Leicester City’s 5,000-1 odds-defying Premier League title charge was a sporting endeavour so ridiculous that even now we still do a little double-take when saying it out loud.
Just one season before, Foxes fans had been facing up to seemingly inevitable relegation, but they pulled off the great escape, and under Claudio Ranieri – mocked by sections of the footballing world when he accepted the job – defied everything we’ve come to expect from England’s big money-driven top flight.
No football team can rival the mighty Leicester in 2016, surely?
What about Iceland? As everyone in England will be all too aware, the tiny Nordic nation with a population of just over 330,000 has claimed a place in the last eight of Euro 2016.
Smallest countries to reach last eight of Euros/World Cup by population. Iceland greatest ever sporting feat? pic.twitter.com/QO3TJZhC0g
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) June 30, 2016
Obviously Iceland will have to get past France and win the competition to really be compared to Ranieri’s title heroes, but let’s just say they did do that, which one would be the bigger achievement?
Let’s consider the facts…
Leicester
- Were favourites to be relegated in the 2014/15 season
- Won a 38-game league by ten points despite having nowhere near the financial clout of the so-called top four
- Top scorer Jamie Vardy was playing semi-professionally less than a decade ago
- Became the first first-time top flight champions since Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in 1978
Iceland
- Escaped their group and beat England (and hypothetically everyone else) in their first ever major tournament
- Co-manager Heimir Hallgrimsson also works as a dentist
- The average temperature in the warmest month of the year is just 10-13C. It’s cold, basically, and most training has to be done indoors
- Population of just over 330,00 – similar to that of Leicester
Obviously we’re not going to decide which triumph would come out on top. We’re leaving that one up to you lot.
