England face Iceland in the last round-of-16 match of the UEFA Euro 2016 at the Stade de Nice in Nice. The Three Lions made it to the knockouts after finishing second in their group behind Wales, whereas Iceland finished second behind Hungary in their group to earn a spot in the knockouts. The winner of this match will face France in the quarterfinals.
This will be Iceland’s first major knockout game in their football history and they have already proved themselves in the tournament. Whereas England still have a point to prove to their critics and rest of the footballing world after their stop-start performance in the group stage.
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Surprisingly, England have beaten only Paraguay (1986), Belgium & Cameroon (1990), Spain (1996) Denmark (2002) and Ecuador (2006) in a major tournament’s knockout match after their 1966 World Cup victory. Roy Hodgson, in his pre-match interview has said that whole country is banking on tonight’s results and that they should accept the title of ‘favourites’ in this very match.
“Tomorrow's result will be significant [for me], but most of all for the team and the country. We want to stay in the tournament, we're good enough, but we must get results and that starts tomorrow.
“The experience and wisdom of Lars Lagerbäck and Roland Andersson [part of the Iceland staff] and their ability to organise a team and get the maximum out of them, and to engender a work ethic, they owe a lot to that.
“I don't know Iceland as well as the other Nordic countries, but the character of the Icelandic people and their determination and ability to survive hardships will have been a major factor in their progress.
“We have to accept the title of favourites, and they will be the underdogs, but regardless it will be a difficult game and they will be hard to beat.”
On the other hand, Iceland’s joint-coaches, Lars Lagerbäck and Heimir Hallgrimsson rallied behind their team and stressed on the fact that they have already made the people of their country happy and are in a ‘win-win’ situation. Lagerbäck opined that anything can happen in big knockout matches and that they won’t be easy to beat even if England kept majority of the possession.
The Iceland coach revealed that his players have practised penalties as well.
“I would expect England to have more possession, but you never know. It's very hot. It may depend on the temperature how the match develops. We'll see if we can step up a bit when it comes to that part of the game.
“We've practised penalties – some were good, some not so good. I've known Roy since 1976 and we met each other often in Sweden. We've been in contact now and then for many years, although not as much in recent times when we've been around the world”, Lagerbäck said.
Hallgrimsson, on the other hand, said that a win against England will help them in making Icelandic football popular.
“We have said it before: it's a win-win situation for us. The players have already won the hearts and minds of the Icelandic population. With a good performance tomorrow they will come out as winners. And if we beat England their lives will surely change.
“Icelandic football will be talked about more and people will think more highly of it.”
Live Stream and kick-off time
The match will be live from 00:30 IST (Tuesday), 20:00 BST (Monday). Watch live streaming of England vs Iceland on SonyLIV. Follow England vs Iceland, Euro 2016 Live Score and Commentary with Sportskeeda. The match will be telecasted live on Sony Six and Sony Six HD in India, ESPN in the USA and ITV 1 in the UK. The match will be played at the Stade de Nice in Nice.
Team News
Roy Hodgson, reportedly, will make six changes to the starting XI for this match with Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane, Kyle Walker and Danny Rose coming back to the starting line-up.
“I've been happy with the strikers I've gone with. You never know how someone is going to play, but you do know what you're selecting. You see them in training and you try to choose the best possible players for that game. I'm fortunate that if something isn't functioning as I would like, we have options on the bench”, Hodgson said.
Iceland have played the same XI in all their three matches so far and are unlikely to make any changes for this match as well.
Probable Line-up
England (4-3-3): Hart; Walker, Smalling, Cahill, Rose; Dier, Rooney, Alli; Sturridge, Kane, Sterling.
Iceland (4-4-2): Halldórsson; Sævarsson, Árnason, Sigurdsson, Skúlason; Gudmundsson, Gunnarsson, Sigurdsson, Bjarnason; Bödvarsson, Sigthórsson.
Form Guide (most recent first)
England – DWDWW
The Three Lions have been unbeatable in their last five matches but have been unable to carry the form of the qualifiers to the tournament.
Iceland – WDDWL
The Icelanders have lost one of their last five matches and defeated Austria in a thrilling encounter to finish above Portugal in their group.
Head to Head record
- England and Iceland have met twice before this encounter. One match has ended in a draw while England won the other match.
- Last time these two teams met was in June 2004, when England won the match 6-1.
-This will be the first meeting between the nations in a competitive match.
Prediction
Given the plethora of experience and depth which the English team possess, they should easily win the match. However, Iceland will give their all and try to make things as hard as possible for England. We predict a 2-1 win for the Three Lions.
