England vs Iceland Preview & Prediction | 2024 International Friendly
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England contest their second and final warm-up game for UEFA EURO 2024 as the entertain an Iceland side who have not qualified for the Finals in Germany.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Friday 7th June, UK – 7:45pm / US EST – 2:45pm / US PST – 11:45am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Channel 4 / US – Not available
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – All 4 / US – ViX+
ENGLAND PREVIEW: MAGUIRE, MADDISON, GREALISH. JONES & MORE CUT FROM SQUAD
It can be argued that England’s 3-0 victory over Bosnia on Monday somewhat flattered them, as Gareth Southgate’s undeniably talented roster were frustrated by the Balkan nation for the first hour.
Nonetheless, the Three Lions – widely tipped as one of the favourites for EURO 2024 glory – came through with goals from Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold and all-time leading goalscorer Harry Kane.
Southgate is already in the process of trimming his squad ahead of the major tournament in Germany; James Maddison, Jack Grealish and Curtis Jones will not make the cut, while at the time of writing Jarell Quansah, Jarrad Branthwaite and James Trafford are rumoured to have been axed. Key centre-back Harry Maguire will play no part on account of his troublesome calf injury.
ICELAND PREVIEW: ATTENTION TURNS TO THE NATIONS LEAGUE
This is Iceland’s first outing since they agonisingly lost in the EURO 2024 qualification play-off final to Ukraine – an encounter in which they led until the 54th minute.
The Nordic nation have not participated at a major tournament since the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while their last Euros appearance was in 2016, when they registered a famous victory over England in the round of 16.
Head coach Age Hareide will instead be focussing on preparing his men for the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign, which begins in September. Iceland will contest Group 4 of League B alongside Montenegro, Türkiye and Wales, while they face the Netherlands in another testing friendly early next week.
ENGLAND TEAM NEWS: MAN CITY & MAN UTD ASSETS JOIN SQUAD BUT CONCERNS OVER MAGUIRE
After sitting out the Bosnia win on account of recent club exertions, Southgate welcomes Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Kobbie Mainoo into the camp, and it seems likely that the quartet – all expected to feature prominently in the Euros – will be involved in some capacity.
John Stones and Bukayo Saka should also feature, but there is less certainty over the conditions of Luke Shaw and Anthony Gordon, both of whom are nursing injuries at the moment.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier; Mainoo, Rice; Saka, Palmer, Foden; Kane
UNAVAILABLE: Maguire (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE: Dunk (Injured), Shaw (Injured), Gordon (Injured)
ICELAND TEAM NEWS: KEY MEN MISSING
There are some key absences in the Iceland squad, with Albert Gudmundsson and Alfred Finnbogason not involved for either this match or the clash with the Netherlands next Monday.
More team news to follow…
PREDICTED XI (4-4-2): Valdimarsson; Sampsted, Ingason, Gretarsson, Thorarinsson; Thorsteinsson, Gudmundsson, Traustason, Haraldsson; Gudjohnsen, Oskarsson
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
ENGLAND VS ICELAND PREDICTION
England’s now infamous EURO 2016 defeat to Iceland brought about a series of events that heralded Southgate’s appointment as head coach of the national team, and while he still has his detractors, there is no doubt that England are a much stronger side now than they were eight years ago.
Iceland, meanwhile, have gone in the other direction having failed to qualify for the last three major tournaments.
With players hoping to impress Southgate in what is their last chance before EURO 2024 kicks off, expect a strong Three Lions performance from the get go. Iceland will struggle to contain the attacking talents of their opponents, with a high-scoring win for the hosts expected.
ENGLAND VS ICELAND TIP: ENGLAND TO WIN & OVER 2.5 GOALS
