GUNNAR GRABS ICELAND PLAY-OFF

City midfielder one step closer to World Cup

City midfielder Aron Gunnarsson last night captained Iceland to a World Cup qualification play-off spot with a 1-1 draw with Norway in Oslo.

Gunnarsson and Iceland will now face a two-legged play-off against one of the seeded nations from the other European qualification groups in November, as they look to claim a first major finals appearance in the country’s history.

Norway put Iceland under pressure in the early stages in Oslo but Icelandic nerves remained cool when Tottenham Hotspur’s Gylfi Sigurdsson’s pass sent Kolbeinn Sigthorsson clear, slotting home to open the scoring in the 12th minute.

Norway levelled on the half hour mark and Iceland were still pushing for a win when they heard the news they wanted to hear - that rivals Slovenia had gone behind at leaders Switzerland with only 15 minutes remaining.

Iceland saw the game out at 1-1, a point that was enough to secure the much desired play-off berth as Switzerland held onto their lead.

WORLD CUP, BRAZIL 2014 - EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS

Belgium, Italy, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, England, Spain.

EUROPEAN PLAY-OFFS

Croatia, Sweden, Romania, Iceland, Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, France.

The draw for the play-offs is on Monday. The play-off ties will be played on Friday 15 and Tuesday 19 November.

Following the match Aron Gunnarsson posted the below photo on his Instagram account, arongunnarsson.