How one Iceland goal played a crucial role in Portugal's Euro 2016 success

Euro 2020, in which Portugal will be defending their European crown, was due to commence tomorrow on the 12th June - so what better time to look back on the much-beloved 2016 tournament and reminisce about Portugal’s first international triumph.

If you ask any supporter of the Portugal national team what the most memorable moment of Euro 2016 was, you may well get a wide array of answers. Some might point to that epic 3-3 clash with Hungary, which is widely considered one of the greatest games in all of European Championship history. After all, Portugal were on the brink of going out on 3 separate occasions in that match, falling behind three times before finally settling for a point.

Others may well point to the penalty shoot-out victory over Poland and the winning spot-kick by Ricardo Quaresma as the make-or-break moment that saw Portugal squeeze through to the semi-final of the competition and the most memorable moment of the entire contest.

But most will, of course, point to that iconic Eder goal against France in extra time of the final in Paris as the stand-alone moment of the tournament. And who could really disagree?

If you were to then alter the original question slightly, and ask not for the most memorable, but the most important goal of the tournament in Portugal’s Euro 2016 triumph, the answer of most would remain completley unchanged - that Eder strike past Hugo Lloris in the 109th minute of the final, of course, the goal that sealed victory for Portugal and earned them their first major trophy in history.

But is that really the case? Here, we propose that an entirely different goal was actually the most important in Portugal’s Euro 2016 victory - in fact, the goal we suggest was most vital in Portugal going all the way wasn’t even scored by a Portuguese player. It wasn’t even scored in a match which Portugal was involved in…

Instead, the goal we hypothesise as being the defining moment in Portugal’s Euro 2016 aspirations actually came in a match between Iceland and Austria, which finished 2-1 to the former.

An innocuous, fairly inconsequential scoreline on the surface, one that you would be forgiven for thinking is completely irrelevant to the Portugal national team and their hopes of bringing glory to their home nation. But dig a little deeper, and you will see that it was actually a hugely significant moment in the very future of the competition, with direct and significant consequences for the Selecao.

Let’s set the scene. It’s the final day of the group stage and the clock is ticking down. We’re into the 90th minute of both the Portugal vs Hungary match and the Iceland vs Austria clash, both of which are taking place simultaneously.

As the final whistle approaches, Portugal are level against Hungary - 3-3 - and neither side is at all interested in attacking, happy to settle for a point that would see both sides guaranteed a place in the knockout stage of the competition. Meanwhile, in the other game, Iceland are level with Austria, with the scoreline 1-1. This score guarantees Iceland a place in the knockout round too, as one of the 4 best 3rd-place teams in the group stage, with Portugal in 2nd and Hungary in 1st. Austria, therefore, are bottom of the pile, in desperate need of a goal that would see them go through, and are pressing to find it deep into stoppage time.

This is what the table looked as we entered stoppage time in both matches:

As the table stood, Portugal faced an unenviable route to the final. In the next round, they would have had to face England in the round of 16 - a tricky match which, though Portugal would have fancied their chances, could have really gone either way.

Had they managed to earn victory in that one, they would have then had to face France in the quarter final - and as we saw in the actual final, that was far from a straightforward clash. Beating France in the quarters would have meant facing one of Germany, Italy, Spain or Slovakia in the semi-final; in real life, it was Germany that made it to the semis. And, as we’ve seen in the past, Portugal don’t often fare too well against the 2014 world champions.

So a route of England, France and Germany just to get to the Euro 2016 final, where they could have faced Croatia or Poland, was awaiting Portugal. A daunting prospect, and Portugal’s hopes of Portugal winning Euro 2016 looked slim.

However, in the 94th minute of the Iceland match, Austria were pushing forwards in numbers, piling literally every player into the attacking third, with exception to their goalkeeper, in desperation to find a winner. However, Iceland managed to get the ball cleared and, with no defensive line, Bjarnason was able to sprint forwards under no pressure, before slotting the ball across to Traustason, who tapped it home. 2-1 to Iceland! It was a huge goal in Iceland’s history - as the iconic Icelandic commentary at the time would demonstrate - and was greeted with wild celebrations back home too.

However, it should have been Portugal fans that were celebrating the goal with immense enthusiasm, with the result having significant wider repercussions on the group as a whole. Though it meant Portugal dropped to 3rd in the group, quite embarassingly below both Hungary and Iceland, it also ensured that Portugal were instantly propelled to the other side of the knockout stage bracket - and handed an indisputedly easier route to the final.

Instead of being on the side with all of France, Spain, Germany, Italy and England, Portugal were on the half with Switzerland, Poland, Croatia, Wales, Northern Ireland, Hungary and Belgium, and their route to the final instantly looked clearer. It was at that moment that winning Euro 2016 suddenly seemed like an entirely plausible possibility.

And that is why Iceland’s goal was perhaps the most important of them all in Portugal’s Euro 2016 victory.

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