EURO on this day: 3 July
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
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On this day: Hosts France thwarted Iceland's remarkable run to the 2016 quarter-finals.
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France 5-2 Iceland
(Giroud 12 59, Pogba 20, Payet 43, Griezmann 45; Sigthórsson 56, B. Bjarnason 84)
2016 quarter-finals, Paris
France edged closer to a UEFA EURO 2016 triumph on home soil with an emphatic victory which ended Iceland's fairy-tale run to the last eight.
Les Bleus raced into a 4-0 lead before half-time. Olivier Giroud broke the deadlock, hammering in a left-footed effort after an excellent pass from Blaise Matuidi, and struck again when Paul Pogba headed in an Antoine Griezmann corner. Dimitri Payet drilled in a third before Griezmann got in on the act with a delightful chip.
"We didn't give them any time to breathe, we put them under pressure, we were extremely efficient," said coach Didier Deschamps. "We took our foot off the gas a little bit afterwards."
That allowed Kolbeinn Sigthórsson to restore Icelandic pride, before Giroud nodded in and Birkir Bjarnason scored a second for the tournament's surprise package. This, though, was France's day.
Other EURO fixtures on 3 July
2020 quarter-finals: Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark
2020 quarter-finals: Ukraine 0-4 England