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MATCH THREAD: Rnd of 16 - England vs Iceland - KO 20:00 (ITV)

Who will win?

  • England

    Votes: 22 23.2%
  • Iceland

    Votes: 73 76.8%

  • Total voters
    95
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England manager Roy Hodgson is expected to restore captain Wayne Rooney, and the Tottenham quartet of Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker.

Daniel Sturridge could play on the right side of attack with Kane in the centre and Adam Lallana on the left.

Iceland were the only team, along with Spain, to start with the same line-up in all three of their group games.


Alfred Finnbogason will be back on the bench after missing the win against Austria through suspension.

England's Gary Cahill and Ryan Bertrand are one booking away from a ban.

Seven Iceland players are a yellow card away from missing a potential quarter-final - Kari Arnason, Birkir Bjarnason, Johann Gudmundsson, Hannes Halldorsson, Birkir Sævarsson, Ari Skulason and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.

Paraguay (1986), Belgium & Cameroon (1990), Spain (1996) Denmark (2002) and Ecuador (2006) are the only countries England have beaten in a knockout game at a major tournament since winning the World Cup in 1966.

It's a remarkable statistic, and failure to add Iceland to that list will almost certainly end the tenure of manager Roy Hodgson.

Heavily criticised after making six changes for the match with Slovakia, he has faced the music this week and his press conferences have been fiery. Against Iceland, the heat is on.

Hodgson dismissed any thought he is treating Iceland lightly as "laughable" and sent a five-man scouting team, including Gary Neville and Dave Watson, to watch the dramatic win over Austria that sent them into the last 16. England may have completed 1,315 passes to Iceland's 485, and have had 64 shots to their 23, yet the Nordic nation outscored them and garnered more points during the group stage.

Iceland are a well-drilled side and have been backed by an impressive army of supporters. They had approximately 10,000 fans at their last two matches, which is around 3% of their total population. If England did the same, Nice's stadium would have to have a stadium that accommodated roughly 1.6m Three Lions supporters.

Can a country with the population the size of Leicester's pull off the unthinkable? Reaching the quarters would be a feat akin to the Foxes' Premier League title triumph. Somebody might need to buy Icelandic commentator Gudmundur Benediktsson some throat sweets if he is to repeat his epic description of their winner against Austria.
 

I'd be happy with either result, tbh.

Iceland are the ultimate underdogs and it would be hilarious if they knocked out England.

But England-France in France in a QF? Yes please. That would be immense.

Plus I would love it if Hodgson won something with England just because all the people in football I hate the most (Liverpool fans, west ham fans, pundits, @toffeejack etc) hate him. And I want to laugh at them being proved wrong.
 

Defo be watching this one: Cannot wait to see Raheem, Adam and Hendo weave their magic. With Daniel up top, Nathaniel scorching the periphery...the only thing missing is the mighty Stevie G.
 

I'd be happy with either result, tbh.

Iceland are the ultimate underdogs and it would be hilarious if they knocked out England.

But England-France in France in a QF? Yes please. That would be immense.

Plus I would love it if Hodgson won something with England just because all the people in football I hate the most (Liverpool fans, west ham fans, pundits, @toffeejack etc) hate him. And I want to laugh at them being proved wrong.


huh? i've been an avid supporter of hodgson. I've said along how he's done a really good job and how the criticism has been laughable.
 
England have a great chance here, after playing the French yesterday they are very beatable.

Its time for England and this group to step up to the mark and do something in international football, they should be inspired by the passion and performences of the likes of the ROI, Wales and NI, against the thop tier nations. England should have the depth and quality that these sides havn't. But they have eberything to prove.

Best of luck lads.
 

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