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On the bright side of things, at least England didn't lose on penalty kicks in the quarterfinal!
On the flip side, this was far more embarrassing than any quarterfinal exit over the last couple decades (such as the back-to-back losses to Portugal at Euro 2004 and then the 2006 World Cup).
It was probably more embarrassing than not making it out of the groups in Brazil two years ago, or not qualifying altogether for Euro 2008.
In the heat of the immediate reaction, many are calling it the worst result ever for England. They may not be wrong.
England 1 Iceland 2. One of the great English sporting humiliations. On a par with losing to US in Belo Horizonte in 1950.
— Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) June 27, 2016
Forget USA 1950 - that's the most embarrassing defeat in England history. Clueless and calamitous display to haunt English football forever
— Ian Darke (@IanDarke) June 27, 2016
The worst defeat in our history. England beaten by a country with more volcanoes than professional footballers. Well played Iceland.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 27, 2016
That's not to say that this was the worst England team ever. But the beauty (or the horror, in this case) of single-elimination knockout games is that strange and unexpected results can and do happen. This was Iceland's Camp Nou. This was their Champions League final (unless the next game is). Nobody expected this.
WINTER IS HERE #ENG
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) June 27, 2016
England started well enough, a quick penalty converted by Wayne Rooney but Iceland hit back within a minute and that was all the boost their confidence needed. Ten minutes later, they were in the lead thanks to some poor defending (uh, Gary?) and ever poorer goalkeeping.
Perhaps England thought they could blow these minnows away. Perhaps they were looking ahead to France in the next round. Whatever the reason, they were incoherent for much of the game. A bit of late pressure aside, they never quite looked like scoring another goal. Hodgson threw on all the strikers he had in desperation, but nothing was working.
When you spot yourself on the big screen and want people to think you've got a plan... pic.twitter.com/uBVo0iNJrL
— TheFootballCommunity (@Footy_Community) June 27, 2016
And then it was time to go. It was only Hodgson's eighth defeat in four years and 56 matches, but there was no coming back from this one.
Roy Hodgson issues statement following #ENG's exit from #Euro2016 https://t.co/ZgOD8MomTN
— England (@England) June 27, 2016