France vs Iceland 26/03/19

26 March 2019

France host Iceland to the Stade de France in Paris on the second European Championship qualifiers matchday following a 4-1 demolition of Moldova in the opening game.

The reigning World Cup champions have finished as runners-up in their respective UEFA Nations League group behind the Netherlands with a record of two wins, a draw, and a loss. A 2-0 road defeat to Holland was France’s only failure in seven games since returning from Russia (W4, D2, L1) and was also one of two in which they’ve failed to hit the net. Interestingly, in addition to Oranje, Iceland is the only team that has managed to score over 1.5 match goals against Les Blues in the post-World Cup period. Considering France’s defense failed to live up to expectations recently, keeping only two clean sheets in the last eight clashes, Didier Deschamps heavily relies on his devastating offensive firepower that has bagged 2+ match goals five times in the same period.

On the other hand, a comfortable 2-0 win over Andorra in their Euro qualifying opener has brought their disastrous 15-game winless run to an end (D6, L9). It was only the second time in their last 17 games that Our Boys have managed to preserve a clean slate. Iceland’s defensive frailties have seen them concede over 1.5 goals per match 13 times in their previous 16 outings, allowing 3+ match goals five times in the process. Nonetheless, Erik Hamrén’s men come into this meeting after racking up a four-game unbeaten streak (W1, D3), mainly thanks to the inspired offense that has scored 2+ match goals three times during the run.