Euro 2016 hosts France will be quite happy to battle Iceland instead of England for a place in the semi-final, but Les Bleus will have to raise their game if they want to avoid a major shock.

The Nordic side proved they can mix it up with the best of them in Europe and they will be hoping for the fairytale to continue.

Having already won two major competitions on home soil, France headed into the Euro 2016 with big hopes, with a number of world-class footballers at Didier Deschamps’ disposal.

However, despite being placed in arguably the easiest group, Les Bleus were far from impressive in their opening fixtures, albeit finishing top of their group.

France also experienced problems in the first knockout stage clash against Republic of Ireland, but Antoine Griezmann came to the rescue, scoring a brace to help the team overturn a one-goal deficit.

Nevertheless, it is clear that Les Bleus need to show a massive improvement if they want to mount a serious title challenge, even if they have been made 1.45 (9/20) favourites to see off Iceland.

Didier Deschamps faces serious selection problems as both N’Golo Kante and Adil Rami are suspended, while Kingsley Coman is doubtful through injury.

According to the latest reports, the boss will switch to 4-2-3-1 formation, with uncapped Samuel Umtiti expected to replace Rami at the back.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Lloris – Sagna, Koscielny, Umtiti, Evra – Pogba, Matuidi – Coman, Griezmann, Payet – Giroud.

Iceland are without a doubt the biggest surprise package of the tournament, having reached the quarter-finals in their maiden European Championship appearance.

The Nordic side fought bravely from the very start, and while they were focused on defending, the team would always search for an opportunity to hurt their opponents on the break.

Such a positive approach helped Iceland go through the group stage unbeaten, with somewhat fortunate victory over Austria securing their place in the knockout stages.

And when many expected them to fail against England, Iceland produced another impressive showing to beat their more illustrious opponents and prove they should not be underestimated.

With the team having looked so well in previous games, the coaching duo is highly unlikely to make any changes, especially seeing they’ve got no fresh selection worries.

This means that the likes of Sigthorsson, Bodvarsson and Gudmundsson should prove a handful for weakened France back line.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Halldorsson – Saevarson, Arnason, R. Sigurdsson, Skulason – Gudmundsson, Gunnarsson, G. Sigurdsson, Bjarnason – Bodvarsson, Sigthorsson.