3) Courageous Iceland displayed a lot of spirit in the second half
Though the result was quite expected based on the outcome of the first half, Iceland must be applauded for not throwing in the towel and giving up on mustering a comeback. They took advantage of the hosts taking the foot off the gas – committing bodies up front and putting France’s defence on their toes with dangerous looking crosses into the penalty area. They were rewarded with a goal – albeit a consolation – as Kolbein Sigthorsson turned in a low cross from Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Birkir Bjarnason got another one back in the 84th minute as he directed a free header past the reach of Hugo Lloris. They came close on a couple of other occasions but saw Lloris deny them wonderfully both times. Their desire to pour forward and reduce the deficit warrants a lot of credit, but their fate was unfortunately sealed in the opening 45 minutes.
