How France dissected a defensive Iceland

France welcomed Iceland to the Euro 2016 final venue on Monday night. France are easily the strongest team in the European Championships qualifying Group H, with Iceland and Turkey expected to battle for the second qualifying position. Didier Deschamps has kept faith with the group that won the World Cup less than a year ago, preferring to stay largely with his veterans.

France finished second in their group in the UEFA Nations League, with the Netherlands winning the group, and there have been calls for Deschamps to bring more youth into the side. After the heights of Euro 2016 and qualifying for Russia 2018, Iceland have come back to earth. They struggled in the Nations League, getting relegated from League A without claiming a point. They started off their Euro 2020 qualifiers with a win away to Andorra, but that was their first win since 14 January 2018.

France were expected to win, but this proved to be an excellent test for the Les Bleus. Iceland are exactly the type of side that France have struggled with, as they defend deep and look to hit on the counter. Deschamps has stuck with largely the same side as in the summer, and the familiarity has worked in their favour. The movement and attacking patterns of France worked well against the packed defence of Iceland.

Iceland never presented much of a threat on the attack, but France were able to move through the Icelandic block successfully on several occasions. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first half, Les Bleus lost focus for a period, allowing Iceland to have more of the ball. It wasn’t until the second half when France continued the good work they had had success with in the first half. A second goal for France in the 68^th minute put the match to bed, as Iceland struggled to create anything. France won 4-0, with four separate goal scorers.

Lineups

Didier Deschamps made no changes from the side that defeated Moldova 4-1 away in the first match of their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign. There was only one change to the side that defeated Croatia 4-2 to win the World Cup, with Lucas Hernandez missing through injury and his left-back spot being taken by Layvin Kurzawa.

Erik Hamren made four changes from the side that won 2-0 away to Andorra in their first qualifying match. Switching from a 4-4-1-1 to a 5-3-2, we saw Albert Gudmundsson play up front in place of Alfred Finnbogason. In midfield, Runar Mar Sigurjonsson came into the side for Burnley winger Johann Gudmundsson, who left the Andorra game with a knock. Armor Sigurdsson and Ari Freyr Skulason dropped to the bench and were replaced by Hordur Magnússon and Sverrir Ingi Ingason.