Robin van Persie (No.9) of the Netherlands competes with Aron Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland in Reykjavik, Iceland on Monday. Photo: CFP

World Cup semifinalists the Netherlands' hopes of qualifying for Euro 2016 took another blow on Monday as a Gylfi Sigurdsson double gave Iceland a 2-0 win over the European ­giants.

Iceland - who only just missed out on a place at their first-ever World Cup finals when they lost in the playoffs for this year's global showpiece - top Group A alongside the Czech Republic with a perfect nine points from three games while the Dutch, who lost to the Czechs in their opening qualifier, are six points adrift in third place.

The Netherlands had never lost to Iceland, having won nine out of 10 previous matches - their only previous non-victory was a 1-1 draw in Reykjavik, capital city of Iceland, in 1982 - but could not break through their defense this time.

Sigurdsson's participation had been in doubt after an injury sustained against Latvia on Friday but the midfielder played from the start and was worth his weight in gold for the hosts.

He put Iceland ahead in the 10th minute with a coolly taken penalty after Gregory van der Wiel fouled Birkir Bjarnason.

Both Dutch skipper Robin van ­Persie and fellow veteran Arjen Robben had excellent chances to level midway through the first half but the former saw his effort saved by Hannes Halldorsson while the latter was off target.

They were left to regret those ­misses as the sparkling Sigurdsson added a second goal three minutes before the break, the Swansea City player tucking the ball away when the Dutch defense lamentably failed to deal with a corner.

It was his fourth goal in his last three games for Iceland.

Dutch coach Guus Hiddink acted to turn things round at halftime, replacing Wesley Sneijder with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but it made little difference and left the seasoned coach with a lot of thinking to do.

"We have to keep our emotions in check and take a careful look at the state of Dutch football and then talk about how to progress," Hiddink said after the loss.

"It really is painful that we lost here," said Dutch captain Van Persie, who was kept in check almost all night by a tight Iceland defense.