Group D: France only manages a bumpy draw against Iceland

France had to settle for a draw in their third tournament appearance. The performance against Iceland at 1: 1 (1: 0) was very bumpy. The “Isis” have to pack their bags after three draws.

Six new players stormed onto the lawn of Rotherham’s New York Stadium for “Les Bleues”. With first place in Group D already secured, coach Corinne Diacre took the opportunity to help her previous substitutes play.

Stars such as Delphine Cascarino or Grace Geyoro were given a break. Of course, the captain was in the starting XI: Wendie Renard simply couldn’t be left out. Advantage Iceland was already the choice of clothes. Because while the northerners, as the “home team” listed by UEFA, were allowed to wear their usual blue jerseys, France had to switch to the white substitute jersey.

1-0 after less than a minute

But that’s it for now with the Icelandic sense of achievement. The game was barely kicked off when the northerners were already behind. Midfield director Clara Mateo played a short but highly effective pass on the opposing 16 into the interface between the defenders and Mevine Malard executed humorlessly with his left hand from 15 meters into the right corner. Less than a minute was played and France led 1-0.

One had to worry about the Icelanders given the clear superiority of the French in the next few minutes. Technically and athletically, France was at least one class stronger than their opponents. Goal scorer Malard and especially left winger Sandy Baltimore – both otherwise only substitutes in the team – whirled the “Isis” upside down. Unfortunately, they forgot to make more countable goals out of a large number of goal chances.

More and more imprecise, more and more sloppy

And the longer the game lasted, the more imprecise and sloppy the actions of the French became. Were they too sure of themselves? That had already happened to them in a 2-1 win against Belgium. And Iceland almost equalized with one of their very rare chances: After a corner by Karolina Vilhjalmsdottir, Sveindis Jonsdottir headed the ball onto the crossbar (12′).

The second opportunity arose again after a corner kick: France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin ducked under the ball. But Berglind Thorvaldsdottir, who was lurking behind her, was too surprised to be able to maneuver the ball over the line (40′).

Iceland steps on the gas, France gets space

In the second period, word quickly spread among the Icelanders that Belgium were ahead in the parallel game. Which meant that the Northerners had to win here in order to be able to reach the quarterfinals. Accordingly, the shackles have now been taken off and the way forward has been consistently sought.

Which gave counter opportunities for France. Baltimore hit the crossbar in the 54th minute and substitute Grace Geyoro hit the left post ten minutes later. In the 69th minute, Malard celebrated in vain. When she supposedly scored, she was offside by the razor. When Geyoro scored in the 88th minute, the referees saw a handball in the video room.

Iceland equalizes – in the 12th minute of stoppage time!

They conceded an equalizer in the twelfth minute of injury time: Dagny Brynjarsdottir converted a penalty after Gunnhildur Jonsdottir fell in the penalty area.

However, Iceland couldn’t make the complete turnaround and had to settle for the third 1-1 in their third tournament appearance. And will have to start the early journey home.

France’s goalkeeper fails repeatedly

Striking: The French had to be careful, especially with Icelandic standard situations, because goalkeeper Peyraud-Magnin revealed blatant weaknesses with high balls. Again and again she dropped balls or grabbed completely wrong. Upcoming competitors in the knockout games will have been watching closely. First up will be defending champions Netherlands in the quarterfinals on Saturday.