Euro 2016 Group F Preview and Predictions for Iceland

With just a few weeks left to wait until Euro 2016 finally kicks-off this summer, we’ve decided to continue our relevant preview and predictions surrounding Group F with a closer look at Lars Lagerback’s determined tournament debutants – Iceland.

 

Chances of success:

After successfully seeing off the likes of Turkey and the Netherlands during a rather impressive qualification campaign throughout the course of last season, Iceland have every reason to expect a decent enough output from their hard-working team this summer.

The knock-out stages may admittedly prove somewhat troublesome for Lagerback’s ambitious outfit within the grand scheme of things, but with several well established stars among their current first-team ranks right in the here and now, Iceland arguably possess enough all-round quality to eventually survive Group F in the not too distant future. 

 

Ones to watch:

Iceland’s out-in-out star man among the upcoming Euro 2016 proceedings will undoubtedly arrive in the form of Swansea City’s Gylfi Sigurdsson. The 26-year-old attacking midfielder has successfully carved out a rather impressive reputation among the English top-flight in recent years – arguably representing Iceland’s greatest asset within the Premier League since the days of Eidur Gudjohnsen at Chelsea.

Via his keen eye for a well-timed through-ball, impressive link-up play with the rest of his teammates inside the final third, and uncompromisingly effective set-piece prowess when given the opportunity to strike one from just outside the box – few among the current Icelandic setup could theoretically rival Sigurdsson’s reputation in the cold light of day.

 

From the dug-out:

Lars Lagerback has certainly seen a fair amount of praise pointed in his direction since first taking up his current post alongside the efforts of Heimir Hallgrimsson among the Iceland managerial dug-out. The 67-year-old tactician has previously enjoyed relative tournament success throughout his previous long-term stint with home nation Sweden, and could possibly look to end his career with Iceland on glowing terms once Euro 2016 finally comes to an end.

 

Iceland’s Euro 2016 predictions:

Gylfi Sigurdsson and co. do honestly have enough about them to make it onto those all-important knock-out stages at Euro 2016, the relevant betting tips surrounding Iceland this summer arguably tell us that much for sure.

The likes of Portugal, Hungary and Austria will admittedly prove somewhat difficult to handle for the tournament debutants when push invariably turns to shove at the highly anticipated competition – but as very few ever expected this team to even qualify for the upcoming tournament in as efficient style as they seemingly have done – who’s to say that Iceland can’t continue their fine form at Euro 2016 one way or another this summer?