Didier Deschamps' charges progressed to the last eight by defeating the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in the round of 16 last weekend. It was far from comfortable for the hosts, with Robbie Brady giving Ireland the lead from the penalty spot after just two minutes and Martin O'Neill's men going on to control much of the first half; France bounced back after the break, though, Antoine Griezmann scoring twice as the hosts created chance after chance and completely cut off the threat previously posed by Ireland at the other end of the pitch.
Starting slowly has been a theme of the tournament for Les Bleus up to now - they required decisive late goals in their two other wins against Romania and Albania - and there must be a slight concern among supporters that France will eventually give themselves too much to do if they continue with their sluggish openings to matches.
Iceland's magnificent fairytale continued on Monday night as they secured an extraordinary 2-1 victory over England, who had been tipped by some pundits to go all the way this summer. Simply qualifying for the European Championship in the first place was a remarkable accomplishment – Iceland is home to only 330,000 people after all, and the vast majority of those are not eligible to represent the national team – but going on to advance from Group F in first place and then deservedly getting the better of a major football nation like England is simply astounding.
Iceland’s team spirit, togetherness and collective work ethic are clearly key characteristics of Lars Lagerback and Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side, but they have also played some good football throughout the tournament and fully deserve to be in the quarter-finals. Their second goal against England was comfortably the best move of the match, while they have been willing to commit a number of bodies forward on the counter-attack throughout the competition.
Despite those qualities, Iceland’s adventure will probably come to an end this weekend, with France likely to have too much quality across the pitch for the tournament debutants. The hosts will have to remain calm, composed and patient if they are unable to make the early breakthrough that would open up the game and theoretically make things easier – although it is worth remembering that the situation did not develop like that for England – and Iceland will perhaps take hope from the fact the French have looked a little jittery in all four of their encounters.
Nevertheless, Deschamps’ men have the attacking firepower to win this match rather comfortably, with a 3-1 or 2-0 win perhaps the best correct scoreline options. In terms of first goalscorer, Griezmann or Paul Pogba are understandably among the favourites, although Yohan Cabaye could be a good choice for more of an outside bet. Iceland have been brilliant at Euro 2016 but this is likely to be the end for them.
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