THE Three Lions hope to reunite a Brexit-split nation by winning their David versus Goliath clash tonight with Iceland to reach the Euro 2016 quarter-finals.

England will start the shortest priced favourites they have ever been in any tournament match against a country with the same population as Wigan.

Bookmakers said Roy Hodgson's stars were 5-1 odds-on to topple the Vikings who are playing their first major finals and boast just 20,000 players to England's 40,000 clubs.

If Roys' boys win they face a prime time TV showdown with hosts France – who yesterday beat the Republic Of Ireland 2-1 – in Paris at 7pm on Sunday.

Up to 50,000 England fans yesterday descended on the French south coast resort of Nice to watch the Iceland clash – dubbed the 'Brexit Battle' as both nations are now outside the European Union.

Some supporters plan to wear shirts made out of Iceland frozen food carrier bags as a show of unity.

The Three Lions hope the country divided by last week's referendum will rally together behind their glory bid.

If they do beat Iceland it will be their first knockout-round victory since the 2006 World Cup.

Though they are red hot favourites the price of failure could be another Brexit – for Hodgson who would almost certainly be sacked.

Bookies William Hill were offering odds of 25-1 that he will have to resort to appearing in a TV ad for Iceland food by the end of the year.

Spokesman Joe Crilly said patriotic punters would wager £30million on the match.

Staff will take 4,000 bets-a-minute in the run-up to kick-off.

"It is helped by the fact England are touted as comfortable favourites which may entice some rather weighty bets," he said.

"Should Roy fail to guide his team through to the quarter finals it could be a case of, 'that's why former England bosses go to Iceland'."

Three Lions fans soaking up the sunshine in 30-degree heat on Nice's shingle beach yesterday were not contemplating defeat.

Some have already booked travel an accommodation in Paris in anticipation they will make it to the quarter-finals.

They started their pre-match warm-up early today cracking open cans of lager at 9.30am.

Others hung their St George flags along the sea wall and outside bars in the bustling Old Town.

Some hired Velo Bleu bikes – Nice's equivalent of London's – to get around town.

As he caught some rays on the beach financial advisor Steve Barker, 36, from Loughton, Essex, said: "I think we'll do Iceland 3-0.
"They're not that good.

"It doesn't get much better than this. Sun, booze and footy."

Ade Sharrock, 32, a labourer from Bristol, said: "I was gutted when we didn't win the group.

"But then I realised it meant we'd play in Nice. This has to be the best away game I've ever been to.

"The Iceland fans have been great. It's a friendly rivalry. Everyone's in a good mood because of the sun."

Patrick Gough, 54, from Worcester, added: "Everyone's on good form - the fans, the locals and the police. It's completely different from Marseille.

"We should be too good for Iceland.

"But there will be nerves – we're England after all."

Kristbjorg Agustsdottir, 71, a former senior trade commissioner at the Canadian embassy in Icelandic capital Reykjavík, paid for five of the family to attend to celebrate her granddaughter's graduation.

The Manchester United fan said: "I've always supported the Iceland team.

"This is a special moment for everybody in Iceland.

"For a small nation like ours to come so far is a dream.

"We will win against England on penalties."

Construction company chief exec Helgi Einarsson, 32, said: "This is the biggest day in the history of Iceland football.

"We have all grown up watching English teams and now we are playing England."

Airport planner Gudmundur Gautason, 29, said: "The whole of Iceland will be watching.

"When we qualified you could hear the cheering in every house and then the fireworks."

Hodgson's 23-man squad trained at the team's base in Chantilly this morning before flying 600 miles south to Nice.

The players were in the air and missed seeing France book their place in the quarter-final.

Hodgson, 68, said it would be an "honour" to play France but warned Iceland would be "unbelievably difficult to beat".

He said: "I don't know the Icelandic people as well as the other Nordic countries but the character, their determination and ability to survive through hardships…I'm certain that's been a major factor in their progress.

"We will have to accept the title as favourites. They go in as underdogs.

"But we know that it'll be a very difficult game for us and they'll be a hard team to beat.

"We desperately want to stay in the tournament.

"We think we're good enough to do so but to do that we need results."

Hodgson said he and his players had tried to ignore the Brexit fall-out and focus on football.

"That's a huge issue for the nation," he said.

"But our concentration has just been about football.

"We voted, we had our say, and our nation had its say. We will live with that.

"But it hasn't affected our preparations for this game.

"We have to accept that, back home, a major decision was taken back home while we'll deal with when we return."

Captain Wayne Rooney, 30, who will equal David Beckham's record for the number of outfield caps for England if he plays at the Allianz Riviera, said the gulf in size between the two nations would not affect the match.

"The size of the country is just a number," he said.

"They put the same number of players on the pitch as us so it's a fair contest.

"We're not going into this game showing a lack of respect for Iceland. We're showing full respect.

"We appreciate the way they've played, they'll be difficult to break down and it'll be up to us to create chances, score goals and win the match.

"We concentrate on our game and, if we do that, we're confident we will win."

Iceland joint manager Heimir Hallgrimsson , 49, said victory for the minnows would change their lives forever.

"Icelandic football will go up in reputation and the way we approach football will be different," he said.

"If you want the best out of life, you have to be ready when the chance is there for you.

"There aren't bigger chances than this for Icelandic football."