Iceland will host Croatia in the opening leg of the World Cup playoffs Friday.
Iceland enters the knockout phase for the first time in its history and is looking to continue an improbable Cinderella run against a struggling Croatia.
"I think we have a realistic chance, be it 30/70 or 40/60 or something like that," said Iceland's Swedish Coach Lars Lagerbaeck, according to Wide World of Sports. "On paper, [the Croatians] are the favourites if you look at the CV the national team and the players have, but we are going upwards all the time now and I think this autumn the players have done really well.
"The Croatians are going the other way and with a new coach you don't know. I think we have a good chance to surprise them."
Iceland finished second behind Switzerland in Group E of the UEFA qualifiers with 17 points in 10 games.
Meanwhile, Croatia finished behind Belgium in Group A but could not produce a win in its final four matches; the team lost to lowly Scotland in that span. The poor run cost former coach Igor Štimac his job; he was replaced by Niko Kovac who will make his debut for the Croatians.
"I can see a spark in the eyes of my players," said Kovac, according to UEFA.com. I can see they want to prove to the public that they are better than people think.
"They want to prove they are top players and a top team who deserve a ticket to Brazil. You will see the true face of the Croatian national team in this first match."
Prediction: Croatia pulls off a stunning 3-0 win.
Start Time: Kick-off starts at 2 p.m. EST.
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