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Iceland reaches Euro 2016 for its biggest soccer achievement

MANCHESTER, England (AP) When Lars Lagerback took over as Iceland coach in 2010, he set big targets for a tiny nation that had never qualified for a major football tournament.

''Lars told me that the team was strong enough to qualify for the (2014) World Cup,'' said Heimir Hallgrimsson, who shares coaching duties with Lagerback. ''I thought he was crazy.''

That proved just beyond Iceland - it lost to Croatia in a tight playoff - but the European Championship will do just fine as a second prize.

With a population of approximately 320,000, Iceland became the smallest European country to reach a major tournament by qualifying for Euro 2016 on Sunday with two games to spare.