Portugal come into this tournament under increased pressure, especially considering they seem to be the strongest team in Group F. If they fail to qualify from this group it would arguably be the most disappointing performance of any team at Euro 2016. Iceland, however, are on the other side of the coin and go into this tournament with no pressure whatsoever.
It is impossible to talk about Portugal without mentioning Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese rely on his individual brilliance to drag them out of sticky situations. In their recent friendly against England, Fernando Santos’s side looked incredibly average without their talisman. The Real Madrid star has expressed his regret at not achieving international glory with his country despite his array of trophies domestically. This opportunity of international silverware was poorly missed against Greece in 2004.
Iceland are Euro 2016’s Leicester City. With a population less than Coventry, UK, they are everybody’s second team and will have the backing of everybody outside of Portugal for this fixture. Their rise in recent years, thanks to great investment at grass roots level, has been astonishing and they will want to show that they are at the Euros to make a serious impact rather than just make up the numbers.
They came second in a strong qualifying group, defeating the Netherlands twice, to secure their place in France this summer. Much of their excellent qualifying campaign was down to experienced manager Lars Lagerbӓck and he will leave no stone unturned in preparation for this tournament.
It is perhaps hard to bet against Portugal for this match given that they have the stronger squad on paper, however, Iceland have some talented players of their own in Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson and veteran Eidur Gudjohnsen. As previously mentioned, Portugal are an average side without Ronaldo so if the Icelanders can isolate him from the game then they have a real chance. With odds of 15/2 on a simple Iceland win, that seems too kind to pass up.
Check out all of our EURO 2016 Tips here.