Iceland Expose Roy Hodgson and England at Euro 2016

England 1 Rooney (pen) 4’

Iceland 2 Sigurðsson 6', Sigþórsson 18'

England are out of Euro 2016 after deservedly losing to Iceland in the last 16. While it ranks as one of England's most shocking defeats on paper, England only won a single game in an average group to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament. Two extremely uninspiring sides in Russia and Slovakia couldn't be bested, and Wales were only beaten by an injury-time intervention by Daniel Sturridge.

Yes, Iceland have a population of just 330,000, but then again, England have Roy Hodgson as manager with Wayne Rooney captaining the side in midfield. Both sides had their own challenges entering the tournament. England got a penalty to go ahead, Iceland responded via a long throw that England failed to deal with, and Joe Hart helped a low, skimming strike inside the 18-yard box to put Iceland ahead.

Iceland gave England lots of space to play for the remainder of the half, probably in the knowledge that Hodgson's players were incapable of doing too much with the ball. There were a few long shots and incidents where England threatened to threaten to do something. England needed inspiration at the interval, so what does Roy Hodgson do? Take off Eric Dier for Jack Wilshere to create the ultimate broken midfield. The second half came and went with England creating nothing of note against a solid Iceland unit. To be honest, Iceland probably should have finished England off with a third.

By reading out a statement that he would no longer carry on as England manager, Roy Hodgson effectively resigned (can you do that when your contract is up?) before the FA could tell him that his contract wouldn't be renewed. Liverpool's players can now come back from international duty and join Klopp for full pre-season preparations. Although Adam Lallana started every group game, he did not feature against Iceland. Daniel Sturridge was heavily involved in the past two games after changing the game against Wales, but James Milner, Jordan Henderson, and Nathaniel Clyne weren't greatly involved over four games.

Most importantly, congratulations to Iceland! The island nation has climbed 109 places in the FIFA rankings over the past three years, something that isn't an accident. It's easy to paint this as one of the greatest shocks since in England's football history, but Iceland drew with a decent-ish Portugal side and shared points with a Hungary team that were better than some thought. Like Ireland, they got a win when they needed it to qualify out of their group. Unlike Ireland, they secured a spot in the quarterfinals after leading at half-time. Of course, France are better than England, but Iceland isn't a side that should be disrespected nor dismissed.

After knocking out England and doing away with Roy Hodgson, Iceland will play France in the quarterfinals on Sunday in Saint-Denis at 3PM EST/8PM BST. What a story in a first major tournament for England’s conquerors. The hosts represent a great reward for Iceland’s players, coaching staff, and fans.