The fairytale in France continued last night as the Republic of Ireland beat Italy to join Northern Ireland and Wales in the last 16 of the Euro 2016 tournament.
It is the first time that any of them have qualified for next stage of the competition.
Ireland appeared to be heading for a respectable draw against their illustrious opponents, a result that would have brought some credit but seen them eliminated.
Robbie Brady’s headed goal five minutes from time secured a historic victory for Martin O’Neill’s men and sent the country into a frenzy of celebration. They will now face the host nation.
Brady described the result as an “out of body” experience which completed another victory for the smaller nations.
Iceland, it a population of 330,000, sealed second place in Group F by scoring a last-minute goal to beat Austria 2-1.
The draw
Switzerland v Poland (Saturday 14:00 on BBC)
Wales v Northern Ireland (Saturday 17:00 on BBC)
Croatia v Portugal (Saturday 20:00 on ITV)
France v Republic of Ireland (Sunday 14:00 on ITV)
Germany v Slovakia (Sunday 17:00 on ITV)
Hungary v Belgium (Sunday 20:00 on BBC)
Italy v Spain (Monday 17:00 on BBC)
England v Iceland (Monday 20:00 on ITV)
Group A
Dear Mr Murden,
I politely enquire as to why England has been omitted from this report as a “home nation”?
Yours respectfully.
A puzzled Englishman…:)
Only because the report was about those nations which did not expect to qualify and which had never gone beyond this stage.
Thank you for the clarification, Mr Murden!