France vs Iceland preview: Minnows eye another upset

Iceland are yet again the underdogs in the quarter-final clash against hosts France at the ongoing Euro 2016.
The minnows shockingly knocked England in the round of 16 while France struggled past 10-man Republic of Ireland in similar 2-1 scoreline but it’s all poised to be a great game on Sunday night at the prestigious Stade de France in front of 80,000 fans.
France have a great head-to-head record against Iceland as they have won eight and drawn three in eleven matches but like we’ve witnessed at the European Championships, nothing is confirmed until the final whistle.

Wales are a great example of what Iceland can achieve as they defeated tournament favourites Belgium 3-1 in the quarter-final to make the semifinal on their debut – a feat Iceland will be desperate to emulate.

Ahead of the match France manager Didier Deschamps said: “The players know that Iceland aren’t here by chance. If they’re here it’s because they deserve to be and have quality.
“Long throws from 35-40m out are like free kicks for them and we’ve come up with ways to deal with them. Don’t reduce them to long throws though. In open play they’re capable of playing it on the floor.
“Iceland deserved to beat England, and they did it through the quality of their play.”
On his part, Hannes Halldórsson, Iceland’s goalkeeper who is a movie director if he is not playing football said: “We are used to playing at these massive stadiums and most of the time the other team’s supporters outnumber our fans. Iceland have an amazing set of fans so the numbers have made no difference. It makes no difference whether we have eight, nine or ten thousand fans with us. Our supporters are just so amazing that it has no effect on us to see France’s 70,000 fans, or whatever the number is. We just can’t allow ourselves to be affected by that.”
Prediction: France 3-1 Iceland