Iceland co-coach Heimir Hallgrimsson has hailed his side after the minnows reached the Euro 2016 quarter-finals in their debut tournament.

Despite being humbled 5-2 by France on Monday and seeing their fairytale run come to an end, the tiny nation of just 330, 000 people were inspirational throughout the tournament, while they also infamously sent England packing.

‘I think that will sink in in a few days when they start to read the papers and see what has been written,’ Hallgrimsson said, reports Goal.

‘You lose all the media thing when you’re in the tournament and you don’t see the TV, especially the Icelandic TV, so I think it will sink in really quickly after the tournament.’

The co-coach is confident the side’s feats will have a tremendous impact on the nation.

‘It will change their lives, you wait and see.

‘Icelanders are really proud of this achievement and you can see that in the numbers, both the numbers that came here and also those who came together in Reykjavik and everywhere to watch the games.’

Hallgrimsson believes the nation will be more united than ever following the their side’s remarkable performance.

‘So I think it has brought the nation closer to each other and that’s fantastic when you are a part of something that does that.’

‘You’re proud to be Icelandic, not only because of the performance of the players in this tournament but especially the supporters,’ he concluded.