'Iceland's greatest achievement'

Iceland became the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup after beating Kosovo 2-0 on Monday to secure top spot in Group I.

The country has a population of around 350,000, the previous smallest country to reach the elite international football tournament was Trinidad & Tobago back in 2006, with 1.3m people.

Magnusson, who used to be president of the Iceland FA told 'Sky Sports': "It's amazing. A great achievement. We are lucky to have a group of very good players who are very dedicated and they play together as a team. They have achieved remarkable success in the last few years.

"During the Euros almost half the nation was in France. It's difficult to describe in words just how much this means to a nation like Iceland. Our team is at its best when it is facing difficult opponents.

"In many ways. this is an even greater achievement than qualifying for Euro 2016 because we finished top of our group. When you qualify for the Euros there are 24 nations who go through. It is much harder for the World Cup."

England players received criticism for their performances despite qualifying relatively comfortable for next summer's tournament, but Magnusson says good things can happen with Gareth Southgate's side.

He said: "I wouldn't say that Iceland players care more than England players but it's easy to criticise the way England plays.

"But the most important thing is that you won your group and qualified easily. The manager (Gareth Southgate) can adjust now before the finals and find a way to play that is maybe more attractive and scores more goals.

"England have great players they just need to find the right way to play."