England's players may well be crucified should they lose to Iceland on Monday in the round of 16, but a witty entrepreneur has offered to take the players' minds off the possibility of defeat by welcoming them for a free boat trip in Northern Iceland.

Gudbjartur Jonsson, manager of North Sailing, has 23 tickets at hand 'as a bandage against wounded pride' should his side do the unthinkable and claim their biggest scalp yet in a campaign where they've exceeded expectations.

"It's only polite and part of Icelandic hospitality culture," said Jonsson.

"The poor players may not be able to return home as their fans would be furious to lose to a small country of only 300,000 inhabitants, so we're offering a peaceful day watching whales in a small town in Northern Iceland with beautiful nature and nice people as compensation.

"Iceland, who remain unbeaten in the tournament, finished second in Group F thanks to Wednesday's late victory over Austria.