For 94 minutes, I was not in my Edinburgh apartment watching England play poorly against Slovakia. For 94 minutes, I was fifteen years old again in the middle of my GCSEs watching England lose to Iceland in 2016.

Iceland. That’s a bad word amongst English football fans. It is quite possibly the greatest defeat – greatest in terms of magnitude – that England has ever faced. It cost Roy Hodgson his job as England manager, caused the greatest rift between the Football Association and fans, and led to a total revamp of English football at the national level. This current England squad is a result of Iceland.

I remember that match so clearly. I was sat on the floor, there wasn’t enough space on the sofa for all four of the family to sit on it. I had finished one of my GCSEs earlier and was looking forward to relaxing. EURO 2016 had been building up nicely. Disappointing draws against the Russians and Slovakians but a fantastic last-minute victory against Wales with lots of young talent making their tournament debuts. It felt like a page was being turned for us. Iceland in the last 16? We’ll win that.

Dear reader, we did not. We were left dumbfounded. The Icelandic Viking clap still gets an English fan’s hackles raised. They were hungrier, more dynamic, more intense. They were all on the same page, clicking together like the perfect mechanism. England was all over the place. Long, hopeful shots. A lack of encouraging substitutions. A manager and players who were scared to roll the dice and put themselves on the line. England was knocked out of the round of 16 by Iceland, in a match that no one expected the English to lose. Iceland has become almost a taboo, a synonym for English arrogance, hubris, and incompetence.

Back to the present. “This is worse than Iceland,” I said in my group chat. It felt it. England were losing 1-0 against Slovakia, and we deserved to be losing. This squad were better than that in 2016, and we were pre-tournament favourites to win the whole thing. And we were losing, without even having a shot on goal. We looked slow, unable to break them down. Changes in tactics were non-existent. No substitutions at halftime; Palmer was introduced just after the hour mark, but still there was a refusal to change. Somehow, despite everything that had happened, there was still a belief that England’s sheer quality would bail them out of jail.

The 95^th minute. A long throw from Kyle Walker. A flick on from Marc Guehi. An overhead kick from Jude Bellingham.

Sweet Christmas.

I am never quite aware of how much I care when England plays football. I always assume that, since I’ve watched England lose and fail and crash out so often, I am immune to disappointment. But the moment that net rippled, I couldn’t hold in the sharp crack of a swear that had built up inside of me. And then, in the first minute of extra time, Harry Kane popped and thundered in a header. 2-1 England. A few close calls and 29 minutes later, England were through. Sheer quality had gotten England over the line.

But the Ghost of Iceland is still in the dressing room. England had not played well. Much of the post-match analysis has been a commiseration to Slovakia, who by far and away were the better team and deserved to go through. Every pundit said they hadn’t felt like this since 2016.

England cannot play like that against Switzerland. The Swiss are well-drilled, dynamic and flexible. They pulled apart the Italians and didn’t look fussed while doing it. England can’t go into that quarter-final as they have in the previous four matches. Someone needs to tell Harry Kane to stop dropping in so deep. Someone needs to tell them that they are allowed to pass the ball forward. Someone needs to tell Southgate it’s okay to make changes when things aren’t working.

Switzerland will be favourites to win. Simple as. Looking back at the tournament nothing will convince me otherwise. But England cannot simply roll over. If they are to go out, they need to go out on their sword. The Ghost of Iceland is still haunting England; at the moment it doesn’t look close to being excised.