Underdog Iceland is out after France extinguished their Cinderella story with a 5-2 quarter-final match win in Paris for Euro 2016.
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French coach Didier Deschamps may have been anxious however by the way Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Birkir Bjarnason exposed France’s defensive frailties with two second-half goals.
France, who had not been past the quarter-finals since they won the tournament in 2000, eased off and cruised home and will no doubt feel they are warming up nicely ahead of Thursday’s semi-final against world champions Germany in Marseille.
And it was effectively over as a contest two minutes later as Giroud dummied Pogba’s long ball from defence and Griezmann – now leading the race for the Euro 2016 Golden Boot – ghosted through to flick the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.
In Lyon on Wednesday, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal takes on a Welsh team featuring his Real Madrid teammate Gareth Bale. But out of the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 it is probably my best in a major tournament.
He could well have had a hat-trick but was brought off after his second goal because he has a yellow card hanging over him and could not risk a second booking and a suspension.
Iceland, who shocked England 2-1 in their last match, found themselves behind after only 12 minutes through a goal from France striker Olivier Giroud.
Euro 2016 host France have stepped in the semi-finals.
Two more followed before the interval, a low finish from the box’s edge from Dimitri Payet and a lovely chip from Griezmann.
Payet also praised his understanding with Antoine Griezmann, now the leading scorer in the tournament with four goals.
With a showdown against world champions Germany already in mind, Deschamps chose to make substitutions in the second half and his team looked more vulnerable, dropping their guard twice to allow Iceland to limit the damage.
Iceland, the smallest country in history to have compete in a major tournament, refused to throw in the towel. He said Griezmann’s pass for his goal had been “a gift”. “We are used to making bad starts. but we were very clinical, which is nice from a personal perspective”.
For Iceland, Kolbeinn Sigthorsson converted Gylfi Sigurdsson’s cross in the 56th minute to make it 4-1, but the comeback was not to be.
“Iceland didn’t give up at any stage”, Giroud said.
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But France replied with Giroud beating Halldorsson to a Payet free-kick immediately before the Arsenal striker was withdrawn. Iceland’s Birkir Bjarnason scored a consolation goal in the final six minutes.
