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[monks data]
Attendance: 12,000
Iceland national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Oct 11, 2019 at 7.45pm UK
 
France national football team

0-1

FT(HT: 0-0)
Giroud (66' pen.)

France boss Didier Deschamps admits beating Iceland "wasn't simple"

Didier Deschamps admits beating Iceland
© Reuters
Olivier Giroud's goal was enough to fire Les Bleus to victory in Reykjavik.

Didier Deschamps admitted France had needed to dig deep after taking another step towards Euro 2020 with a hard-fought win in Iceland.

Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud scored the only goal of the Group H qualifier in Reykjavik from the penalty spot after 66 minutes.

The 1-0 victory means the world champions can secure their place at next year's tournament by beating group leaders Turkey on Monday.

Similarly, Turkey could also qualify with a victory, and the losers would have to wait another month to try again, so there is plenty riding on the clash at the Stade de France.

Deschamps told TF1: "We needed to win here and that wasn't simple even if we had several chances to score a second goal. They're always dangerous from set-pieces.

"That game was all about commitment and we lived up to that. We had a lot of the ball and we could have been out of danger with the chances we had at the end of the game.

"It's a good win ahead of Monday, an important step."

Forward Antoine Griezmann, who was fouled for the decisive penalty, said: "It was very difficult, a really hard match.

"We needed to take the three points and now we have an important game coming up at home. We're going to suffer against Turkey and we'll need to prepare well for it."

For Iceland, the result left them six points adrift of the group leaders with three games to play.

Coach Erik Hamren, the former Sweden boss, told reporters: "I'm proud of the players and the team. We did everything we could, but of course I am disappointed not to get the result.

"Proud but frustrated – that's how I feel right now."

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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark1071222
Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100


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