Euro 2016 Daily Five: Iceland the real winners, France the real favourites now

The Euro 2016 quarter-final round concluded on Sunday night, with France ended the fairytale run of Iceland rather unceremoniously in a 5-2 rout. We collate our best Euro 2016 content from the last 24 hours to keep you up to date with the latest from the tournament. For more, visit our Euro 2016 microsite.

1 – Iceland are the real winners

Greg Lea writes of everyone's new favourite international side: "The adventure is over but what an adventure it has been.

“Iceland have exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations and stolen hearts from across the continent along the way.

“A nation that is home to fewer than 330,000 people has punched above its weight to an astonishing extent, leaving bigger and supposedly better teams scratching their heads and wondering how exactly they had been unable to overcome a country with more volcanoes than professional footballers and a part-time dentist as its joint-manager.

“France may have won in Paris on Sunday night, but Iceland did not lose.”

2 – France prove power

Iceland, the story of Euro 2016, finally met their match in hosts who finally grew into the role of giants.

It was, as Richard Jolly writes, the kind of predictable outcome Iceland had so magnificently denied throughout their run to the quarter-finals:

“Sooner or later, reality was bound to bite. It duly did, cruelly and clinically.

“Iceland were eviscerated. France were fantastic. There was a gulf in class, as there ought to be.”

3 – No ‘love lost’

The Wales v Portugal semi-final offers a very enticing, obvious storyline: Dual of Real Madrid mates.

Chris Coleman didn't do much to exactly dispel it, either, saying ahead of their Tuesday contest that Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, "know each other very well, but I don't suppose there will be any love lost on the evening".

“Both teams know what’s at stake, so any friendship will have to wait until after the game. It’s us against them.”

4 – In pictures

Miss any of the goals? There were seven of them, in what proved quite an admirable commitment to open play by both sides.

Check out our photo gallery for all the best imagery on the evening as France put down tournament darlings Iceland 5-2.

5 – Tragedy to triumph

Hwyl. It is the Welsh word for passion, in the emotional spiritual sense.

And the Wales team at Euro 2016 have "certainly been mining a rich seam of it" as the memory of Gary Speed illustrates:

“Over the past five years, the Welsh squad and their supporters have been coping with the sudden death of their coach, Gary Speed, who was found hanged in his home in 2011 at the age of 42.

“At every major game, the Welsh fans still sing in memory of Speed. ‘There’s only one Speedo,’ goes the chant.”

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