When the draw was made for Euro 2016 qualifying, Group A looked like the group of death. Not necessarily at the top, but in the fight for second and a potential best-placed third place spot. The Netherlands entered as favorites, while the Czech Repubic, Iceland and Turkey were an extremely strong group of 2-4 seeds.
Czech Republic vs. Iceland live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch Euro 2016 qualifying online
Two undefeated teams clash looking to boost their cushion between them and the Netherlands.
Fast forward to November and it's the Netherlands who are in trouble, while Turkey are bottom of the group. Iceland and the Czech Republic have dispatched with both of them and sit top of the table with perfect records. They meet on Sunday with the top spot on the line, and if there's a winner, they'll feel great about their chances of holding off the World Cup semifinalists. The loser, however, will only be one bad result away from falling back into third place.
Iceland have, incredibly, not conceded a goal up until this point. They also haven’t played Kazakhstan yet and have put up their results against this group’s three stronger teams -- Netherlands, Turkey and Latvia. The Czechs have looked a bit more shaky in grabbing their results, but their nine points count just the same.
Key player - Gylfi Sigurdsson (Iceland)
The Swansea City playmaker is among the hottest players in the world, period, at the moment. He’s coming off a brilliant free kick goal in a win over Liverpool, he’s second in the league in assists and he’s scored in every single one of Iceland’s European qualifying victories. He’s one of five players with four or more goals in qualifying, and he’s accounted for half of Iceland’s scoring.
There might not be another player in Europe who’s more important to his team to Sigurdsson. Their success or lack thereof might be completely dependent on him.
Key Question - Can the Czech defense avoid silly mistakes?
The Czech Republic is plenty experienced, but their experience comes mostly from being journeymen that hop from team to team, looking for a starting opportunity. All of them have spent time looking a bit out of their depth in top leagues before dropping down a level, and they’ve made things harder on their attackers than they needed to be by conceding some bad goals in this tournament.
Match Date/Time: Sunday, 8:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Doosan Arena, Plzen, Czech Republic
TV: Fox Sports 2 (U.S.), Sky Sports 5 (U.K.), Sportsnet 360 (Canada), CT Sport (Czech Republic), RUV (Iceland)
Online: Fox Soccer 2GO (U.S.), Sky Go (U.K.), Sportsnet World Now (Canada)
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