Giroud scores twice as France stop Iceland with a thumping 5-2 win in Euro quarter-final

Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann were also on target in a one-sided romp at the Stade de France that proved a nightmare end to war-weary Iceland’s improbable Euro dreams. 

Having fairly comfortably eased past England into the quarter-finals, Iceland, the smallest nation ever to have qualified for the European Championship, with a population of 330,000, were 4-0 down inside the first half.

They tried to rally after the break with a goal from Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, and added a late consolation through Birkir Bjarnason, but the damage had already been done. 

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. 

“I am delighted for the players as they deserve this, and for these fans who have been behind us for months,” said France coach Didier Deschamps. “To be able to offer them something to make them smile and feel happy and have another week in it — I’m delighted about that.” 

Coming into the game, Iceland were praised for a rigidly well-organised defence while France had found first-half goals hard to come by, with their previous six coming after the break. 

It was a matter of minutes, however, before both of those traits were swept aside, as France set about picking their way through gaping holes in Iceland’s previously solid rearguard. 

The opener came after 12 minutes from a hopeful long ball which found Giroud with acres of space to run through and then drive a low finish beneath keeper Hannes Halldorsson. 

The second goal was a simple corner to the far post that the soaring Pogba headed emphatically home. 

It seemed as though the contest was already effectively over when Payet scored two minutes before halftime. Griezmann converted a Giroud’s dummy to score France’s fourth goal and put the issue beyod any doubt.