Euro 2016: Holders Spain face familiar foes Italy

Spain, who cruised to a 4-0 victory over Italy in the Euro 2012 final in Kiev, started their title defence in promising fashion before a 2-1 defeat by Croatia meant they must now take on their old rivals in the last 16. Italy, relying on a bunch of veterans with no real top name in their squad apart from goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, had been written off by many and left for the tournament in an atmosphere of doom and gloom. The Azzurri surprised observers with an opening 2-0 win over fancied Belgium and went on to beat Sweden 1-0 before looking their age in a 1-0 defeat by Ireland.

For England it should be a routine assignment against a rank outsider ahead of bigger tests while for Iceland it is the pinnacle of the country’s sporting history, which makes Monday’s Euro 2016 clash a mouth-watering prospect. England’s players cheered, along with most neutrals, when Arnor Ingvi Traustason snatched a stoppage-time breakaway goal to beat Austria in Iceland’s final group game as it meant England would not, after all, be facing Portugal in the last 16. Yet, once the dust settled on that extraordinary finale, the England coaching team had to get to work quickly to refocus their players away from thinking they had been offered an easy route into the quarter-finals. Iceland have already exceeded expectations by qualifying second in their group behind Hungary and will go into the game with nothing to lose and the whole world, beyond England, willing them on.