The Lars Lagerback side entered the match under no pressure, as just making the final 16 has been a success beyond expectation for Iceland in their debut at the continent’s largest football event.
Against powerhouses England, minnows Iceland proactively chose the counterattack strategy, which helped the team play a good game against the Lions in the first 45 minutes.
Wayne Rooney put England in front after four minutes successfully converting a penalty earned as a result of goalie Hallorsson’s infringement on Sterling in the box.
Remarkably, his side’s lead was to last only two minutes as Ragnar Sigurdsson equalised the score with an unstoppable shot from close range.
To the shock of Hodgson’s side, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson rolled a shot from the edge of the area past England goalkeeper Joe Hart to help Iceland reverse the situation in the 18th minute.
With time running out, England dominated ball possession and made several threats on the Iceland goal; however, the opportunities were lost as Alli and Kane proved inefficient in their last finishes.
The deserved 2-1 win secured Iceland a quarterfinal clash with France on July 4.
In another match earlier the same day, defending champions Spain suffered a shocking 0-2 loss to Italy. Italy’s quarterfinal opponent will be Germany who demolished Slovakia with three straight goals.
