Heroic Iceland finally ran out of steam on Sunday night, but not even their 5-2 collapse against hosts France could seriously dampen the overall feeling of pride at the nation’s first European championships.
Fans and players celebrated together until long after the final whistle, the whole squad had a group photo taken in front of the supporters, and all had some final renditions of their now famous and fearful “volcano clap” routine.
“I have no words to describe the supporters, applauding us even though we were losing,” midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson said.
There was also a rousing rendition of it in Reykjavik, where thousands of fans — many clad in blue and draped in Icelandic flags — watched the match on a huge screen at the Arnarholl venue, a hill in the centre of the city. Reaching the quarter-finals had exceeded even the wildest dreams in the country of just over 300,000 — with Monday’s 2-1 triumph over England naturally standing out.
“Reluctantly, Iceland’s adventure is over,” public broadcaster RUV summarised after the end of an amazing run at the championship.
Reykjavik mayor Dagur B Eggertsson tweeted: “I’m convinced that the football adventure is only beginning. You were great, guys, and give us all hope! 100% pride!”
It didn’t matter in the end that Iceland collapsed in the first half by letting in four goals at the Stade de France. They were rather credited to fighting back after the break with goals from Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Birkir Bjarnason.
“We were paralysed and passive, maybe because we were close to something big. But respect to the team how they turned it around in the second half. They showed we can play football,” outgoing co-coach Lars Lagerback said.
“The players did a marvellous job. I am very proud of the players. Iceland’s future is good. It is a privilege and fantastic. I have been privileged before but this is really something extra.”
The other coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, will now be in charge on his own of a team that won the hearts of many and left everyone proud.
“We can be very proud overall. It is something special for a small team. No one expected us to go this far,” captain Aron Gunnarsson said.
Iceland leave France with just the one defeat Sunday, after draws with Portugal and Hungary before the wins over Austria and England. Apart from their football they will also be remembered for the good-natured appearance and their humour, with the final statement left to Sigthorsson.
“We can’t complain, its difficult to win the Euros on the first attempt,” he said.

Iceland hungry for more of the ‘big stage’
Gylfi Sigurdsson has promised Iceland will not be content to bask in the glory of their Euro 2016 heroics having had a taste of the highs and lows of tournament football.
The smallest nation ever to take part in the European championship with a population of just 330,000 stunned England to reach the last eight. They received a reality check in a 5-2 thrashing by hosts France on Sunday.
But Iceland’s cool blue replica shirts had already sold out before the France defeat. They have made their mark.
“Of course this experience was (an) incredible, fantastic three or four weeks for us and I’m sure all the players want to experience this again,” said Swansea City playmaker Sigurdsson. “We’ve got the World Cup coming up and hopefully we can qualify again.”
Goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson had a night to forget at the Stade de France as a double from Olivier Giroud bookended goals from Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann to send France into a semi-final meeting with old foes Germany.
However, Halldorsson hailed Iceland’s “fantastic journey” from whipping boys to serious contenders on the European stage over the past decade. “We can be proud of what we did, even though we wanted more.
“We have had great support from all over the world and it is has been a fantastic journey. Sadly it ended tonight.”
Iceland started the tournament by stunning Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal with a 1-1 draw. Ronaldo’s comment that they had a “small mentality” because of their dogged defence won only more supporters for Iceland.
They held Hungary by the same score and beat Austria 2-1 to reach the last 16 and create one of the biggest shocks of all time by coming back from a goal down to beat England 2-1. Halldorsson, who plays for NEC Nijmenen in the Netherlands, believes Iceland now belong among Europe’s best.
“Now we have gotten a taste of being at the big stage, we love it and we belong here.
“It is going to be very tough, but we are going to go all in and give it all we have to qualify (for the World Cup).
“I think we’ve shown with the consistency we had in the tournament other than tonight that we belong up there with the big boys and we can get results and we’ll go for it.”
Sigurdsson was the only Premier League player in the 23-man Icelandic squad, but he believes many more of his compatriots deserve a chance to ply their trade in the world’s richest league.
“Lots of the players probably want to play in the Premier League, but it is a question of right place at the right time,” said Sigurdsson.
“They are good guys, good personalities and good players as well.”
The big challenge ahead of Iceland is replacing veteran Swedish coach Lars Lagerback, who will hand over the reigns to co-coach and part-time dentist Heimir Hallgrimsson after the tournament.
“It’s been a fantastic journey these last four-and-a-half years. All the support I’ve got from everywhere I’ve been in Iceland and around the game has been absolutely fantastic,” said Lagerback. “It’s something really, really extra this tournament with all the fans coming here and what we heard from back home and all the interest and positivity.”
Lagerback took charge in his seventh major finals having led his native Sweden to five and Nigeria at the 2010 World Cup. He believes the future for Iceland can be bright even without his expertise.