Women's EURO 2022: Iceland vs France match facts, stats, ones to watch

Iceland vs France: Head-to-head

• Iceland and France renew group stage rivalries as UEFA Women's EURO 2022 Group D concludes at the New York Stadium, with Les Bleues having dominated this fixture down the years.
• Second-placed Iceland are seeking their first Group D win having drawn 1-1 against both Belgium and Italy after leading in both games, while France secured top spot in the section thanks to two victories against Italy (5-1) and Belgium (2-1).
• The nations have been paired together in a EURO group stage for the second tournament running following their Matchday 1 meeting in Tilburg exactly five years to the day. Les Bleues won 1-0 in that contest on 18 July 2017, Eugénie Le Sommer converting an 86th-minute spot kick after Amandine Henry had been brought down in the area.
• The sides are meeting at a EURO for the third time having also faced each other in Matchday 1 in 2009. Iceland, in their first match at a major tournament, opened the scoring in Tampere via Hólmfrídur Magnúsdóttir's sixth-minute header, before Camille Abily's penalty levelled for France 12 minutes later. Les Bleues took the lead soon after the interval with another spot kick, this time converted by Sonia Bompastor (53), before Louisa Nécib (67) added an impressive third.
• Iceland have finished bottom of their section, with France in second place, on both previous occasions where they have been drawn together in a EURO group stage.
• France's wins against Iceland at EURO 2009 and eight years later were their only victories in those tournaments.
• The last encounter between the teams came in October 2019, when France won 4-0 in a friendly in Nîmes. Le Sommer (4, 16) helped Les Bleues race into a two-goal advantage before Delphine Cascarino (66) and Amel Majri (85) added further goals after the break.
• Iceland have failed to score in their last four fixtures against Les Bleues since that 3-1 defeat at EURO 2009.
• France have been victorious in their last six games against Iceland, winning home and in 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying and recording a 2-1 EURO 2009 preliminary victory in La Roche-sur-Yon in September 2008.
• Iceland's only win in this fixture came in a qualifier for EURO 2009 in Reykjavík in June 2007. Margrét Lára Vidarsdóttir struck the only goal nine minutes from time.
• That loss is France's only failure to score in their 11 encounters with Iceland.
• Les Bleues have won nine of the last ten games against Iceland, conceding just three goals.
• Iceland's overall record in the 11 meetings in this fixture is W1 D1 L9, scoring just six goals and conceding 24. The pair drew 3-3 in the first meeting between the sides in September 1995, in a EURO 1997 qualifier in Akranes.
• Iceland are at their fourth EURO tournament. They finished bottom of their group in 2009 and 2017 either side of reaching the quarter-finals in 2013, when they were eliminated by hosts Sweden.
• France are in their seventh EURO, all in succession. Including 2022, they have now reached the quarter-finals in each of the last four, having exited at the group stage in their first three appearances.
• Les Bleues lost in the last eight against England in 2017, Jodie Taylor scoring the only goal, having been eliminated on penalties at the same stage against Denmark and the Netherlands in 2013 and 2009 respectively.
• Iceland's only win at the finals coming into the 2022 tournament was a 1-0 Matchday 3 victory against the Netherlands in 2013, giving them a last-eight spot at the expense of their opponents.
• Iceland also made it to their fourth successive EURO finals as one of the three best second-placed sides, collecting 19 points from a possible 24 to finish as runners-up to Sweden in Group F. They dropped points only against the Blågult, drawing 1-1 in Reykjavik in September 2020 before a 2-0 away defeat the following month.
• France topped Group G in qualifying for this competition without conceding a goal in their eight games – scoring 44 themselves. Their only failure to pick up maximum points was a 0-0 draw away to eventual runners-up Austria in October 2020.
• Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir's third-minute opener against Italy on 14 July was Iceland's fastest ever Women's EURO goal.
• Aged 20 years and 340 days, Vilhjálmsdóttir also became the youngest Iceland scorer at the tournament.
• Having struck in both their Group D fixtures so far, Iceland have now scored in successive Women's EURO fixtures for the first time.
• Iceland have won just one of their 12 outings at the tournament (D3 L8); they have now gone six games without a win (D2 L4).
• Iceland have scored just six goals in their 12 matches at this tournament, and never more than one in a game.
• Captain Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir has started every one of Iceland's EURO fixtures.
• The draw with Italy was the fifth time Iceland had opened the scoring in a EURO finals match; their record when doing so is W1 D2 L2.
• Iceland's only defeat in their last 12 matches overall (W9 D2) was a 5-0 friendly loss against world champions the United States on 23 February.
• France's victory against Belgium on Matchday 2 was their 16th in succession in all fixtures; they are one short of equalling their all-time record of 17, set between August 2011 and July 2012.
• Les Bleues have scored seven goals in Group D, level with their best ever total in a EURO group stage.
• In their emphatic Matchday 1 success against Italy, France scored four or more goals in a Women's EURO match for the first time; they had not previously recorded a victory at the tournament by more than a three-goal margin.
• Grace Geyoro's hat-trick in that game was the second by a French player at a Women's EURO and the first since Angélique Roujas in 1997.
• Les Bleues are unbeaten in their last nine group stage matches at the tournament (W6 D3), since a 5-1 defeat by Germany in 2009.

Ones to watch: Iceland

Svava Gudmundsdóttir

• The 26-year-old spent almost a year with Division 1 Féminine club Bordeaux after signing from Swedish side Kristianstads in January 2021.
• The forward has featured in all six of Iceland's 2023 World Cup qualifiers, scoring in a 4-0 home victory against the Czech Republic on 22 October.
• That goal was Gudmundsdóttir's first for Iceland since March 2019.
• The Brann attacker made her senior national team debut in a 4-0 EURO 2017 qualifying victory away to North Macedonia in October 2015.

Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir

• The 31-year-old is the only Iceland player to have started both previous EURO games against France.
• The midfielder won four major honours in two years with Lyon after joining from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2020.
• The Iceland captain ended her stay in French club football when she signed a two-year deal with Italian side Juventus on 24 June.
• Gunnarsdóttir became Iceland's leading appearance maker in October 2020, surpassing Katrín Jónsdóttir's milestone of 133 caps in the EURO 2022 qualifying defeat away to Sweden.

Berglind Björg Thorvaldsdóttir

• The 30-year-old spent the 2020/21 campaign with French side Le Havre, but was unable to help the club avoid relegation at the end of their first season at the top level.
• Thorvaldsdóttir hit the equaliser in a 3-1 warm-up friendly win against Poland on 29 June.
• The attacker made a solitary appearance in Iceland's EURO 2017 group stage exit, coming on as a substitute in the 3-0 Matchday 3 loss against Austria.
• She started just two qualifiers for EURO 2022 but found the net in both, away victories against Slovakia and Hungary.

Ones to watch: France

Delphine Cascarino

• The 25-year-old scored France's third goal in their last meeting with Iceland, the 4-0 friendly home win in October 2019.
• Cascarino made her senior international debut on English soil, in the 0-0 friendly draw against the Lionesses at Doncaster in October 2016.
• The forward was named the Player of the Match in Lyon's 3-1 UEFA Women's Champions League final victory against Wolfsburg in August 2020.
• Cascarino has spent the last two seasons as a Lyon team-mate of Iceland's Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir.

Kadidiatou Diani

• The 27-year-old scored twice in the 7-0 warm-up friendly triumph against Vietnam on 1 July.
• Diani featured in all four of Les Bleues' matches at EURO 2017, coming on as sub in the opening two, including the 1-0 victory against Iceland.
• The forward helped France win the FIFA Women's U-17 World Cup in 2012 and the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship the following year.
• The Paris Saint-Germain attacker was named the Division 1 Féminine Player of the Year for 2020/21 as Les Parisiennes secured their first ever top-flight title.

Sandie Toletti

• The 27-year-old struck France's third goal in their 7-0 friendly win against Vietnam on 1 July.
• The midfielder had only scored her first Les Bleues goal in qualification for the 2023 World Cup, in a 11-0 home victory against Estonia on 22 October.
• Toletti has appeared in all of France's eight 2023 World Cup qualifiers, having not featured in any of the UEFA EURO 2022 preliminaries.
• She was part of the France squad that finished UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship runners-up in 2012 before helping Les Bleues to the U19 title the following year.