POLL REACTION: Iceland are the fairy tale story of the Euros
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This summer’s European Championships in France has been a non-stop success story for tournament underdogs, but it’s Iceland progression into the last 16 which is the greatest tale of all.
That’s according to the good people on Twitter, who answered our poll today which asked: “What has been the biggest Euro 2016 fairy tale so far?”
The nation of just 330,000 people came through Group F unbeaten, opening with two draws before a famous victory over Austria.
Strakarnir Okkar were heroes from the start, holding Portugal to a 1-1 draw and drawing the ire of Cristiano Ronaldo, who claimed they had a ‘small mentality’.
Some 42 per cent of you voted for Iceland’s story being the best tale of the tournament so far, and they will face England in the last 16 on Monday.
In second place came Northern Ireland with 29 per cent, having also managed to progress through a group featuring Poland, Germany and Ukraine.
Battling 1-0 defeats came versus the former two, but a masterful 2-0 win over the Ukraine was enough for Michael O’Neill’s men to face Wales in the last 16 on Saturday evening.
Wales’ group-topping exploits came third with 16 per cent, as Chris Coleman’s men landed 5/1 odds to finish above England, Slovakia and Russia.
And in fourth place – but no less admirably – came 40-year-old Gabor Kiraly for Hungary.
The former Crystal Palace stopper still loves his jogging bottoms, but he kept goal for a side which topped Group F, and landed a second round spot against Belgium.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
