Euro 2024 hopefuls England booed by own fans following shock loss to Iceland at Wembley
- Gareth Southgate’s side, who will be among the favourites in Germany, beaten by team who did not qualify
England were booed by an expectant home crowd following their shock 1-0 defeat by Iceland in their final friendly before Euro 2024 and manager Gareth Southgate said he understood the fans’ reaction.
An expectant Wembley crowd let their frustrations known after an alarmingly poor performance in their last warm-up friendly against a side that will not even be in Germany.
Southgate’s side were toothless in attack and porous at the back, with Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson’s fine early finish securing Iceland – who famously knocked England out at Euro 2016 – another memorable win.
“You’d like a good performance, a crowd that’s been entertained and to be leaving on a high,” Southgate said after the send-off friendly. “Clearly the performance wasn’t at the level it needed to be.
“I think there are some very clear reasons for that, and it actually gives us a chance to really focus the mind because these last games going into tournaments can be a little bit scrappy like that in terms of focus, because players are worried about picking up an injury.
“The most disappointing part tonight was out of possession, we did not press well. We were too stretched. We’ve actually, in the last two or three games, in particular, been excellent at that, so that’s the bit that we’ve really got to rectify.