MX23RW : Wednesday, April 24 23:07:29| >> :120:25818:25818:
[monks data]
England national football team
European Championship | Round of 16
Jun 27, 2016 at 8pm UK
 
Iceland national football team

1-2

Rooney (4' pen.)
FT(HT: 1-2)

Tournament minnows Iceland send England packing from Euro 2016

Iceland battle back from a goal behind at the Stade de Nice to humble England 2-1 at the last-16 stage of Euro 2016 in the nation's finest ever moment.

England have fallen to arguably their worst ever defeat, having succumbed to a 2-1 reverse at the hands of European Championship debutants Iceland to see their campaign end at the last-16 stage.

The Three Lions, who had earlier stuttered through Group B in finishing second, edged ahead inside four minutes but saw their lead quickly evaporate in a defeat that ultimately cost under-fire boss Roy Hodgson his job.

It means England have still won just six knockout fixtures in the past 50 years - the last of which came exactly a decade ago when beating Ecuador in the 2006 World Cup.

Iceland, on the other hand, competing in their first ever match of this do-or-die magnitude, have now lost just one of their last 10 outings and face an iconic quarter-final fixture with hosts France at the Stade de France on Sunday evening.

Raheem Sterling, given a reprieve of sorts by boss Hodgson when named in the starting lineup, paved the way for England's opener when using his pace to get on the end of a long ball and going to ground under a challenge from Hannes Halldorsson.

Referee Damir Skomina, often accused of being too reserved when it comes to making big decisions in the past, had little choice but to point to the spot for Wayne Rooney to successfully fire his side ahead.

It was the start that Hodgson would have dreamed of, forcing Iceland - a side ranked at 34 in the world pre-tournament - to come out of their shells in search of an equaliser.

Incredibly, it took just 34 seconds for the Nordic nation to offer up a response as one of the key weapons in Iceland's arsenal, an Aron Gunnarsson long-throw, was headed into the path of Ragnar Sigurdsson to successfully volley past Joe Hart from close range.

England managed to find some momentum once more, just like they had done in the minutes before edging ahead, and they came close to scoring their second when Dele Alli blasted narrowly over from a half-cleared corner.

It was Iceland who found the game's third goal, though, with a fine team move that began with Gunnarsson spraying a pass out to the right and culminated with it being moved into a central position for Kolbeinn Sigthorsson - more known for his aerial ability - to unleash from range.

Hart really should have done better, simply allowing the ball to squirm past him to his bottom left, much like with Gareth Bale's free kick earlier in the competition.

Gylfi Sigurdsson and Harry Kane had a shot apiece on target as the half wore on, the latter of which was a well struck volley that Halldorsson did well to help over the bar.

As expected, England came out fired up in the early stages of the second half but were still desperately struggling to find any prolonged spells of momentum as they chased down a goal.

Goalscorer Sigurdsson came close to piling on the misery when his overhead kick was heading for the back of the net if not for Hart's intervention, while at the other end Alli shinned over one of a few half-chances the Three Lions created before the hour.

Hodgson turned to Vardy with an hour of the match played, and the Leicester City title winner nearly made a telling difference when bursting through, only for Sigurdsson's defensive challenge to thwart him.

Kane had one headed attempt kept out in the final 10 minutes, yet Gunnarsson could have sealed things with time to spare when using his remaining energy to burst up the field and firing away a shot that Hart did well to turn aside.

In the end England simply did not create enough chances to get anything out of the game, meaning victory for Iceland at the Stade de Nice - the scene of the nation's finest ever moment.

ID:275632: cacheID:275632:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6157:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
England manager Roy Hodgson (L) talks to midfielder Raheem Sterling at the A.Le Coq Arena in Tallinn, Estonia on October 11, 2014
Read Next:
Sterling 'recalled for England's last-16 clash'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Blanch
Nadal
10am
Cachin
Ofner
10am
Elahi Galan
Bautista-Agut
10am
Gasquet
Sonego
10am
Hanfmann
Mensik
10am
Koepfer
Carballes Baena
10am
Kovacevic
Medjedovic
10am
Lajovic
Monteiro
10am
Machac
Ruusuvuori
10am
Michelsen
Fonseca
10am
Nishioka
Auger-Aliassime
10am
O'Connell
Arnaldi
10am
Purcell
Giron
10am
Ramos-Vinolas
Kotov
10am
Tabilo
Cobolli
10am
Zhizhen
Kecmanovic
10am
Azarenka
Maria
10am
Eala
Cirstea
10am
Annie Fernandez
Potapova
10am
Gauff
Rus
10am
Keys
Camelia-Begu
10am
Podoroska
Navarro
10am
Karolina Schmiedlova
Jabeur
10am
Swiatek
Wang
10am
Baez
Van Assche
10am
Coric
Zverev
10am
Martin Etcheverry
Shapovalov
10am
Humbert
Van De Zandschulp
10am
Hurkacz
Draper
10am
Marozsan
Cerundolo
10am
Paul
Klein
10am
Rublev
Bagnis
10am
Altmaier
Fils
10am
Darderi
Fritz
10am
Griekspoor
Daniel
10am
Munar
Struff
10am
Musetti
Seyboth Wild
10am
Navone
Rune
10am
Shevchenko
Alcaraz
10am
Alexandrova
Krueger
10am
Andreeva
Noskova
10am
Bejlek
Kalinskaya
10am
Boulter
Montgomery
10am
Bronzetti
Rybakina
10am
Collins
Danilovic
3pm
Cristian
Krejcikova
10am
Dolehide
Kalinina
10am
Garcia
Wang
10am
Linette
Sabalenka
10am
Pavlyuchenkova
Saville
10am
Sorribes Tormo
Svitolina
10am
Vekic
Sakkari
11.30am
Arango
Yastremska
11.30am
Osaka
Samsonova
11.30am
Ostapenko
Bouzas Maneiro
1pm
Haddad Maia
Errani
2.30pm
Lourdes Carle
Kudermetova
2.30pm
Mertens
Stephens
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Germany Germany00000
2 Hungary Hungary00000
3 Scotland flag Scotland00000
4 Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Albania national flag Albania00000
2 Croatia Croatia00000
3 Italy Italy00000
4 Spain Spain00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Denmark Denmark00000
2 England flag England00000
3 Serbia Serbia00000
4 Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Austria Austria00000
2 France France00000
3 Netherlands Netherlands00000
4 Poland Poland00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Belgium Belgium00000
2 Romania Romania00000
3 Slovakia Slovakia00000
4 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Portugal Portugal00000
4 Turkey Turkey00000


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!