Talent is not enough – we must match Iceland spirit, warns Lloris

The best teams are no longer here, says captain Wales win over Belgium has inspired the minnows

It is a match between the hosts – and pre-tournament favourites – and the smallest nation to qualify for a major finals, never mind reach the quarter-finals.

France against Iceland at the Stade de France – with a capacity of 81,000, equating to a quarter of Iceland’s population – would appear a mismatch of extraordinary proportions.

But there was a stark warning from the France captain Hugo Lloris. It was a warning, also, that picked up on one of the gathering themes of this tournament: that teams with collective effort, organisation and team spirit have been dominant forces here.

“There have been surprises since the start of the competition and we realise that being a big nation and playing nice football is not enough to make it to the last four,” the goalkeeper said. “The best teams playing the best football are no longer here.”

That was, surely, more in reference to the exits of Spain, Croatia and Belgium rather than the predictable demise of England, who had expected to be France’s opponents but were deservedly embarrassed by Iceland in Nice last Monday.

“It shows we are back to values such as the importance of a collective effort,” Lloris added. “It is mental strength that makes the difference and that’s what we need to qualify.”

Having overcome the Republic of Ireland in the last round, after falling behind, France have shown some of the resilience that it was feared a young side under such pressure of expectation might not possess. They were aided by three more days’ rest than the Irish, also, but have demonstrated an ability to score late goals throughout this campaign.

“Since the start of the tournament, we have shown certain values,” Lloris added. “Everything wasn’t perfect, we lacked consistency and were not aggressive enough in the early stages of our games. But, in the end, we managed to win matches and I believe that is because of our collective spirit.”

Iceland have that in abundance with captain Aron Gunnarsson, who plays for Cardiff City in the Championship, declaring that his country had been inspired by Wales’s achievements. “Wales are a force to be reckoned with,” Gunnarsson said. “Of course we’re inspired by Wales. We are quite similar to them.”

There has been another comparison, of course, and another that has been made with Wales, with Iceland likened to Leicester City. Could there be a shock winner to Euro 2016 just as there was to the Premier League? “We’re not trying to be like Leicester or any other team,” Gunnarsson added, wary of the comparison. “We’re just Iceland.”

And Iceland will pose a threat. The France coach, Didier Deschamps, said the minnows were more than a longthrow team but he acknowledged the strength of that basic weapon which gives them an extra set-piece.

“I can’t make my own players taller but we do have some who can fight for high balls,” Deschamps said. In saying that, there is deep concern about the vulnerability of the French defence and Deschamps has decisions to make with Adil Rami suspended. Uncapped Samuel Umtiti is expected to start ahead of Manchester City’s Eliaquim Mangala.

Umtiti has just joined Barcelona from Lyon but is yet to play for his country while in midfield Leicester’s N’Golo Kanté is suspended. Yohan Cabaye, of Crystal Palace, would appear likely to be his replacement.

An intriguing factor is that although Iceland have been outshot in every game – 80 efforts on their goal against 32 at their opponents – they have also scored in each of their four matches so far and will be confident of doing so again. Only Wales, with five ties, can match that and if they get ahead it was clear against England how difficult they can be to break down with their drilled 4-4-2 formation.

“They’re not small-time players,” Deschamps added. “They’re not here by chance. They’ve not stolen anything to get to this point. They’ve done great things and they deserved to beat England in the last 16 because of what they produced on the pitch.”

All of that is true and will serve as a warning to France with Deschamps, from personal experience, also aware of the embarrassment Iceland can pose to better teams. He was part of a France side that, 18 years ago, travelled to Reykjavik for their first competitive game after being crowned world champions and only drew 1-1. “That game brought us down to earth,” Deschamps said.