A lot of people in England have been trying to turn back time over the last few days – and Roy Hodgson managed to get it all the way back to Belo Horizonte in 1950.
Not since a distant World Cup, 66 years ago, have England suffered a humiliation as great as this. Beaten by Iceland – a nation with a population the size of Leicester, playing in their first international tournament. For Hodgson, this was the bitter end. His players were booed, individually and collectively, and there was none of the residue of goodwill felt at the end of the 2014 World Cup.
He will go now, as he should have then, the signs of progress that the Football Association demanded sadly absent in a display as confused and ineffectual as any England have delivered at a major tournament to date. Beaten by the United States in 1950, England at least had mitigation. It was their first tournament, and in South America. These were unfamiliar circumstances.
Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson dives the right way but he fails to keep out Rooney's low right-footed driven penalty
England were awarded a penalty when Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling was brought down by the Iceland custodian
Sterling goes down under an early challenge by Halldorsson to concede a penalty and hand the early initiative to the Three Lions
MATCH FACTS
ENGLAND XI (4-3-3): Hart 4; Walker 4, Cahill 4.5, Smalling 4.5, Rose 6; Dier 5 (Wilshere 46mins, 6), Alli 4.5, Rooney 4 (Rashford 86, 6.5); Sturridge 4.5, Kane 4, Sterling 5.5 (Vardy 60, 6.5)
Subs not used: Forster, Heaton, Milner, Lallana, Clyne, Henderson, Stones, Barkley, Bertrand
Goal: Rooney 4
Booked: Sturridge
Manager: Roy Hodgson 3.5
ICELAND XI (4-4-2): Halldorsson 7; Saevarsson 7, Arnason 8, R. Sigurdsson 9, Skulason 8; Gudmundsson 8.5, G. Sigurdsson 8, Gunnarsson 8.5, Bjarnason 7; Sigthorsson 8.5 (Bjarnason 77, 7), Bodvarsson 8 (Traustason 89, 6)
Subs not used: Hauksson, Hermannsson, Ingason, Finnbogason, Krintinsson, Jonsson, Sigurjonsson, Magnusson, Hallfredsson, Gudjohnsen
Goals: R. Sigurdsson 6, Sigthorsson 18
Booked: G. Sigurdsson, Gunnarsson
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia) 6
Ratings by Rob Draper
What are the excuses here? It was hot. It's England playing Iceland. It’s a young team? It's England playing Iceland. England had a lot of possession? It's England playing Iceland. England will be better next time. Iceland, Iceland, Iceland.
England’s opponents were organised and defended magnificently, but this is a limited team who were thrilled to be involved in a knockout game at a debut tournament. All week they talked of their excitement at facing England – a team of players brought up on the Premier League. Yet there was no gulf in class on the night, no suggestion that England had the answers as they huffed and puffed their way through the second half.
Hodgson’s England, packed full of matchwinners we were told, had 70 minutes to equalise and could not. Joe Hart made the best two saves after half-time. There is no way back for Hodgson now. England will spend the rest of the summer looking for a new manager – and a way forward from here.
It was hard to compute the feeling of shock inside this stadium when Slovakian referee Damir Skomina blew for half-time. Iceland jubilant in a way few can have imagined, England despairing and fearful. Any optimism was based on history and presumption, the inherent belief that there was no way England, this team that has been built up to be so full of promise and verve, could lose to Iceland, even on a bad day.
Yet this was a very a bad day; a day gone bad beyond all expectation. England had the dream start, the early goal that it was felt would decide this match without doubt in their favour. Iceland would then have to come out of their shell, which is not their style, and attack, which is not their strength.
Bring it on. Ha ha. Two goals and 15 minutes later it transpired England’s defence are in no position to lay down that gauntlet to any opponent – even one built on resilience and cussedness as Iceland are.
Before this tournament, Roy Hodgson scoffed when told England defence was weak. He pointed to a strong defensive record in a qualifying group that was not so much toothless as positively gummy; he flagged up a clean sheet against a Portugal team shorn of Cristiano Ronaldo and its 11th man before half-time in a friendly. Here was the dreaded reality. An England team unable to hold a lead against Iceland for, what, two minutes.
An England goalkeeper now at fault for two goals in four games in a tournament. Hart, it transpires, is not as free of flakiness as his shampoo sponsors would have us believe.
Hodgson will have had a plan for this match and we can presume the first five minutes went to it. Daniel Sturridge cut inside from the right, where he is presently exiled, and hit a weak shot wide. A loosener, really. A statement of intent. This was going to be how the game unfolded. England having a go, Iceland establishing banks of resistance.
Just two minutes later, Sturridge played a ball to his former Liverpool team-mate Raheem Sterling, and England were away. Out came Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson – hero of the win over Austria that brought them here – and he clumsily took Sterling down. It was a silly foul, one of a player unused to the nerves that an occasion such as this can bring. Sterling was heading away from goal, going nowhere. Still, it was a penalty and Wayne Rooney stepped up to take it. Low, to the left, it was his 53rd goal in an England shirt, and the one intended to settle the nerves. England did not last long enough to even consider their emotional state.
Iceland levelled the scoreline just two minutes after England's opener as Ragnar Sigurdsson poked home from close range to make it 1-1
Sigurdsson's equalising goal came from Cardiff City midfielder Aron Gunnarsson's long throw-in which evaded England defenders.
Kari Arnason flicked the ball on from the initial Gunnarsson throw before the ball eventually fell at the feet of Sigurdsson to poke home
HOW LEE DIXON SLAMMED ENGLAND
England’s defending at the long throw that let Iceland back into the game was slammed by former England and Arsenal defender Lee Dixon.
The ITV pundit savaged the way Ragnar Sigurdsson was allowed to equalise. ‘I don’t know where to start,’ said Dixon. ‘We knew we were going to get throw-ins. They (Iceland) set up the same way every single time. So you’ve got to mark properly.
‘Their two target men, one of them is being marked by Smalling and Kane. The other one, who they mainly throw to, at the edge of the box, Arnason, is marked by Rooney. Why? How is that right? How is Rooney picking up? And Kyle Walker can look at this and hang his head in shame. The fact is you’ve got to go with runners.’
OUR BIGGEST EMBARRASSMENTS
USA 1-0 England (1950 World Cup)
A result that shocked the world as America’s amateurs inflicted a humiliating defeat on England’s professionals. It remains England’s worst-ever result at the World Cup.
England 0-1 Republic of Ireland 1 (Euro 1988)
Ray Houghton’s early strike gave Ireland victory in their first-ever tournament match. Bobby Robson’s team then lost their next two group games before heading home humiliated.
Norway 2-1 England (World Cup qualifier, 1981)
Defeat by the part-timers generated one of the most famous soundbites of all time as Norwegian commentator Bjorn Lillelien hollered: ‘Maggie Thatcher? Your boys took one hell of a beating!’
N Ireland 1-0 England (World Cup qualifier, 2005)
England stunned at Windsor Park when David Healy handed Sven-Goran Eriksson his only qualifying defeat in charge.
It was like watching Arsenal trying to defend against Stoke’s Rory Delap. That same confusion, the same frustration that good players were so totally flummoxed by such a simple tactic. Aron Gunnarsson delivers a throw-in as Delap once did, flat, fast, accurate. Like a decent cross. Yet England’s defenders deal with decent crosses all the time. What is it about this that so scrambles their minds?
Kari Arnason won the header, flicking it on for Ragnar Sigurdsson, who had completely lost his man Kyle Walker. He has been brilliant in this tournament going forward, Walker, but there have always been questions about his defensive smarts. Sigurdsson had space, a proper run at the ball and left Hart no chance from close range. Nobody can say England were not warned. Hodgson had mentioned Gunnarsson’s throws as a principal line of attack in his press conference on Sunday – while Iceland joint coach Heimir Hallgrímsson had flagged up that his team were dangerous from set pieces. What did England’s defenders need? A five minute warning? Written notice?
England were rocked, obviously, but the night was young, and there would be opportunity aplenty to put this right. Still, it took them another 10 minutes to have a crack at Iceland’s goal, when Dele Alli returned a clearance from outside the area. Soon after, Harry Kane held the ball up on the left, before turning inside to hit a shot. And then the unthinkable happened.
It was a neat interchange of passes by Iceland, around the edge of England’s area before Gylfi Sigurdsson threaded it through to Kolbeinn Sigthorsson. Yet there was little pressure on the ball and Iceland’s No 9 had the sight of goal to try his luck. What followed was a small catastrophe for goalkeeper Hart.
He got a hand to the ball, but not with the force to repel it, and it trickled away from him, over the line. Iceland’s players celebrated wildly, Hart smacked his forehead repeatedly, his team-mates looked haunted. Again, it took them 10 minutes to regroup. Yet now, there was a sense of panic in the play. Passes going astray, moves breaking down at crucial moments.
Kane met a Sturridge cross on the volley after 30 minutes, tipped over by Halldorsson – sheer instinct over-riding any nerves – and a deep free-kick by Kane was just too much for Alli at the far post, but it wasn’t a case of England dominating and Iceland meekly hanging on.
Ari Skulason had one go wide from 30 yards after 35 minutes – and another sloppily defender set piece after 55 minutes ended with Ragnar Sigurdsson attempting an ambitious overhead kick which Hart kept out from seven yards. Had that gone in, it would have been all over.
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere replaced Eric Dier at the half-time interval as Hodgson and his coaching staff tries to tweak things a little.
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy was given half an hour to prove his worth to the England national team but failed to make a difference
The former Fleetwood Town striker went down under a challenge by Sigurdsson in the penalty area but the Iceland defender won the ball
Roy Hodgson quits as England manager after embarrassing Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland in last-16 tie
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