EURO 2016: Everything you need to know about England v Iceland

Iceland’s “small mentality” was simply a supreme display of defensive discipline, and they have certainly “done something” in France, a last-gasp victory over Austria meaning they finished above Ronaldo and Co in Group F.

“In fact quite the reverse, they are very close friends, both on the field and off the field”.

“We’ve dominated the three games we’ve played”, he said, “and we haven’t always done that”.

“You never know how someone is going to play, but you do know what you’re selecting”. Lagerback jokes that his “positive brainwashing” has had an effect on the Iceland team and that they might be glad to see the back of him; in truth the job he has performed is remarkable, wringing the maximum out of a group captained by Cardiff City’s Aron Gunnarsson and sculpting a unit that is hard to break down while posing a genuine threat further forwards.

Iceland have had plenty of attention from referees so far (Francois Mori/AP) And if all this makes it sound like the game will be very predictable, the same is also true of Iceland’s teamsheet.

Hosts and favourites France await the winners at the quarter-final juncture, although securing that tie will be tougher than odds of 1/6 on England progressing suggest.

“There is pressure, of course, but it is down to us as a team to play under that pressure and enjoy it – enjoy having that pressure on us because if we win we are in the quarter-finals”.

If you can work out who it was against, what the score was, and who netted that day before reading about it later in this article, please let me know on Twitter (it took my colleagues ages)! “We beat Germany recently in a friendly, we just need to start scoring”, he said.

The Germans could argue that it was justice for the Geoff Hurst “ghost-goal” 44 years on from England’s World Cup final win – but that was obviously of no consolation to England players, coaches and fans alike. It’s a new tournament and a new challenge for us as a team so it’s pointless looking back at previous games and knockout stages and how they have gone. They’ve lost the last three in a row. An Iceland win on penalties is available at 16/1. Incidentally, neither Iceland or Great Britain gave each other any points in that contest – a 0-0 stalemate if you like.