred days to go, Iceland prepares to join its first ever World Cup match on 16 June.

Iceland is by far the smallest nation ever to have made it to the tournament. It has a population of only 340,000 compared to the second smallest to qualify this year – Uruguay – with 3.4 million people.

Being the underdog, the Icelandic President and First Lady are inviting everyone to join #TeamIceland.

Watch this video as they both invite the world and try desperately to dribble the ball:

Nice try, guys!

Okay, so now that you’ve seen President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson and First Lady Eliza Reid’s football skills, I’m going to write more about the invitation.

Upon joining Team Iceland, fans will receive a personalised digital jersey with their own squad number and Icelandic name.

Icelanders’ surnames are made up of the first name of their father or mother, combined with ‘dóttir’ for a daughter and ‘son’ for a son. For example, a woman named Emily with a father whose name is Peter would be Emily Petersdóttir.

So, if my name is Christian and my dad’s name is Jose, my Icelandic name would be Christian Josesson.

Take a look at my jersey! I’m the 5,145^th member, apparently.

Being part of the team has its perks

Anyway, back to the topic and the best part of joining Team Iceland – everyone who joins will also have the chance to win a trip to Iceland!

A few lucky ones will be chosen to watch a football game between Iceland and Argentina.

Imagine yourself with tens of thousands of euphoric fans.

Plus, aside from watching the exciting match, you can also experience Iceland’s famous offerings. You can visit volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, lava fields, and of course, see the Northern Lights! And oh, there are some pretty cool hotels in the country too.

Awesome, right?

For more info and to sign up, just follow this link: inspiredbyiceland.com/team-iceland