France has won two major tournaments on home soil and will be looking for its third. First they’ll have to get past an Iceland team earning a reputation as giant killers in a Euro 2016 quarter-final clash on Sunday.
Iceland has nothing to lose entering its Euro 2016 quarter-final clash against France, co-manager Heimir Hallgrimsson told reporters this week.
After taking out England in the round of 16, Iceland will attempt to continue its magical run with a victory against the tournament hosts — a daunting task, but one the nation with a population of just over 330,000 believes is possible.
“Against France we can go relaxed and show our best,” co-manager Heimir Hallgrimsson told eurosports.com. “We don’t have the pressure of the entire world that we need to win this game. We want to win but we don’t absolutely need to. That is a big benefit for us.”
Iceland stunned the soccer world after defeating England 2-1 to book its spot in the final eight, but now faces a much tougher test against two-time European champion France.
Didier Deschamps’ side advanced to the quarter-finals in a more convincing fashion after coming back from an early deficit to beat Ireland 2-1 in the round of 16.
These two nations have done battle 11 previous times, with France winning eight matches and outscoring their opponent 30-8. Not good news for Iceland heading into Sunday’s contest.
France enters the match as heavy favorites as Bovada has them at -375 to win the game in regulation and +600 to advance in extra time. France is also +235 favorites to win by a one-goal margin and +305 to defeat Iceland by two goals.
Offensively, these two teams have similar numbers as both France and Iceland have scored six goals apiece heading into the quarter-final. France, however, has created more scoring opportunities with 72 attempts, 21 hitting the target. Iceland has just 29 shot attempts — 14 of which hit the target.
France’s offense is starting to roll, led by striker Antoine Griezmann, who scored twice in the team’s round of 16 victory over Ireland and is tied for the tournament lead in goals with three. Bovada pegs Griezmann at +140 to score at any point of the match. Patrice Evra is a +120 favorite to net a goal for France.
Olivier Giroud, who’s been awfully quiet since scoring a goal in France’s opening victory over Romania, is due for a breakout game. Bovada has the Arsenal striker at +350 to score the match’s opening goal.
Gylfi Thor Sigurdsson, who scored in Iceland’s win over England, is a +450 favorite to net his side’s first goal against France.
Iceland has had a magical run, but it should come to an end against a French team that is just too deep.
Pick: France (-227)
Category : News
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