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Time: WORLD CUP PREVIEW – 25

The hopes of an entire soccer-mad nation will soon be riding on the hands of Hannes Thór Halldórsson. But on this chilly morning in late May, Iceland’s goalkeeper uses his powerful mitts not to stop a blast from Lionel Messi but to gently tap the tiny shoulder of a Reykjavík kindergartner. Halldórsson asks the boy, who’s wearing a blue Iceland soccer jersey and has his country’s flag painted on both of his cheeks, to move a little to his right. Halldórsson then glides back across the floor — shoes off in the classroom, even for national team stars — and peeks at the video camera. Now the shot looks better.

He would know. Until about four years ago, when he finally received a professional soccer contract to play in Norway, Halldórsson, 34, was a full-time filmmaker. So when Coca-Cola sought a director for its World Cup commercial in Iceland, the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup — its population, about 350,000, is barely bigger than that of Corpus Christi, Texas — the team’s goalie got the nod.

“Typical Iceland,” says Halldórsson. Indeed. While some other players in the 32-­nation World Cup field may hold side jobs, no top-flight team looks quite like this one. Iceland’s coach doubles as a dentist. One of the defenders delivers salt. The team’s nickname is Strákarnir Okkar, which translates to “Our Boys.” In a country this small, everyone has a stake.

That’s why just three weeks before the start of the world’s most prestigious tournament, Halldórsson is imploring a bunch of 6-year-olds to do the “Viking clap,” a mesmerizing chant involving two drumbeats, a moment of silence, and then a resounding woo as fans pound their hands together over their heads. “Who can yell the loudest?” Halldórsson shouts to the giggling, out-of-breath kids in Icelandic. “Who can clap the loudest?”