Euro 2016 preview and odds: France vs Iceland

Published on: 30/06/2016

Euro 2016 preview and odds: France vs Iceland

Stade de France, Saint-Denis - 20:00pm 03 July 2016

Quarter-finals

Iceland pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the tournament so far when they edged to a 2-1 win over England on Monday night. Next up for the Nordic heroes is a quarter-final clash against host nation France who will be keen to avoid embarrassment in front of their home fans.

France keen to capitalise on home advantage

France have a good record in major tournaments on home soil, having won the 1984 World Cup and the 1998 European Championships as hosts. They are now just three games away from repeating that feat but must first find a way past one of the tournaments surprise packages.

Iceland have never beaten France in 11 previous meetings but they will be in buoyant mood having disposed of a strong England side on Monday evening. Prior to that, they also beat an Austrian side who had also been tipped as tournament dark horses.

The last time the sides met - in a friendly match back in 2012 - they played out a five-goal thriller in which Iceland took a two-goal advantage into half-time before the French completed a second half comeback to prevail by a 3-2 score-line.

Both teams come into this game with an unbeaten record in the tournament. However, the French are now unbeaten in eight matches in all compeitions (W7 D1). If the scores remain level after extra-time on Sunday, the Icelanders will play in their first ever competitive penalty shoot-out.

Incredibly, Iceland have made it to the quarter-final stage having had just 14 shots on target - six of which resulted in goals. France have not been quite so accurate and have already hit the woodwork on six occasions.

French duo Kante and Rami will both miss out through suspension, while Iceland have nine players who are a booking away from a suspension.

Form (all competitions):

France: WWDWWL

Iceland: WLWWWW

Betting predictions

France will have all the possession and are will be favourites to win but don`t rule out another goal for the minnows.

You can back Both Teams to Score at 21/10 with Bet365.

Published on: 30/06/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (30/06/2016 17:14:47) but are subject to change.