There is no doubt about Iceland’s Cinderella story as the biggest surprise of Euro 2016 so far. They were a long shot just to advance past the group stage but have now shocked the world en route to the quarterfinal. As we saw in Friday’s Euro 2016 action, Iceland isn’t the only team to shake things up at this year’s tournament when the Wales team stymied Belgium to earn a spot in the quarters. Here is a look at the four teams that have exceeded expectations at Euro 2016.
Iceland
Iceland entered Euro 2016 as a tremendous long shot just to advance to the Round of 16. Sure, they seemingly had an easy group with Portugal, Austria and Hungary in their way. Of course, Portugal was the top dog but Hungary and Austria are far from powerhouses.
However, Iceland announced their arrival with an incredible and unlikely run through the group stage. A 1-1 tie with Portugal in their opener left a lot of soccer experts scratching their head about whether or not it was simply another letdown for Portugal that was to blame. However, Iceland fired back with a 1-1 draw against Hungary and then a 2-1 win over Austria that pushed them through as the surprise team to reach the Round of 16. As if that wasn’t enough, Iceland absolutely stunned England in the Round of 16 in an upset that was classified in the British tabloids as being the most embarrassing and humiliating in their program’s history. The fact that a country with a population the size of Leicester knocked off England is clearly the biggest surprise of the tournament so far. We’ll see if they can do any more as they prepare to face the Euro 2016 hosts in France in the quarterfinals.
Wales
Wales was expected to battle for a second or third place feed behind England in Group B and a 2-1 loss to the English in their second group stage game had them on track to reach that mark. However, Wales bounced back with a dominant 3-0 win over Russia in its final group stage and that was enough to surprisingly edge out England for the top spot in their group. That win allowed Wales to avoid Iceland in the Round of 16. While many just figured they had an easy path when they beat Northern Ireland in the Round of 16, they turned a lot of heads with their performance on Friday against Belgium. They stumped a quality team from Belgian – deemed one of the best – with a 3-1 victory. For a team that was supposed to be Gareth Bale and little else, they’re proving to have a lot more moxie than anyone thought. They are now at 9/1 to win Euro 2016.
Poland
Poland was always expected to contend for a spot in the Round of 16 out of Group C but a 0-0 draw with Germany was a pleasant surprise and they ensured they would advance with a pair of wins over Northern Ireland and Ukraine to finish with the same record as Germany despite settling for the second seed based on goal differential. That wouldn’t hurt them as Poland survived a penalty shootout with Switzerland to advance to the quarterfinal where they will face a tough test against Portugal.
Italy
It wasn’t so much a surprise that Italy clinched the top spot in Group E as much as it is a surprise they have dominated as much as they have in their meaningful games. Italy opened the tournament with a convincing 2-0 win over their toughest test in the group in Belgium and then didn’t concede a shot in a 1-0 win over Sweden. That allowed them to essentially rest their best players against Ireland and while they suffered a 1-0 loss they already had the top spot in their group wrapped up. There was a lot of talk about how they were doomed when they ended up drawing Spain in the Round of 16 but Italy responded again with a 2-0 win. Suddenly Italy looks like a legitimate championship contender at the Euro and there is no doubt the country’s fans have to be happy with their club’s performance after they entered the tournament facing so much uncertainty.
