53 min Linari does well to turn away from Thorvaldsdottir, who knocks her over for her trouble.
A strong second-half comeback from Italy saw them equalise Iceland’s early goal; a win against Belgium in their final match will probably see them through, while Iceland have a mountain to climb against France
Updated
Thu 14 Jul 2022 14.01 EDT
First published on Thu 14 Jul 2022 11.00 EDT
Live feed
Key events
51 min A second change for Italy, Piemonte, who’s given it everything, replaced by Girelli, who races on hollering at her mates.
49 min “You’d have to hope that Italy get their act together a bit more in front of goal,if we’re going to see them in the rest of the competition” emails Charles Antaki. “At the moment, it’s Nifti in midfield ad Scrappi upfront. And they do play some lovely stuff, somewhat easier on the eye than Iceland.”
I’m enjoying both, I must say, but I agree Italy need a bit of edge.
48 min Simonetti looks to curl an oblique pass into Piemonte, from just outside the box towards the near post, but it runs through to Sigurdadottir.
47 min Decent progress down the right from Italy, Bonansea crossing for Piemonte, but Viggosdottir and Arnadottir get it away between them just.
46 min Italy take off the disappointing Caruso, replacing her with Bonansea. I wonder if they’ll go to 4-3-3 too.
46 min Away we go!
For Italy, it’s now or never.
Back come our teams...
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Italy 0-1 Iceland
If Italy can’t score in the second half, they’re going home. This is going to get intense.
45 min Again, Italy knock the ball about, but again, Iceland are into shape. But here’s Simonetti, turning adroitly and sliding and low, diagonal ball seeking Piemonte ... who can’t quite reach it.
42 min A let-off for Iceland ... no, for Italy, Piemonte controlling well on the chest and playing a nice pass into Rosucci, who feeds it back to her so she can send Caruso through the middle. Her first touch, though, is miserable, taking her wide, so she’ll be relived to see the flag go up.
40 min Here we go, Iceland win another throw down the left, so here comes Jonsdottir ... and again Italy help with a flick-on, again there’s head-tennis ... but this time Italy get it away. What a weapon these restarts are.
39 min Piemonte leaves one on the other Jonsdottir, so Iceland waste a bit of time while she recovers.
37 min Italy are now having most of the ball but Iceland look as likely to score next ... and as I type that, another sensible foul, Viggosdottir on Piemonte, extracts momentum from Italy’s latest attack.
35 min Nice from Piemonte who, facing the play, accepts a pass into feet, turning as she controls, so Arnardottir rattles her and the resultant free-kick comes to nothing.
34 min But Italy win another corner, Simonetti with it ... and it’s hoofed away by whoever’s on the near post. Iceland are seeing away most of these attacks with relative ease.
33 min Another free-kick to Italy, again down the left, and Boattin looks towards the near post, but the ball runs through to Sigurdadottir and Giacinti gestures her intense displeasure.
31 min I’m really impressed with how well Iceland are getting to second balls. As Graeme Souness likes to say, the team that gets to the ball first usually wins, and though that’s easily dismissed as the rantings of an auld man, it’s true; Souness remains a decent analyst, and simplifying things that are often over-complicated is a virtue, not a criticism.
30 min A poor free-kick is headed straight out by Vidarsdottir.
29 min The Iceland fans are giving their team decent support here, but it’s Italy with a free-kick and the chance to stick a ball into the box from down the left...
28 min This is a really enjoyable game so far, and the more desperate Italy get – believe me they’re capable of much more than this - the better it’ll get.
25 min Rosucci prompts but can’t pick a gap through which to wriggle, but Di Guglielmo snaps a clever reverse-pass into Boattin, who lays back for Simonetti, who crosses well ... but Piemonte drags a decent chance that Sigurdadottir saves.
23 min Iceland waste a corner but win the ball back on the edge of the Italy box, Vilhjalmsdottir finding Jonsdottir. She scythes on the outside of the nearest defender and looks to have made a chance for a shot, but her final shot before it is a little heavy, narrowing the angle so that she can’t find a teammate and can only fire into the near-post side-netting.
22 min Italy are the better team now, but Iceland are still a threat.
20 min Caruso advances and, with no one coming out to her, she arrives in the D with a shooting lane open. But instead of putting laces through ball, she opens body to try a precise curler inside the post and Sigurdadottir sprawls into a save easily enough.
19 min Italy are playing better now, using that 4-4-2 to stretch the play and overload down the flanks. Iceland, though, won’t mind defending narrow and allowing the cross because they’ll back themselves to clear.
18 min Italy win a corner down the right and it’s Linari at the near post looking for it, but someone, Arnadottir I think, does enough to concede another, and this time Iceland clear with Di Guglielmo doing well to stop the counter.
17 min Iceland win another free-kick, this time on the right, and though it’s a long way out, Vilhjalmsdottir arrows a decent ball into the box. But it’s too close to Giuliani, who comes out to catch confidently.
Explore more on these topics