After their loss to Belgium on Sunday, England will now face Iceland at Wembley on Wednesday in what is essentially a dead rubber, report agencies.
England can no longer qualify for next year’s UEFA Nations League finals, while Iceland have already been relegated to League B.
The game will likely see England name another changed line-up due to various injuries, but Gareth Southgate’s side will be hoping for a far better performance against Iceland than they managed in September’s 0-1 win, and of course, they won’t want a repeat of their Euro 2016 loss to the Scandinavians.
To call England’s 2020 Nations League campaign a disappointment would be an understatement. They did pick up wins over Belgium and Iceland, but also lost to Belgium and Denmark, with a dour draw with the Danes along the way.
They’ve scored just three goals – two penalties and a lucky deflection – which is a contrast to their performances in the Euro 2020 qualifiers that saw them score 37 goals in just eight games. Prior to the loss to Belgium, England had already lost Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Conor Coady, James Ward-Prowse and Marcus Rashford to either injury or COVID-19. Things have now gotten worse.
Raheem Sterling departed the squad hours before the Belgium match with a calf injury, and Jordan Henderson and Ben Chilwell were both substituted and likely won’t be available for this game with Iceland. Reece James also remains suspended, but Harry Maguire will now be available again.
